APPT Grand Final Day 1c | 2008 PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final - Sydney

12-04-2008 14:48 UTC+11

Play Resumes

[user75032]

Cards are back in the air. Thirty minutes remain in Level 2.

12-04-2008 14:38 UTC+11

First Break Arrives

[user75032]

The players are on a ten-minute break.

12-04-2008 14:36 UTC+11

Vandersluis Eliminated

[user67765]

Roy Vandersluis was short pretty early in today's event and he just recently met his demise after losing a preflop race holding {9-Spades}

against an opponent's {A-Clubs}

.

The board fell {4-Hearts}

, giving his opponent a pair of kings and the pot to send Vandersluis to an early exit.

Tags: Roy Vandersluis

12-04-2008 14:34 UTC+11

Tezay Not Out Yet

[user75032]

Local Australian player Aytunc Tezay is short but still battling. He moved all in preflop with {A-Spades}

and was called by one player who tabled {6-Spades}

. It was off to the races, with Tezay down to his last card before spiking a jack on a board of {7-Spades}

to double up to 7,100.

Tags: Aytunc Tezay

12-04-2008 14:26 UTC+11

Carter Gill raised over the top of his opponent's bet, making it 5,500 to go. His opponent then moved all in for 20,000 putting Gill to a decision.

He goes into the tank exclaiming, "He has to know I'm not raising ace-queen here right?" before eventually folding.

"Show the bluff one time?" queried Gill but his opponent flashed pocket jacks for a set! Gill jumped out of his chair in delight, claiming that he folded pocket sixes for bottom set! Gill is a regular on the APPT circuit and has an impressive record of cash results and may have just dodged a bullet in this hand.

Tags: Carter Gill

12-04-2008 14:14 UTC+11

Bad Acoustics?

[user75032]

The players in today's tournament have been provided with complimentary water by the APPT and the Star City staff. A person passing out water bottles wandering by Masaaki Kagawa's table was flagged down by a thirsty Kagawa.

"How much?" Kagawa asked her.

"Free!" she replied as she handed him a bottle of water. Kagawa turned away from her to dig into his pocket for a fiver, thinking she had said, "Three." By the time he turned back with the money in his hand, the water woman had vanished.

Tags: Masa Kagawa

12-04-2008 14:12 UTC+11

McFadden Out

[user67765]

Brian McFadden is one of the higher-profile players here today, being well known in Australia as an ex-member of the pop band Westlife, but his time on the poker felt didn't last long as he has just succumbed to Gursel Ali.

McFadden was the preflop raiser with two callers seeing a {K-?}

flop. McFadden made a continuation bet of 800 but Ali check-raised him to 3,000. McFadden and the third player both called.

The turn was the {2-Hearts}

and Ali fired out 10,000 before McFadden moved all in. The third player stepped aside. Ali made the call and tabled pocket eights for a set as McFadden was drawing dead with {A-?}

.

The river bricked out and McFadden is an early casualty as Ali is up to nearly 40,000 chips.

Tags: Brian Mcfadden Gursel Ali

12-04-2008 14:08 UTC+11

Juanda Stuck in the Gate

[user75032]

John Juanda hasn't been able to get out of the starting gate yet, despite playing a whole level so far today. He bet 1,200 on a flop of {2-Diamonds}

and was called by the player in the cutoff. The turn came {10-Diamonds}

and brought a bet of 1,850 from Juanda. His opponent raised to 5,000. Juanda mulled it over for about 30 seconds before calling. Both players checked the river {8-Clubs}

, with Juanda's opponent showing {K-Spades}

for trip tens and the winner.

Despite chipping up a little in the early going, Juanda's stack now sits at 19,000.

Tags: John Juanda

12-04-2008 14:00 UTC+11

Iraqi Nick - A Man in Form

[user67765]

Nali "Iraqi Nick" Kaselias has enjoyed success in Australia this year after capturing the Main Event title at the PokerNews Cup in Melbourne in October for a cool quarter of a million dollars. Kaselias followed that up with a cash in the APPT Manila event and is looking for another strong showing here in Sydney; however his day hasn't started so well.

In a recent hand we caught Kaselias in a pot on a board of {K-Spades}

. His opponent in the big blind led out for 1,500 before Kaselias bumped it up to 4,500. His opponent then moved all in for 17,500 in total and Kaselias went into the tank.

"I think you have king-six," said Kaselias before giving it up. He was close, as his opponent flashed {2-Clubs}

for two pair.

12-04-2008 13:56 UTC+11

Great Call!

[user75032]

Generally speaking, adhering to the theory that tankers always fold in tournament poker will steer a reporter right most of the time. Every once in a while, however, a player disproves the theory. Today's example is Frank Bianco.

Sitting on the button, Bianco was one of two players to call a raise to 300. He was the only person to call the raiser's bet of 700 on the {J-Diamonds}

flop. When the turn came {9-Hearts}

, Bianco's opponent fired the second bullet by leading out for 1,500. Again Bianco made the call.

The river fell {2-Spades}

, not changing anything about the hand. Bianco's opponent bet 3,000, sending Bianco into the tank for over a minute. He finally made the call. His opponent showed {7-Diamonds}

for a busted two-way draw; Bianco incredibly tabled {9-Spades}

for second pair and the winner.

He's up to 29,000.

Tags: Frank Bianco