2008 PokerStars.net APPT Auckland
APPT Auckland Main Event
Day: 1b
Joe Hachem Interview
Joe Hachem is easily the most popular man in the building today, and during the last break, he spent a couple minutes with PokerNews' Gloria Balding, rehashing his seminar yesterday and offering his thoughts on the field here in Auckland.
Grand Gesture From a World Champ
Tan Can Do It
Ivan Tan is one such player, getting all in before the flop for his last ~7,000 chips. He got action from the player on his left, who held and had Tan slightly covered. Ivan was in trouble, holding .
The flop wasn't much help for the all-in player, coming down . The turn provided a little spark of hope, as the gave him a straight draw.
"Ace!" pleaded Tan. Sure enough, the dealer obliged him, ripping off the on the river to give Tan the winning wheel. He shouted and pumped his fist in joy, having earned a stay of execution in the eleventh hour.
Tan is up to 15,000, while his opponent is crippled all the way back to just 2,400.
PokerNews TV
Simply click here, and visit the APPT Auckland tab at the bottom of the page, where you can catch up on all the player interviews and maybe even learn a thing or two about the host city.
You can also see PokerNews' Gloria Balding hurl herself off the Sky Tower -- the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere -- with only a thin steel cable separating her from certain doom.
Videos are being added all night, so check back often!
Day 1b Concludes
Today saw a field of 142 entrants vying for their seats in Day 2, and just one third of them have succeeded in that effort. Play was fast and furious at times, and slow and measured at other times. The tournament is only half over, but it has already been a huge success. It is officially the largest tournament ever held in New Zealand, eclipsing the previous largest prize pool by more than three times over. Throughout the day, there was a strong contingent of railbirds -- both local and foreign -- along the perimeter of the room, jockeying for position to sweat their family, friends, and favorite players.
When the dust settled at the end of the day, it was Amant Nauhria who emerged on top of the heap, sitting with 94,000 in chips. Bryan Huang is hot on his heels though -- his stack of 93,500 just barely overshadowed by the chip leader. Those will be good enough for the top two chip positions as today's players join the left-overs from Day 1a for tomorrow's action. Full chip counts will be available later tonight when all the bags are counted and verified.
Day 2 kicks off at high noon tomorrow, and we hope you'll join us then as we whittle the field down to our final table. Until then, goodnight from Auckland!
Final Chip Counts
Amant Nauhria - 94000
Diwei Huang - 93500
Mathew Michell - 49900
Mat Cheer - 47200
Chris Tau - 44300
Jerome Dyer - 43600
Sreten Cvetkovski - 41300
Zane Kopua - 39500
Daniel Craker - 38300
Grant Levy - 32900
Geoff Smith - 32800
Raymond Walker - 31100
Tony Yalden - 30700
Edward Holdcroft - 30100
Jon-Pierre Narbey - 28600
Jai Kemp - 24900
Christopher Walton - 23700
Graeme Putt - 23400
Clinton Herring - 23200
Paul Pere - 22600
Jeff Putt - 22600
Joe Hachem - 21900
Mark Erickson - 20700
Trevor Saunders - 19300
James Honeybone - 18900
Dylan Linde - 17200
Jim Smith - 16400
Ivan Tan - 16000
Andrew Scott - 15700
Eric Rowe - 15600
Jan Yu - 15200
Lachlan Conway - 15100
Steve Downing - 15000
Shane Dye - 13400
Alan Berkeley - 12100
Paul Urlovic - 11900
John Cheung - 11100
Paul Kyle - 10300
Jani Karke - 10000
Hagan Ross - 9400
Matthew Konnecke - 9300
Neil Stewart - 8700
Robert Galluzzo - 7800
Paul Hockin - 7100
Brad Collins - 6800
Joseph Jarm - 5700
Peter Jones - 4600
Seat Assignments
APPT Auckland Main Event
Day 1b Completed