Of the Kiwis Lee Nelson, Jackson Zheng, Simon Watt, Jason Brown, Linas Leonovis and Koray Turker all remain. Well be trying our best to keep you updated throughout day 2. If you have any news feel free to comment below.

Table 6

Seat 1: Giuseppe Scaravilli (Australia) 35500

Seat 2: Lee Nelson (New Zealand) Team PokerStars Australia 15100

Seat 3: Bassam Habib (Australia) 32900

Seat 4: Jarrad Graham (Australia) 93000

Seat 5: Joseph Moussa (Australia) 16600

Seat 6: Rabii Maatouk (Australia) 58000

Seat 7: Antoine Amourette (France) PokerStars Qualifier 90100

Seat 8: Andrew Hiscox (Australia) 107600

Seat 9: Ali Khalil (Australia) 84900

Table 7

Seat 1: Todor Kondevski (Australia) 64100

Seat 2: Alan Bustany (Australia) 70300

Seat 3: Colin Morris-Denby (Australia) 18200

Seat 4: Mishel Anunu (Australia) PokerStars Player 15500

Seat 5: Daniel Neilson (Australia) PokerStars Qualifier 164100

Seat 6: Ben Gilholme (Australia) 31500

Seat 7: Antonis Kambouroglou (Australia) 119200

Seat 8: Jonathan Karamalikis (Australia) 83500

Seat 9: Eddy Sabat (United States) PokerStars Player 79200

Table 8

Seat 1: Maksim Semisoshenko (Russian Federation) PokerStars Qualifier 75500

Seat 2: Jimmy Ghobrial (Australia) 48500

Seat 3:Francois Fannierei (Malta) PokerStars Qualifier 20600

Seat 4: David Giang (Australia) 40800

Seat 5: Bas Prens (Netherlands) PokerStars Qualifier 16700

Seat 6: Emad Moaref (Australia) 31600

Seat 7: Michael Pedley (Australia) PokerStars Qualifier 75400

Seat 8: David Saab (Australia) 94900

Seat 9: Ruggiero Ambrosino (Australia) 59300

Table 9

Seat 1: Casey Kastle (Slovenia) PokerStars Player 45400

Seat 2: Daniel Negreanu (United States) Team PokerStars Canada 57400

Seat 3: Antanas “Tony G” Guoga (Australia) 47800

Seat 4: Aaron Benton (Australia) PokerStars Sponsored Player 59400

Seat 5: Wayne Carlson (Australia) 18500

Seat 6: Peter Dykes (Australia) 52700

Seat 7: To Be Identified 3 35950

Seat 8: Hugo Bolzan Silveira (Brazil) PokerStars Qualifier 45200

Seat 9: Jackson Zheng (New Zealand) 87900

Table 10

Seat 1: Andrew Stergiotis (Australia) 52000

Seat 2: Hugh Cohen (Australia) PokerStars Qualifier 75200

Seat 3: Koray Turker (New Zealand) PokerStars Qualifier 49400

Seat 4: Phillip Willcocks (Australia)    32900

Seat 5: Andrew Kanaridis (Australia) PokerStars Qualifier 96800

Seat 6: Omer Silatozija (Australia) 27900

Seat 7: Elias Srour (Australia) 13000

Seat 8: Con Angelakis (Australia) 25800

Seat 9: Roy Vandersluis (Australia) 21400

Table 11

Seat 1: Miray Badaoui (Australia) 93100

Seat 2: Andrew Gaw (Australia) 52500

Seat 3: Stewart Scott (Australia) PokerStars Qualifier 18500

Seat 4: Angelo Scicchitano (Australia) 52900

Seat 5: Tyron Krost (Australia) 100800

Seat 6: Tristan Earl (Australia) PokerStars Qualifier 11900

Seat 7: Linas Leonovis (New Zealand) PokerStars Qualifier 79600

Seat 8: George Moussa (Australia) 67200

Seat 9: Vijayan Nagarajan (Malaysia) PokerStars Qualifier 118300

Table 10

Seat 1: Manuel Hansimikali (Australia) 136600

Seat 2: Chris Bianco (Australia) 86000

Seat 3: Tamara Ben-Moha (Australia) 30600

Seat 4: Jovo Scekic (Australia) 24400

Seat 5: Michael Tran (Australia) 21600

Seat 6: Sam Muir (Australia) 51900

Seat 7: John Maklouf (Australia) PokerStars Qualifier 44500

Seat 8: Julian Cohen (Australia) PokerStars Qualifier 46900

Seat 9: Gordon Huntly (Scotland) PokerStars Qualifier 54700

Seat 10: Silkin Mong (Australia) 56500

Table 13

Seat 1: Camil Debsia (Australia) 8100

