Last year Daniel Negreanu bested a field of 405 to win the WSOP APAC Main Event for AUD$1,038,825 and a gold bracelet. The Canadian dominated a tough final table that included Russell Thomas, Benny Spindler and Winfred Yu, and eventually took down Daniel Marton in heads-up play.
Negreanu is in the Day 1b field and we decided to spend an orbit watching "Kid Poker" in action. Here's what we saw.
Hand #1 (Small Blind): Timo Pfutzenreuter opened for 875 from the cutoff, the button called, and Negreanu, who began the orbit with 29,200, folded from the small blind.
Hand #2 (Button): An early-position player raised and Negreanu folded.
Hand #3 (Cutoff): Pfutzenreuter opened for 975 from middle position and Negreanu folded.
Hand #4 (Hijack): Action folded to Negreanu and he released his hand. The big blind ended up getting a walk.
Hand #5 (Late Position): A player in middle position limped and Negreanu folded.
Hand #6 (Middle Position): Action folded to Negreanu and he did the same.
Hand #7 (Early Position): The under-the-gun player folded and so did Negreanu.
Hand #8 (Under the Gun): Negreanu opened for 950 and Pfutzenreuter called from the button. The lady in the big blind came along and three players saw a flop of , which they all checked. Action repeated itself on the turn, and then the big blind and Negreanu checked the river.
Pfutzenreuter took the opportunity to bet 2,800, the big blind folded, and Negreanu thought for a bit while chatting up Pfutzenreuter. Eventually he called the German, who sheepishly showed the for a bluff. Negreanu then tabled the for the win.
Hand #9 (Big Blind): The player in the cutoff raised to 875 and won the pot when Negreanu folded his big blind.
Not the most exciting orbit, but the defending champ did chip up again.
We lost track of November Niner Bruno Politano, and a quick check with his former table confirmed that he had fallen before the dinner break.
Details of his demise were sketchy, but Casey Kastle was able to inform us that Politano got his stack in on the turn holding only to run into an opponent who had flopped a set with . Politano's WSOP APAC Main Event may have come to an end, but in less than a month he'll be in Vegas for the conclusion of the WSOP Main Event. He'll begin as the short stack — though he is the biggest short stack since the inception of the November Nine — and he'll do his best to represent Brazil as he competes for the $10-million first-place prize.
Of course we'll be bringing you live updates from the November Nine final table when the time comes. For now, the WSOP APAC Main Event continues without Bruno Politano.
Brendon Rubie opened to 1,050 and Tino Lechich three-bet to 3,100. Rubie responded with a four-bet to 7,200 only to have Lechich move all in for roughly 30,000. Rubie made the call and the cards were tabled.
Rubie:
Lechich:
With Lechich in great shape to double, the board saw Rubie outdraw the recent Event 8: AU$5,000 8-Game Mixed 5th place finisher to put him on the rail as Rubie saw his stack climb to roughly 71,000 in chips.
After a raise to 1,000 from under the gun and one call, Michiel Brummelhuis also called from the button and Gary Benson squeezed it to 3,100 out of the big blind. The initial raiser folded whereas the cold-caller and Brummelhuis called to see the flop of . Benson bet 2,900, Brummelhuis made it 6,700 and Benson then reraised to 12,300.
The Dutch November Niner said "let's gamble" and moved all in for around 24,000 chips with and Benson called with . Instead of the flush, the turn and the river gave Benson a full house. "Not my tournament," Brummelhuis said when leaving the tournament area.
With Tobias Reinkemeier, a German claimed the chip lead after Day 1a, and now Timo Pfutzenreuter may very well do the same on Day 1b aftee knocking out defending champ Daniel Negreanu.
Pfutzenreuter defended his small blind with against Negreanu, who had raised from early position. Pfutzenreuter then check-called a bet on the flop as well as on a blank turn.
A third club appeared on the river and Pfutzenreuter proceeded to check-raised all in. The Canadian called off with the second nut flush and hit the rail just shy of the end of Day 1b, ensuring that a new champion will be crowned here in Melbourne.
Day 1b of the World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific AU$10,000 Main Event has come to a close with 117 players still alive.
The day started with 195 hopefuls taking a seat throughout the day to bring the combined field size to 324 with registration open until the start of play on Day 2. It is important to note that the structure sheet for this event has a misprint on it stating registration will be open through eight levels, but that is not correct, so please be aware that it will close at the start of Day 2.
With those advancing joining the 70 survivors from Day 1a, there will be a combined 187 players moving forward in this prestigious event. Throughout the day, local satellite winners, online grinders, seasoned veterans, and international stars all took a chance, but unfortunately for the likes of Rory Young, Vanessa Rousso, Antonio Esfandiari, Mike Watson, Bruno Politano, Dan Heimiller, and Daniel Negreanu, they all found themselves on the rail.
Sydney's Tam Truong would claim the Day 1b chip lead with an impressive 155,875 in chips, but the overall chip lead would still belong to Day 1a's Tobias Reinkemeier and his 171,925-chip stack. Sitting behind Truong from the second starting flight are Kahle Burns (152,050), Michael O'Grady (148,475), and Victor Teng (140,325).
Brian Rast, Frank Kassela, Jonathan Duhamel, Ismael Bojang, Greg Merson, Ami Barer, Byron Kaverman, and Eddy Sabat still wave the flag for the international stars, while WSOP Player of the Year leader George Danzer and his direct competition Brandon Shack-Harris also still remain.
Day 2 is set to begin at 12:30 p.m. local time with all the live updates being provided by the PokerNews Live Reporting team. Make sure to join us here on PokerNews tomorrow as we continue writing the path of the 2014 WSOP Asia-Pacific Main Event champion.
, which they all checked. Action repeated itself on the 
turn, and then the big blind and Negreanu checked the 
river.
for a bluff. Negreanu then tabled the 
for the win.
board saw Rubie outdraw the recent Event 8: AU$5,000 8-Game Mixed 5th place finisher to put him on the rail as Rubie saw his stack climb to roughly 71,000 in chips.
. Benson bet 2,900, Brummelhuis made it 6,700 and Benson then reraised to 12,300.
and Benson called with 
. Instead of the flush, the 
turn and the 
river gave Benson a full house. "Not my tournament," Brummelhuis said when leaving the tournament area.
against Negreanu, who had raised from early position. Pfutzenreuter then check-called a bet on the 
flop as well as on a blank turn.
