Home / Poker News October 2009 / APPT Auckland Day 1A – Aussies dominate
APPT Auckland Day 1A – Aussies dominate
Posted by: James Carter. - Sat, 2009-10-17 10:40
135 players bellied up to the tables of the SkyCity Casino in Auckland, New Zealand on Day 1A of the second leg of the 2009
PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker tour. Due to the remoteness of the location, the majority of Day 1A players were either from New Zealand or from Australia, though a respectable number of professional players from all over the world were also present.
The host of the event, the SkyCity Casino is located at the bottom of the SkyTower, the tallest skyscraper in the Southern Hemisphere. The casino’s poker room features 18 tables, and besides the APPT’s Auckland stop, the venue plays host to the SkyCity Festival of Poker too.
Last year, the APPT’s Auckland title went to Daniel Craker, who’d pocketed a prize of NZD 257,040. Craker was present on Day 1A, looking to defend his title and to possibly have another generous payday.
Among the 135 starters, Team PokerStars pros were well represented. Celina Lin from Team PokerStars Asia was there, together with Australian pros Grant Levy and Emad Tahtouh. The PokerStars contingent did well, so well as a matter of fact that at the end of the day, Tahtouh was the one with the largest stack of chips, having secured his Day 2 seat in style. Graeme Putt, Lee Nelson, Kevin Clark and Dennis Waterman were also there. Lee Nelson (known online as “FinalTable”) kicked off the hostilities by calling out the traditional “Shuffle up and deal!” A few minutes later, he was eliminated, having hit the rail in the very first hand he played. The hand which proved fatal for him was just the second of the entire event. Sherif Badran, who’d hit a set on the flop was the source of the trouble. Nelson went on to hit a bigger set on the turn, but the river gave Badran quads and sent Nelson and his boat to the rail to contemplate the importance of luck in the early stages of live tournaments.
PokerStars’ Emad Tahtouh, the eventual chip leader had a rough start. He barely escaped elimination during the first level of the day, but then he bounced back with a vengeance. He eliminated people left and right and built up a 162,900 stack, which was pretty impressive considering that second place Michael Shinzaki had only managed to amass 109,800. Levy and Lin both survived to see action on Day 2.