Seat 2: Rodney Louie (Australia) 22500

Seat 3: Martin Rowe (Australia) 24100

Seat 4: Cale Callaway(Australia) PokerStars Qualifier 39300

Seat 5: Joe Hachem (Australia) Team PokerStars Australia 46050

Seat 6: Kristina Jeney (Australia) 70200

Seat 7: David Saghabi (Australia) 97700

Seat 8: Josh Barrett (Australia) PokerStars Qualifier 16500

Seat 9: Edi Harbas (Australia) PokerStars OZ/NZ Freeroll Qualifier 37200

Table 14

Seat 1: Michael Fraser (Australia) 27100

Seat 2: Roel Pijpers (Netherlands) PokerStars Qualifier 64000

Seat 3: Anthony Tarabay (Australia) 7500

Seat 4: To Be Identified 2 83200

Seat 5: Norman Doucette (Canada) PokerStars Qualifier 90000

Seat 6: Stephen Wise (Australia) 21900

Seat 7: Grant Levy (Australia) 92900

Seat 8: Sam Capra (Australia) 38200

Seat 9: Liam O’Rourke (Australia) PokerStars Qualifier 65700

Table 15

Seat 1: Alexander Dickinson (Australia) 29200

Seat 2: Abbas Karroobee (Australia) 35900

Seat 3: Con Karamanlis (Australia) PokerStars Qualifier 39900

Seat 4: George Boustani (Australia) 28700

Seat 5: Aleks Brkovic (Australia)129100

Seat 6: Peter Mathias (Australia) 68100

Seat 7: Simon Watt (New Zealand) 59200

Seat 8: Heinz Kamutzki (Australia) 79200

Seat 9: Stanley Wu (Australia) 50000

Table 16

Seat 1: Mitch Carle (Australia) 32600

Seat 2: Mark Rebeira (Australia) PokerStars Qualifier 60000

Seat 3: David Munsie (Australia) PokerStars Qualifier 53700

Seat 4: Michel Bouskila (Australia) 20200

Seat 5: Rennie Carnevale (Australia) PokerStars Qualifier 36800

Seat 6: David Felton (Australia) 41600

Seat 7: Benjamin McLean (Australia) PokerStars Qualifier 42700

Seat 8: Billy Argyros (Australia) PokerStars Qualifier 54200

Seat 9: Daniel Ward (Australia) 59100

Table 17

Seat 1: Martin Drewe (Australia) 22200

Seat 2: Dean Nyberg (Australia) 60800

Seat 3: Jesse Mckenzie (Australia) PokerStars Qualifier 22200

Seat 4: Jason Brown (New Zealand) PokerStars Qualifier 83000

Seat 5: Reza Vakili (Australia) 129800

Seat 6: Joe Marchal (Australia) 45000

Seat 7: Vesko Zmukic (Australia) 26600

Seat 8: Joel Dodds (Australia) 61900

Seat 9: Konstantin Bücherl (United Kingdom) PokerStars Qualifier 38175

Table 18

Seat 1: Brent Bibby (Canada) PokerStars Player 128800

Seat 2: Stephen Holloway (Australia) PokerStars Qualifier 6100

Seat 3: John Bockos (Australia) 41500

Seat 4: Rami Hakim (Australia) 30300

Seat 5: Brad Walker (Australia) 44200

Seat 6: Stefan Streifeneder (Australia) 60200

Seat 7: David Allan (Australia) PokerStars Qualifier 45800

Seat 8: Ismail Ismail (Australia) 46100

Seat 9: Eng Chang (Australia) 24100

Table 21

Seat 1: Esan Tabrizi (Australia) 50600

Seat 2: Dongying Ling (Singapore) PokerStars Qualifier 10000

Seat 3: Leo Boxell (Australia) 36900

Seat 4: David Gorr (Australia) 52500

Seat 5: Barry Forrester (Australia) 107200

Seat 6: Enh Phengsavanh (Australia) 80500

Seat 7: Craig Bourke (Australia) PokerStars Qualifier 68900

Seat 8: Yann Pauchon (Australia) 73400

Seat 9: Aleksej Baranovski (Australia) PokerStars Qualifier 41400

Table 22

Seat 1: Andrew Hinrichsen (Australia) PokerStars Qualifier 64000

Seat 2: Asuncion Orna (Philippines) PokerStars Asia Freeroll Qualifier 23600

Seat 3: Jose Pacheco De Noronha (Portugal) PokerStars Qualifier 63500

Seat 4: Heng Zhang (Australia) 47300

Seat 5: Aaron Tran (Australia) 147200

Seat 6: Jaime Kaplan (United States) PokerStars Qualifier 22600

Seat 7: Qi Xu (Australia) PokerStars Qualifier 23000

Seat 8: Rikki Papesch (Australia) PokerStars Qualifier 49400

