In reference to the earlier post of an opponent taking notes on Aaron Benton has finally been resolved.
With a Tournament Director approaching the table, Benton informed him that the gentleman in question was taking notes about hands being played, and since so, was he allowed to go back and check them when involved in a hand with a particular player.
The Tournament Director indicated that notes were allowed to be taken, but weren't allowed to be checked on while at the table.
"Can you sit behind me and be my secretary for the day?" asked Benton of Tony Hachem.
2009 APPT Sydney Champion Aaron Benton, 2010 APPT Macau Champion Victorino Torres and 2010 ANZPT Queenstown Champion Julian Cohen, along with Auckland Poker Championships winner James Honeybone and New Zealand Poker Open Champion Jackson Zheng are all in the field.
Local players Cole Swannack, Phillip Willcocks and Constantine Harach are also playing, while a bevy of Australian players such as Michael O'Grady, Andrew Hinrichsen, Tom Grigg and Daniel Neilson are also taking part in today's flight.
"I've seen the Haka three times now, and each time it scares the suitcase out of me!" stated SKYCITY Auckland General Manager of Casino Operations Ejaaz Dean.
Dean said a few words about SKYCITY, the tournament and his wonderful staff before those immortal words of shuffle up and deal were uttered to put the cards in the air!
The Maori people have been long-time inhabitants of New Zealand - or Aotearoa as they have called it which translates into the land of the long white cloud.
With all New Zealanders ones to hold traditional values, culture and beliefs at heart, it is no surprise that we are kicking off today's tournament with a traditional Haka!
Many sports followers will know that the Haka relates to a pre-game ritual that the New Zealand All Blacks rugby union team perform to psyche-out their opponents, but in reality it is a traditional posture dance performed by the Maori people.
The belief is that the Haka is a war dance performed solely by men, but as you can see, that is far from the truth as they are performed by all for all differing reasons such as amusement, acknowledgment of great achievements of a welcoming of guests.
In our instance, the Haka that is being performed is welcoming all players to today's tournament - and although it may scare a few with the vigorous movements and feet-stamping - it is definitely a great way to kick of the PokerStars.net APPT Auckland Main Event!
Auckland has been ranked the top four most livable city in the world. What's all the fuss about? I wrote an article a couple of weeks ago on some of my favorite things about this place, but was also lucky enough to have some time to tour around the city again yesterday to show off even more:
Welcome to the SKYCITY Festival of Poker for 2010.
We are excited to welcome players from all over the world to SKYCITY Auckland for what is this event's third year. As many of you will know, tournament poker has taken off across the globe and we are delighted that New Zealand has indeed kept up with the trend and is in fact producing talent who are leading on the world stage of poker. Proof of this is Simon Watt who we were pleased to see win New Zealand's first WSOP bracelet at the recent World Series of Poker.
SKYCITY is New Zealand's Home of Poker and as such we have developed an annual poker calendar which now offers four major tournaments each year; the Auckland Anniversary Poker Champs, Lee Nelson Deep Stack Series, New Zealand Poker Open and the flagship tournament, the SKYCITY Festival of poker. In Auckland we have 18 poker tables within our dedicated poker area on Level 3 of SKYCITY Auckland - SKYCITY Poker.
This Festival of Poker is our biggest yet and we are focused on providing different events within the festival to cater for varying levels of experiencing ensuring that we both challenge leading stars and nurture the emerging players among us.
As the leading provider of hospitality and entertainment in New Zealand's largest city, SKYCITY Auckland has a single focus; to make your entertainment experience the very best possible. You will find that members of our staff are approachable, knowledgeable and intent on meeting your needs, whether they relate to the casino floor, accommodation, food and beverages, or relaxation.
No matter what hand you're dealt, by taking part in the SKYCITY Festival of Poker, you are joining in on a piece of New Zealand poker history.
Ejaaz Dean
SKYCITY Auckland
General Manager of Casino Operations
President of International Business
![[user80015]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
board for 400, 600 and 1,000 respectively with his opponent check-calling on each street.
to collect the pot and roughly add twenty-big blinds to his stack.
, APPT Sydney Champion Aaron Benton fired out a bet of 800 only to have his opponent bump it to 2,000.
on the river and both players checked it through.
