$3,250 Championship Main Event Day 1a | 2009 PokerStars.net APPT Auckland

10-12-2009 22:28 UTC-12

Welcome to Auckland!

[user67765]

Kia ora, and welcome to New Zealand for the second event of the 2009 PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Tour. This week the PokerNews crew find themselves in beautiful Auckland at the mighty SKYCITY Casino, home to the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere. The Sky Tower, a giant needle in the clouds, looms some 1,076 feet (328 meters) over the city of Auckland and will be host to hundreds of poker players this week. Lynn Gilmartin managed to squeeze in some sightseeing straight from the airport, so check out the video here:

Poker is blossoming in this part of the world and already this week, the SKYCITY Festival of Poker has attracted impressive fields for the preliminary events.

The highlight of the schedule is of course the NZ$3,200 (US$2,100) buy-in PokerStars.net APPT Main Event which kicks off in a few short hours.

We're expecting a host of Aussies and Kiwis to take to the felt, and joining them will be PokerStars.net Team Australia Pros Grant Levy, Eric Assadourian, Emad Tahtouh and Tony Hachem, Kiwi poker legend and PokerStars Sponsored Player Lee "Final Table" Nelson plus PokerStars.net Team Asia representatives Celina Lin and Bryan Huang. Their tables will also be filled by a wealth of PokerStars online qualifiers who have made their way to Auckland from all corners of the globe.

Last year the cash stayed at home when Wellington's Daniel Craker overcame 306 entrants to collect the trophy and the $257,040 first place prize. Will the Kiwis continue their impressive form? Stay tuned to PokerNews to find out as we bring you all of the live updates from the tournament floor.

The action kicks off at 12:15pm (GMT+12) and we look forward to your company then!

10-13-2009 11:17 UTC-12

Players Taking Their Seats

[user67765]

The players are now taking their seats ready for the first day of the PokerStars.net APPT Auckland Main Event. We'll be underway shortly!

Level: 1

Blinds: 50/100

Ante: 0

10-13-2009 11:31 UTC-12

Cards Are In The Air!

[user67765]

Following a traditional Maori welcome featuring the Haka war dance, the mic was handed over New Zealand's poker icon Lee "Final Table" Nelson who uttered the immortal words, "Shuffle Up and Deal!"

This one is underway!

10-13-2009 11:35 UTC-12

Today's Format

[user67765]

We'll be playing seven one-hour levels today, with no dinner break, but ten-minute breaks after every two hours.

Players are starting with a generous 20,000-chip start bank with the blinds at 50/100.

10-13-2009 11:47 UTC-12

Who's Here?

[user67765]

It's a near capacity field here in the beautiful SKYCITY Casino poker room, with all but two tables currently in use for this tournament.

Our first lap of the room has uncovered the likes of Celina Lin, Stewart Scott, Graeme Putt, Robert Wang, Daniel Neilson, Emad Tahtouh, Martin Cardno, Dan Sing, Lee Nelson, and defending champ Daniel Craker.

10-13-2009 11:50 UTC-12

Lee Nelson Eliminated

[user92162]

Lee Nelson filling the media in on his elimination

After promising he'd be tough to beat in the pre-tournament address, Lee Nelson has taken a terribly tough beat in the first minutes of play.

With some players not even in their seats yet, Nelson was out of his heading for the rail. We scrambled over to find out that he'd ran a sevens full into the quad fours of Sherif Badran.

With the board reading {Q-?}

all the money went in on the river. It has to be disappointing for Nelson to go out of his home tournament so early in such a cooler situation.

Tags: Lee Nelson Sherif Badran

10-13-2009 12:01 UTC-12

The Tournament Of The South Pacific

[user92162]

With New Zealand the first port of call for many of the smaller island nations of the South Pacific/Oceania region, this tournament is filled with citizens of South Pacific islands.

One player just took a seat at Mike King's table with a French accent. "Are you from New Caledonia?" asked King.

"Yes," came the reply from Douyere Fabrice, a Noumea based, French speaking player.

There are also representatives on Tonga, Samoa, and Fiji among others.

10-13-2009 12:07 UTC-12

Eden Smith Doubles Up

[user92162]

In a bizarre hand, Eden Smith has doubled up and eliminated an opponent.

Three players took a {6-Hearts}

flop. A player in early position checked, and Smith made it 1,200 to go. The next player to act proceeded to push all in for around 20,000 chips into a pot that wasn't even 2,500 chips.

The early position player folded and Smith made the call with his {5-Diamonds}

. The all-in player tabled {10-Spades}

.

The

hit the turn and the {q-Diamonds}

completed the board on the river sending the opponent to the rail and moving Smith over 40,000 chips.

Tags: Eden Smith

10-13-2009 12:16 UTC-12

Grunter and StrongPlay Arrive

[user67765]

A couple of recent arrivals are Australians Joel "StrongPlay" Dodds and PokerStars Team Australia Pro Grant Levy.

Good friends off the felt, Levy and Dodds are seated directly next to each other, after incredibly also starting on the same table at the APPT Macau event.

Speculation has started over which one has run bad to land such a table draw.

Tags: Grant Levy Joel Dodds