Seat 9: Tom Grigg (Australia) PokerStars Qualifier 36500

Table 23

Seat 1: Tom Rafferty (Australia) 73400

Seat 2: Nigel Brine (Australia) PokerStars Sponsored Player 43000

Seat 3: Joachim Chia (Singapore) PokerStars Qualifier 34100

Seat 4: Chris Ayoub (Australia) 21300

Seat 5: Anthony Kanaan (Australia) 91400

Seat 6: Jason Gray (Australia) 55700

Seat 7: Paul O’Brien (Australia) PokerStars Qualifier 45900

Seat 8: Craig Blight (Australia) PokerStars Qualifier 27600

Seat 9: Rodney Sahyoun (Australia) PokerStars Player 26100

Table 24

Seat 1: Sean Dunwoodie (Australia) 95400

Seat 2: Brendan Rubie (Australia) 46700

Seat 3: Kamyar Ekrami (Australia) 10500

Seat 4: Kent Huner (Austtralia) 21175

Seat 5: Danny Huynh (Australia) 45400

Seat 6: Jonyson Azzi (Australia) PokerStars Qualifier 56100

Seat 7: Jackie Glazier (Australia) 48600

Seat 8: Thomas Wing (Australia) 21100

Seat 9: Ben Toni (Australia) 38500

Table 25

Seat 1: Jai Kemp (Australia)108600

Seat 2: Chris Levick    (Australia)19600

Seat 3: To Be Identified 8200

Seat 4: Jay Kinkade (Australia) 82500

Seat 5: Wolfgang Wurzer (Germany) PokerStars Qualifier 25000

Seat 6: Sal Fazzino (Australia) PokerStars Qualifier 60000

Seat 7: Jong-Hyun Lim (South Korea) PokerStars Qualifier 42000

Seat 8: In Wook Choi (South Korea) PokerStars Qualifier 66500

Seat 9: Peco Stojanovski (Australia) 82100

Click { here } for live reporting

Jason Senti
Soi Nguyen
Filippo Candio
Matthew Jarvis
John Racener
Joseph Cheong
John Dolan
Jonathan Duhamel

Jason Senti (Chip Count 7.625M)

A 25 year old poker professional from Minnesota, Senti is probably better known as “PBJaxx” online, where he also works as a BlueFirePoker instructor. He comes to the final table with a lot of respect from the online community, but very little to show in the way of tournament experience. Senti isn’t a well known live threat, posting just a single cash for $17,987 in last years WSOP Heads Up championship and no other cashes.

He instead acts as a specialist in online cash games from $5/$10 all the way to $50/$100, so Senti has plenty of practice playing high stakes poker. He does have a profit on the online tournament scene for the year, showing a $29,897 profit for the year under PBJaxx. He also has the help of the entire BlueFire Poker team, including another player that made a deep run in this year’s Main Event, Phil Galfond.

Senti had spoke earlier in the main event about how well he had ran, explaining on his run from 20 BB’s to 7th in chips on Day 7, “I ran great, everything’s just going my way right now!” He’ll need that luck to help him make a strong showing in November; he enters the November Nine as the short stack.

Soi Nguyen (Chip Count 9.65M)

Soi stands out at in the November Nine for a lot of reasons. He sits as the oldest of the remaining players, at the ripe old age of 37. The pride of California is also the only player not to list themselves as a professional poker player on their resume, instead making a living as an operations manager for a medical supply company.

But, as we’ve seen in the past from the old guard at the November Nine, the lack of youth and experience doesn’t always mean lack of skill; just ask the super aggressive Dennis Phillips about that. Soi follows in Phillips’ footsteps as another aggressive amateur, but that may be due to the company he keeps; he lists professionals JC Tran, Steve Sung, and the Le brothers (Tuan and Nam) as friends and tutors to the game he employs today.

