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

10-14-2009 10:57 UTC-12

Welcome To Day 1b

[user92162]

Welcome back to Day 1b of the APPT Auckland Main Event. Yesterday was seven levels long, and full of intriguing action, and we expect today to at least be as good as that.

Some of Asia Pacific's biggest names are expected in the field today including Tony Hachem, Eric Assadourian, Bryan Huang, James Honeybone, Bruno Portaro, Dennis Huntly and many more.

Action will be underway in around half an hour, stay locked to PokerNews for all the updates as they happen.

Level: 1

Blinds: 50/100

Ante: 0

10-14-2009 11:38 UTC-12

Cards Are In The Air!

[user67765]

Once again the players of today's flight were treated to a traditional New Zealand Maori war dance and welcome, before the microphone was handed to PokerStars.net Team Australia Pro Tony Hachem who told everyone to "...enjoy it, you have just as much chance of winning as any of the pros..." before uttering the words "Shuffle Up and Deal!"

With that the cards are in the air!

10-14-2009 11:47 UTC-12

Who is in the field today?

[user92162]

Some of the notables to come to the felt today include Tony Hachem, Tony "Bond18" Dunst, Bryan Huang, James Honeybone, Dennis Huntly, Bruno Portaro, Kane Sherwell, and Sean "Math Club" Goldsbury.

10-14-2009 11:56 UTC-12

New Zealand's Top Celebs Come Out To Play

[user92162]

This is truly a premier event in New Zealand and as such has attracted the cream of talent from the Land of the Long White Cloud.

Some of the stars entering into this event include Brooke Howard-Smith who played yesterday, and today, the godfather of NZ hip-hop Brotha D is in the field after winning his way into the tournament through the celebrity and media challenge.

Tags: Brotha D

10-14-2009 12:05 UTC-12

Bruno Portaro Halved

[user67765]

Bruno Portaro is down to half of his stack after running into a rivered straight.

According to Portaro he took a jack high flop with one heart on it, while holding {j-Hearts}

. Portaro bet every street, with the turn {k-Hearts}

giving him a flush draw. His opponent flat called down to the river {10-Diamonds}

where he raised Portaro's river bet. Portaro made the call only to see his opponent roll over {A-?}

for a rivered straight.

Portaro has about 9,500 chips at the moment.

Tags: Bruno Portaro

10-14-2009 12:15 UTC-12

Kemp Down

[user67765]

The Aussies are having a tough time of it at table six. Bruno Portaro is already down to half of his stack, and Jai Kemp has recently joined him.

On a flop of {9-Hearts}

Kemp checked to Ralf Westphal who bet out 600. Kemp raised to 900 with Westphal making the call.

The turn {5-Spades}

saw Kemp fire 1,700 and Westphal smooth called. The river was the {5-Diamonds}

and Kemp led 2,600 only for Westphal to raise to 6,500. Kemp reluctantly made the call and ran into Westphal's rivered {5-Hearts}

trips.

Kemp had {A-Diamonds}

for a flopped top two pair.

"You should buy a lotto ticket mate," said Kemp tongue-in-cheek.

Kemp is down to about 11,000.

Tags: Jai Kemp Ralph Westphal

10-14-2009 12:24 UTC-12

Notable Tables

[user92162]

There are some notable tables in the room including:

Table 6: Raj Ramakrishnan, Jai Kemp and Bruno Portaro.

Table 9: Tony Dunst and Bryan Huang sitting next to each other.

Table 12: Michael Pedley, Kane Sherwell, Tony Hachem and Aaron Benton.

Level: 2

Blinds: 100/200

Ante: 0

10-14-2009 12:37 UTC-12

Khalil Gets Busy

[user67765]

Ali Khalil and entourage - even money on whether they are bodyguards or security...

Ali Khalil called us over to his table recently to apparently back up his claims to the table that he was a fish.

We confirmed that status and asked why they were asking.

"I just lost a pot to this spastic when he rivered a straight..." continued Khalil as the next hand was dealt.

Khalil raised it up to 500 from under the gun and found a caller in the big blind.

The flop was {7-Hearts}

and action checked to Khalil who fired 725. He was met with a check-raise of around 2,000 more before Khalil declared himself all in for another 10,400 in chips.

After some friendly banter between the two that involved discussions of lathering, hairy backs and cuddling, his opponent folded and Khalil raked in the pot to jump back to around 22,500 chips.

Tags: Ali Khalil