The short stacks are hanging in there as this time it was Daniel Francis' turn to find a much needed double up.
Francis opened to 750, before the player next to speak made it 1,850 to play. The table folded back around to Francis who decided to commit all of his last 5,625 with his opponent quickly calling.
Francis:
Opponent:
The board was kind to Francis as it fell to pair his queen and provide the double up to around 12,000 chips.
Strike a pose...
Grant Levy has been battling the short stack for most of today, but he just doubled up to stay alive. We're not sure when the chips went into the middle as we only saw the end result as Levy's collected the chips against his opponent's on the board.
"That's one double up, now one more to go!" chuckled Levy as he chips up to 10,000.
Steve Topakas
We wandered past the table of Steve "Big Show" Topakas and saw that his stack had all but disappeared as he was left with only a few hundred in small change.
When we inquired as to what happened, Topakas recalled to us that he was holding on a X- board when the chips went into the middle on the turn. Unfortunately for Topakas his opponent held for the bigger straight and "Big Show" was crippled.
"I might have to jump off the SKYCITY Tower...just without the cable!" laughed Topakas in jest.
However he's not out just yet, as we hung around to observe his recent double up to stay alive. Topakas was all in from the big blind with against and caught good on the board to double back up to around 1,000 in chips.
With 3,800 chips in the pot preflop, three players checked a flop. On the turn Stewart Scott fired out 2,200 and both Michael Song and Emad Tahtouh made the call.
The river was the and Song and Scott checked to Tahtouh who bet 5,500. Scott folded, but Song made the call tabling . Tahtouh rolled over for air.
Scott is down to 17,000. Tahtouh has 35,000, Song moves up to about 50,000.
Jan Suchanek has been eliminated from the tournament.
Suchanek opened under the gun to 1,000 with and Michael Doodson flat called with in middle position.
The flop of saw Suchanek fire 1,500 and Doodson raise to 4,000. Suchanek re-raised for his stack and Doodson instantly called. The board ran out turn and , giving Doodson a full house and a big pot.
As play enters into the mid-day lull, it's worth mentioning a little about the SKYCITY Casino Poker Room.
Players at the PokerStars.net APPT are treated to a spacious 18-table room with plenty of room for players and media alike to maneuver amongst the tables.
One of the joys of this room is the natural light which players can bask in through the windows which run down the length of the room. It's a rarity in casinos around the world, and ensures that we can all keep somewhat in touch with realities of the outside world while also enjoying the poker tournament.
Poker in New Zealand is booming at the moment as whispers of a possible NZ$1,00,000 prize pool at this event start to surface. If we reach that figure it would be a fitting end to a fantastic week of events here at the SKYCITY Festival of Poker.
Stewart Scott
Action passed to Stewart Scott who made it 450 from the hijack position. He found callers in the two blinds and they went three-way to a flop.
Each player checked and the free card on the turn was the . The small blind led out for 600, the big blind folded, but Scott decided to put in a raise to 1,500. His opponent quickly called.
The river landed the and it was checked to Scott who announced a bet of 4,000. His opponent cringed and deliberated for several minutes before making a crying call.
Scott revealed for trips to collect as his opponent flashed .
"What a luckbox!" exclaimed Emad Tahtouh as Scott climbs to 30,000 chips.
Grant Levy
Grant Levy has slipped to around 11,000 chips after losing a small pot on a board of after check-calling 1,000 on the turn before the river was checked down.
Levy tabled but was dominated by the of his opponent.
"I didn't want to see another spade," said the player as he raked in the pot.
"I was glad to see the spade, then I could fold. If it wasn't a spade I was probably going to have to pay you off!" replied Levy.