Soi has a bit of catching up to do in the experience department, however; he claims this is only the 4th live tournament he’s ever played in. The lack of prior play doesn’t seem to phase him, however. “Being the amateur doesn’t bother me at all…This is the best time of my life. I didn’t think I had any shot. I just came for the experience.”

Michael Mizrachi (Chip Count 14.45M)

This has truly been the year of “The Grinder” at the WSOP. He starts the series off with a win at the $50,000 Player’s Championship for $1,559,046. He makes two more final tables in $10k events after that. Then, to cap off an already amazing WSOP, the 29 year old Miami professional ran that wave of power poker all the way to the final table at this year’s Main Event. After having some problems with taxes earlier in the year, some where whispering that Mizrachi’s days as a top professional were over, and that the game had already passed by the super aggressive Mizrachi.

His accomplishments in this year’s series have silenced the critics. A win in the Main Event would actually tie him with Frank Kassela for WSOP Player of the Year honors. The Grinder has a huge edge on the rest of the field in the live tournament experience department; he boasts a staggering $8,883,304 in live winnings, including 19 career titles. He’s won bracelets, WPT events, and has been under the glare of the TV cameras many times in his before in his career. “It’s just an exciting feeling, wherever I finish I’m happy I made the November Nine, it’s an accomplishment. I can’t say it won’t happen for me again, but you’re a long shot to pass through this field. You have to get lucky and survive in this large of a field.”

Candio is well aware of the importance of making the November Nine, both for his country and for his own future in poker. “I am very happy. I’m [ready] to be a November Niner with all my heart, with all of my techniques and with all of my skill. For me, I’m part of the history of poker, I’m the first Italian, the last European and the first Sardinian.”

Matthew Jarvis (Chip Count 16.7M)

The biggest wild card at the final table is the relatively unknown Canadian Jarvis, a 25 year old business student who had just recently decided to give the professional poker playing business another shot.

The timing could not have been better for the young pro, who will now at least multiply his live winnings twenty fold with the guaranteed $811,823 that goes with the November Nine appearance.

With just $61,245 in cashes prior to the final table, which includes exactly zero WSOP cashes and zero titles, the pro has the least credentials of anyone at the final table, except for Soi Nguyen. He’s certainly far from the least experienced or credentialed player to appear at the final table of the WSOP, but among this group he’s a bit down the ladder.

This hasn’t deterred Jarvis from showing the confidence needed to excel when the final table reconvenes, but with the structure of the Main Event, that’s probably in his favor – it wouldn’t take all that improbable a set of circumstances to see him rocket into contention for the title of World Series of Poker Main Event Champion.

Interview with Jarvis:

When asked about how he felt after reaching the November Nine, Jarvis remarked, “I think I’ve played pretty well and I’m feeling good. It’s amazing. It’s every poker player’s dream to make the November Nine. I’m stoked! Every thing’s good right now.”

John Racener (Chip Count 19.05M)

The second most accomplished player at the table, aside from The Grinder, Racener, a 24 year old pro from Florida, has a WSOP Circuit ring and a total of three six figure cashes already under his belt. His live and online winnings total up to a staggering $1,153,499. His skills were already well known through the well versed card players, but Racener now gets a chance to show the whole world the skill that has earned him 3 titles and over a million dollars in cashes in just a 3 year career as a professional.

The WSOP Circuit victory, at an Atlantic City stop, netted him $379,392 alone. He’s made 2 final tables at the WSOP lifetime prior to this one, but the chance to finally step into the spotlight and gain the recognition that has eluded him throughout his career makes this all the more sweet for Racener, who says, “I’m very excited. This is my dream. I’m very happy. Once they look at my stats they’ll see how well I’ve done in the past. … I’ve already had a lot of phone calls, Facebook and text messages. I’m just going to go home and enjoy it with my mom and my sister.”

Joseph Cheong (Chip Count 23.525M)

Even getting his aces cracked midway through Day 8 couldn’t stop Joseph “subiime” Cheong from making it to the final table.

The double major in Math and Economics (with a B.S. in Psychology, to boot) also boasts a live win at a WSOP Circuit event at Harrah’s Rincon for $17,000 this March.

