2008 PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final - Sydney

APPT Grand Final
Day: 1b
Event Info

2008 PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final - Sydney

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
aq
Prize
1,000,000 AUD
Event Info
Buy-in
6,000 AUD
Prize Pool
2,862,000 AUD
Entries
477
Level Info
Level
27
Blinds
50,000 / 100,000
Ante
10,000

Degenerate Prop Betting

The Croc's taking all comers
The Croc's taking all comers
Billy "The Croc" Argyros' confidence is running high here in Sydney. So high, in fact, that he has laid out a prop bet for anyone who's looking for a little side action. The prop involves the World Series of Poker Main Event champion Peter Eastgate.

Argyros has declared that he will last longer in this tournament than Eastgate will, and he will accept all even-money bets up to AU$10,000 from anyone who wants to bet on Eastgate. The rules are quite simple. (1) Joe Hachem or Grant Levy will hold the money for both parties. (2) If Eastgate doesn't play, the bet is off. (3) If neither Eastgate nor Argyros makes the money in this tournament, the bet is off.

Argyros' stated rationale for the bet is not that he thinks he is more talented than Eastgate, but that Eastgate will be jet-lagged from flying into Sydney the night before the tournament. So far, Argyros has found only one taker, for AU$100.

Tags: Billy Argyros

Level: 2

Blinds: 100/200

Ante: 0

Pratis' Set Gets Paid

Peter Pratis is off to a nice start today. He took a raised flop of {9-Hearts} {6-Clubs} {2-Clubs} with one opponent. Both players checked to the {A-Diamonds} turn, where Pratis bet 500 after his opponent checked. He was check-raised to 1,300 and made the call.

On the river {4-Spades}, Pratis' opponent led out for 1,800. Pratis deliberated thoughtfully before raising to 4,500. His opponent called and mucked when Pratis showed down {9-Clubs} {9-Spades} for a flopped set. He's up to about 25,000 in chips.

Tags: Peter Pratis

Rahme Races Out of the Blocks

Raymond Rahme
Raymond Rahme
We caught the action on the turn with the board reading {A-Diamonds}{8-Hearts}{3-Hearts}{9-Spades} and roughly 9,000 already in the middle.

Raymond Rahme was in the small blind and checked the action over to his opponent, who bet out 3,000. Rahme asked his opponent how much he had left before declaring himself all in!

The opponent in late position gave the decision a little thought but gave it up as Rahme collected a nice pot. This time last year, Rahme was a runaway chip leader after cracking 100,000 chips at the halfway point of Day 1 of the 2007 APPT Sydney event. He's well on the way to doing that again as he hits the early chip lead with 42,000 chips.

Tags: Raymond Rahme

Confirmed Day 1b Numbers

Late registration has officially closed for Day 1b. We have 172 runners today, making the two-day total for Day 1a and Day 1b 280 runners. The largest of the Day 1 flights is expected tomorrow.

Goonawardana Spikes Set

Marlon Goonawardana
Marlon Goonawardana
Three players called a raise to 650 by a player in middle position and took a flop of {4-Hearts}{5-Diamonds}{8-Diamonds}. The action was checked to Marlon Goonawardana on the button, who fired out 2,000. This thinned the field by one as three players went to the turn where the {Q-Hearts} peeled off.

Again the action checked to Goonawardana who bet out a healthy 6,000 chips. The under-the-gun player was the lone caller as a big pot was brewing.

However the river landed the {7-Clubs}, which scared both players with four to the straight on board as they checked it down. The UTG player tabled {Q-Diamonds}{4-Diamonds} for two pair but Goonawardana took it down with {5-Clubs}{5-Hearts} for a flopped set. He's now up to 31,700 chips.

Tags: Marlon Goonawardana

G'day Tim Horan

Tim Horan's APPT Grand Final is in the books. Two quick hands decimated his stack and eliminated him from the tournament.

First, Horan raised it up to 575 preflop and was called in three spots. He led out for 1,300 on a board of {7-Diamonds} {J-Diamonds} {3-Clubs} and was called by only one player, who had position on him. When the {8-Hearts} hit the turn, Horan fired again for 2,400. His opponent raised to 6,625, sending Horan into the tank before he made the call. Both players checked the {3-Diamonds} river, but Horan pitched his hand into the muck before any cards were shown down.

A short time later, Horan shipped it into the middle preflop with {9-Diamonds} {9-Clubs} after getting into a raising war with an opponent. She turned over {j-Spades} {J-Hearts}. Jacks were a winner on a board of {3-Hearts} {7-Spades} {2-Clubs} {6-Spades} {8-Diamonds}. Horan can head home.

Tags: Tim Horan

Griffin Looking for Another Trophy

Gavin Griffin
Gavin Griffin
Gavin Griffin is one of the higher-profile pros here in Sydney, with career victories at the WSOP, WPT and EPT to his credit, and he would love nothing more than to add an APPT trophy to his cabinet. He has stormed to the top of the chip count leaderboard after taking down a healthy pot against Andrew Pantling.

The board read {3-Diamonds}{K-Clubs}{J-Hearts}{9-Diamonds} and Griffin led out with a bet of 4,500. Pantling popped it up to 11,000 and Griffin made the call. The river was the {3-Spades} and both players checked it down.

Griffin tabled {K-Diamonds}{J-Diamonds} for top two pair to collect the nice pot and jump to over 54,000 chips.

Tags: Gavin Griffin

Levy Recovers

The Champ up off the canvas
The Champ up off the canvas
The flop landed {9-Spades}{6-Diamonds}{2-Diamonds} and when the action checked to Grant Levy he fired out a bet of 600. His opponent made the call.

The turn brought the {J-Spades} and this time Levy's opponent led with a bet of 1,500. Levy made the call and they went to the river where the {8-Hearts} landed. Again Levy's opponent led the betting for 3,400 chips and Levy deliberated before making the call, knowing that if he was wrong his APPT campaign would be on the ropes.

His opponent revealed {A-Diamonds}{8-Diamonds} for a rivered pair of eights with a busted flush draw, as Levy's {A-Clubs}{J-Clubs} was good to take the pot and climb back to 17,400.

Tags: Grant Levy

Dennis Huntly Will Be Here All Night

Dennis Huntly
Dennis Huntly
Dennis Huntly is always a bit of a card. When one of the players at his table suggested Huntly should be tested for steroids, Huntly responded that the only thing for which he might test positive is Viagra. "It keeps me from rolling out of bed," the rotund Huntly quipped.

That wasn't Huntly's first attempt at comedy since arriving at Star City for this event. At the welcome party two nights ago, Huntly claimed that he was one of Australia's first pornographers. Being the dogged investigative journalists that we are, we looked into the veracity of that claim. Australia's first mainstream adult film release was 1983's "Down Under." Its director was one Dennis Huntley -- no relation...?

Tags: Dennis Huntly