As the players started to take their seats and wait for play to commence, the clock was paused as APPT Commissioner Danny McDonough set to the mic to address the excited players and crowd. McDonough introduced the inaugral event in the fifth season of the PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour.
As McDonough spoke about the excitement of bringing the event to the city of Melbourne for the first time, the familiar face of Chris Moneymaker stood beside him waiting to spout the immortal words in tournament poker to kick off the event.
With a "Shuffle up and deal!" from Moneymaker, the room erupted in appluase before the players turned their attention to the felt.
The PokerStars.netAsia Pacific Poker Tour is set to begin in the land down under where, for the first time on the tour, the spotlight will head to the city of Melbourne!
No stranger to hosting some of the biggest sporting events in the world, Melbourne can now solidify its place as the home of poker in Australia with the addition of the APPT in the tour’s fifth season.
The Crown Poker room will play host to some of the best players from all around the world, including two world champions; 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Chris Moneymaker and local hero, 2005 WSOP Main Event winner Joe Hachem.
While this event has usually been played over multiple day one flights when held in Sydney, today the Poker Room will have a jam-packed field with only one day for all the players to try and make a run at becoming the APPT Melbourne Champion.
With a big field expected and those all important ANZ Player of the Year points up for grabs, today is sure to be an action-filled day.
The cards are set to be dealt and the players are anxiously waiting by the rail. So sit tight and tune into all the action kicking off at 12:10 PM local time. Also, feel free to head over to the PokerStars Blog for further coverage of this exciting event!
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