The 24 year old poker pro from California (born in South Korea) has three years of pro status and over 10,000 recorded tournaments played under his online handle, which has amassed a total of $307,772 in winnings from the live and online felt. He’ll be entering the final table of the Main Event with more than enough chips to add some serious cash to that total – in fact, the minimum cash would almost quadruple his lifetime earnings instantly.

However, it doesn’t sound as if he’s shooting to make the minimum. When asked about the eight days of play behind him, Cheong said, “I’m exhausted, but I’m relieved that I’m finally at the final table of the main event. I’m playing to win the whole tournament. I haven’t slowed down on any of the bubbles, though the equity of the November Nine made me think about it. I’m ready to win this tournament.”

As you can see from his PTR graph, he barely ever touches cash games:

John Dolan (Chip Count 46.25M)

An accomplished dual threat in the online and live tournament realms, John “JRD312” Dolan is one of the more decorated professionals left in the field.

The 23 year old Floridian has $216,556 in live tournament cashes, including a 6th place finish in Event 36 at this year’s WSOP for $82,804. He’s also cashed for over $1.1 million dollars on FTP and PokerStars, with wins in the $100 and $200 rebuy (PokerStars) and the $1k Monday (FTP) to his name.

Even with his 2nd place stack, he has the unfortunate distinction of having the aggressive Canadian chip leader, Jonathan Duhamel, to his direct left when play resumes in November. However, the fame and glamor associated with being a part of the biggest final table in poker don’t seem to be phasing him much, compared to the financial security that making it this far can bring.

When asked how he plans on spending his next four months, Dolan said, “I’ll probably just float along for the next few months to be honest. I’ve already cashed for a good chunk of money but i would love to be able to get up in the money and not have to worry about stuff for a long time.”

Jonathan Duhamel (Chip Count 65.975M)

Our chip leader is a 22 year old Canadian pro that administered one of the most heart-wrenching beats (that you will see on TV, surely) in WSOP history. Duhamel claims to be a cash player primarily, but has $126,308 in live tournament cashes to his credit, although none of the cashes listed for him are victories. He did have two prior cashes in this year’s WSOP for a total of $43,000, but having played 17 different events during the series, he was very likely in the red for the WSOP prior to the Main Event.

He’s only been a pro for a year and a half, but that hasn’t stopped him from running away with an impressive chip lead heading into the final 9, with more than a quarter of the chips in play at his disposal. He also has a large amount of confidence, telling reporters that he had no plans on getting a coach or training in the months leading up to the final table.

When asked about the Main Event being a struggle, however, Duhamel’s response shows the poise and character needed to approach being the chip leader of the most prestigious event in poker. “No, it feels pretty easy. You just gotta play good hands, win your flips, then it’s easy.”

Quick Bios for the November Nine

Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi

For a fan of poker, Mizrachi needs no introduction. Easily the most accomplished tournament player of the November Nine, he’s already got 23 WSOP cashes for more than $2 million, and he has $8.6 million in live tournament cashes in his career. Despite his success in live poker, he didn’t win his first bracelet until this year, when he took down the $50K Players Championship for $1.5 million. If he wins the main event, he’ll have won the first and last open events of the 2010 tournament series. Mizrachi has also won two World Poker Tour events. Mizrachi is from a poker-playing family — all three of his brothers made the money in this year’s main event.

Jason “PBJaxx” Senti

Senti is a cash-game pro who is an instructor at poker training site BlueFire Poker, which features Phil “OMGClayAiken” as its lead instructor. He plays cash games online of anywhere from $5/$10 to $50-$100. According to his bio at BlueFire Poker, the Minnesota resident left his job as an electrical engineeer to play poker professionally, he plays guitar and he is a member of a band. His only cash in live tracked tournaments came at last year’s WSOP heads-up world championship. He finished 21st for about $17,000.

Joseph “subiime” Cheong

Hailing from California, the Korean-born Cheong is much better known for his online game. Playing as “subiime” on Full Tilt, he’s got $820K in cashes and $270K in profit. His biggest cash came last year in a miniFTOPS event for $55K. He’s got eight five-figure scores at Full Tilt in his career. At PokerStars, he’s got more than $400K in cashes and over $70K in profits. He has a few live cashes, the most notable coming in the WSOP Circuit event at Harrah’s Rincon in March of this year. He beat out PokerStars pro David Williams heads-up to win an event and more than $17K.

John “jrd312? Dolan

Dolan is one of the more accomplished live tournament players left, albeit on a smaller scale. He has $222K in live tournament cashes, including a final table at this year’s WSOP. He was sixth in one of the $1K buy-in events for $82K. He also finished in 32nd in a $1,500 event. He also won $32K last year in the Gulf Coast Poker Championship — a hefty sum considering it was a $300 buy-in event. The Floridian is also a pretty good online player. He’s won the Full Tilt $1K Monday for about $94K for his biggest online score. He’s also won the Sunday Mulligan at FTP, and the Sunday Warmup and the daily $100 rebuy (twice) at PokerStars.

Jonathan Duhamel

The Canadian will be sitting on the chip lead for the better part of four months when the main event resumes in November. He’s become a force at the table over the last two days of the ME, chipping up from 4 million to over 60 million. The Canadian has two sizable live tournament scores: €42K in the European Poker Tour Prague in 2008 in a €5K event and $37K in a $2.5K no-limit hold’em event at this year’s WSOP.

John “$JMONEY$” Racener

The Floridian has the most live tournament success of anyone left at the final table this side of Michael Mizrachi, and he’s also a threat online. He’s got more than a million in cashes in live tournaments, the biggest coming in 2007 in a WSOP circuit event in Atlantic City. He won the $5K main event of the circuit stop for $379K. He’s got two other six-figure scores to his name, one in a WPT event, the other in another circuit event. While he has 10 WSOP cashes, he’s never hit it big in the Vegas tournament series. He’s also had a lot of success in online poker — he plays as “$30K” on PokerStars and as “POCKET FIVE” at Full Tilt — with 18 five-figure scores to his name.

Matthew Jarvis

The Canadian from British Columbia is one of two players at the final table with no prior WSOP cashes, and he’s made his first one a doozy. He’s been hanging around the chip leaders since the start of day 7, and he’s rode that stack to the final table. Before the main event, he’s had $60K in live tournament cashes, but he’s never won a tournament tracked by the major tracking websites.

Soi (Cuong) Nguyen

Perhaps the least experienced player at the final table is Nguyen. He’s got no WSOP cashes, and according to his profile at the World Series of Poker web site, the main event is only his fourth live poker tournament. The Californian originally from Vietnam was near the chip lead for periods of time on days 7 and 8, but will be in the middle of the pack when the final table begins.

Filippo Candio

The Italian is not exactly a household name, or even a well-known name in the world of poker. But he was named a member of Team PokerStars, as the online poker site is aggressive in locking up European talent. But during the main event, he’s apparently changed his allegiance to Full Tilt, as he has been sporting FTP gear. His biggest score came in 2009, when he won the Italian Championship for $185K. Before the main event, he had just one WSOP cash for $3K.

Images thanks to WSOP, text by DUSTIN GOUKER.

Fingers crossed Kiwis!!!!!!!

================================

Sadly we have lost one of the characters of the ANZPT and Bruno Portaro has left the table.

Trevor Potts opened with a raise to 18,000 before Bruno Portaro moved all in for a little over 60,000. Potts asked for a count before making the call.

Portaro: AsKc
Potts: 8d8h

The board came out to reveal, 2h6c4h7sTs leaving Potts’ pair in front to eliminate Portaro in 9th place, he takes home $6,500 for his troubles.

======================

It seems our own Brotha D is unstoppable!

After successfully making the final table and stacking up chips from a lot of very well played hands, his recent effort of bluffing the big boys has paid off in spades…

To follow the hand by hand descriptions of what’s going down, be sure to check out www.anzpt.com.

Here’s the latest feed from their site, looks like Brotha D is shaping up for a good night…

3:13pm: Bluffin’ Brotha

Trevor Potts raised the hijack position to 16,000 with Bruno Portaro and Brotha D calling to see a flop of JDJSTH. Action checked around and the turn brought the 3H. Again it checked through and the river was the 9C. Brotha D led out for 26,000. Potts thought for a moment before folding and Bruno quickly followed as Brotha D flashed 6D4D for the airball!

3:00pm: Level up, blinds 3000-6000, ante 500

2:58pm: River check-raise for Flanagan

Anthony Flanagan has jumped into the chip lead after a big river check-raise against Bruno Portaro. Both players had committed 35,000 on the turn before Flanagan checked the river on a board of 4D3DJCQC9S. Portaro fired 42,000 but Flanagan responded by moving all in.

Portaro deliberated for several minutes before eventually releasing to save his last 110,000 for a better spot. Meanwhile Flanagan is now up to 340,000 and into the chip lead.

The North Island has been crazy, just under 1000 people playing 11 stops! NO pressure Main Island! Bring it on!

Brooke Howard-Smith

Players were welcomed to the tournament with a traditional Maori song and haka and speeches from SKYCITY Auckland’s General Manager of Casino Operations Ejaaz Dean and Tournament Director Danny McDonagh. PokerStars.net professional player Tony Hachem was asked to announce the shuffle up and deal and play was underway for Day 1b in one of New Zealand’s largest poker tournaments.

The Day 1b field was notably larger thank Day 1a field with notable players including PokerStars.net Team Pro and SKYCITY Poker Ambassador Lee ‘Final Table’ Nelson, PokerStars.net Team Pro Tony Hachem, New Zealand Comedian Mike King and 2009 SKYCITY Festival of Poker winner and World Series of Poker bracelet winner Simon Watt competed today.

The total number of entrants into the 2010 SKYCITY Festival of Poker was finalised at 218 confirming the total prize pool to be NZD $654,000.00. Players in the 2010 SKYCITY Festival of Poker were represented by 20 countries including New Zealand, Australia, The United Kingdom, United States, New Caledonia, Hungary and Russia. Players will play seven levels today and those who survive will join the 41 who made it through Day 1a in Fridays Day 2.

For more information, including structures, schedules, terms and conditions and how to buy into the remaining events during the SKYCITY Festival of Poker, see www.festivalofpoker.co.nz <http://www.festivalofpoker.co.nz> .

For the latest updates go to out facebook site… We’re staeling updates from around the room, adding our own combining them and spitting them out to our friends…

http://www.facebook.com/PokerNZ

Seat 1: Tamas Lendvai – Hungary
Online qualifier Tamas Lendvai came to Auckland all the way from Hungary. The 38-year-old businessman moonlights as a professional poker player and has been playing cards for about five years. Lendvai enters the final table with 472,000 in chips.

Seat 4: Tom Grigg – Australia
Tom Grigg is a 25-year-old student who resides in Melbourne, Australia. He’s been playing poker for the larger part of three years and in that time has amassed career live tournament earnings in excess of $150,000 USD. Hrooe once again enters the final table as one of its biggest stacks with 616,000 in chips.

Seat 6: Danny Silk – Australia
Danny Silk is a 31-year-old professional poker player from Australia’s Gold Coast. A five-year veteran of the game, Silk is looking to add his first six-figure score to his tournament résumé. Silk enters the final table with 250,000 in chips.

Seat 7: Danny ‘Brotha D’ Leaoasavaii – New Zealand
South Auckland, New Zealand native Danny ‘Brotha D’ Leaoasavaii is the co-founder of Dawn Raid Entertainment, a hip-hop record label based in the South Pacific. The label made in a big splash in the North American market back in 2008 with the release of the hit single “Swing,” performed by RIAA certified platinum rapper ‘Savage.’
Commonly referred to as the “godfather of hip-hop in New Zealand,” 40-year-old Brotha D has seen some moderate success in the poker world, having won back-to-back SKYCITY Festival of Poker Celebrity Invitational titles (2009 & 2010). Brotha D has been playing poker for about four years, and in that time he has yet to record a big-buy-in tournament cash. Already guaranteed NZD $16,350 for reaching the final table, this will be Brotha D’s best tournament finish to date. You can guarantee hips will swing at the after party, should Brotha D command a victory at Sunday’s final table. He’ll start the day with a field-leading 636,000 in chips.

Seat 9: Srdjan Mitrovic – New Zealand
Srdjan Mitrovic, a relative novice to high stakes tournament poker, has only been playing poker for 21 months. Before Auckland, Mitrovic had never played in a SKYCITY Festival of Poker event. The 32-year-old software engineer resides in Auckland and considers himself a recreational poker player. Mitrovic will begin the final table with 632,000 in chips; second only to chip leader ‘Brotha D.’

Aussie Millions FREEROLL!

OK, it’s a few weeks away yet, but before you know it, Aussie Millions week will be upon us. Now, luckily for you, I’ve managed to find an amazing package that PokerNZ players can win!

The amazing $15,000US package includes:

• A 10 night stay at the luxurious Crown Promenade – January 22nd to February 1st.

• Entry to the official Aussie Millions Welcome Party – January 22nd.

• $10,500 Entry into the Aussie Millions Main Event – January 24th

• Entry to the Aussie Millions $50,000.00 Freeroll – January 26th.

• Entry to the Aussie Millions Farewell Party – January 31st.

• $1,500.00 cash to help with travel expenses.

This is an amazing package!!

Now, to enter it’s real simple:

First, this is only open to NEW members of Players Only, you need to click this link here: http://www.pokernz.com/Recommends/PlayersOnly

Or click one of the Players Only banners on this site, sign up and deposit.

You need to generate 200 Frequent Player Points (it’s easy, you can earn up to 3 FPP’s per hand) and then you will be given an exclusive entry to the Aussie Millions EXCLUSIVE ENTRY FREEROLL on November 29th at 3:00pm EST.

Now as a poker player, you must be able to figure the odds on this one!

THIS IS AWESOME! Head over to Players Only now, this is not being advertised on their site, it is exclusive. The only Aussie Millions tourneys on their site are one’s you will need to play up for with the rest of the world. You will need to click through one of the links on this site to qualify for the FREEROLL.

If you fancy your chances at the Aussie Millions this year, get in there now!

http://www.pokernz.com/Recommends/PlayersOnly

You’ll also get 100% match on your first deposit! Good luck!

Simon Watt wins The 2009 FOP

After a fantastic Festival of Poker, Simon Watt from Auckland’s North Shore took out the main event and won for himself over $200,00!

It was another brilliant festival this year with many of the big names in the Australasian poker scene making the effort to compete in what has been the most successful festival yet.

The final standings and payouts were as follows:

The final standings and monies earned are as follows:

1. Simon Watt – Auckland, New Zealand – $209,085.00 NZD

2. Gerome Guitteau – Paris, France – $142,020.00 NZD

3. Jason Brown – Auckland, New Zealand – $82,845.00 NZD

4. Ke Sijia– China – $55,230.00 NZD

5. Richard Lancaster – Auckland, New Zealand – $42,606.00 NZD

6. Jens Walther – Germany – $31,560.00 NZD

7. Assadour Assadourian – Sydney, Australia – $23,670 NZD

8. Lance Climo – Hamilton, New Zealand – $18,936.00 NZD

9. Michael Shinzaki – Los Angeles, United States of America – $14,202.00 NZD

The final table FOP 2009

It’s final table time at the Auckland Festival of Poker and with that top prize of over $200,000 sitting out there, it’s only a matter of hours and we’ll see who takes it down.

Pictured here are the final table players and some info about them below.

Seat 1: Jason Brown from Auckland, New Zealand (709,000 in chips): The married father-of-two was as high as 1,000,000 in chips on day three of this event, but had to battle through some tough spots and comes to the final table in second chip position.

Seat 2: Richard Lancaster from Auckland, New Zealand (568,000 in chips): This 35-year-old local real estate agent and father of one is one of the more experienced players at the final table. He’s played in major tournaments around the world including Macau, Milan and the Aussie Millions in Melbourne. He also harnessed some valuable experience at last year’s SKYCITY Festival of Poker, and qualified for his Main Event here via a live satellite.

Seat 3: Ke Sijia from China (294,000 in chips): The 42-year-old full-time poker player has been jet setting between Australia and New Zealand in the past few years. He won his seat into the NZPT Auckland Main Event via a $120 satellite here at SKYCITY.

Seat 4: Assadour Assadourian from Sydney, Australia (231,000 in chips): The surname may be familiar to a lot of people, but this time it’s Assadour, the father of international player Eric Assadourian that takes his seat on the final table with 231,000 in chips.

Seat 5: Simon Watt from Auckland, New Zealand (581,000 in chips): A 26-year-old software developer, he was a former chip leader in this event with the size of his stack swinging wildly over the past two days. He is already assured a massive return on investment having qualified via a $22 rebuy event online.

Seat 6: Gerome Guitteau from Paris, France (1,204,000 in chips): Guitteau comes into the final table as our chip leader with more than 1.2 million in chips, a far cry from his early days learning the game of poker on his yacht while sailing the Indian Ocean. The 30-year-old full-time poker player was happy to reminisce about his nautical adventures, but it’s not only Gitteau that’s got game – his wife Claude-Estel is also a keen poker player having performed well in international tournaments.

Seat 7: Lance Climo from Hamilton, New Zealand (350,000 in chips): Just days before the SKYCITY Festival of Poker Main Event, this bar owner won his spot in a Last Chance Seat Only satellite online. The father of two has been playing poker for five years and this is by far his biggest result in the game.

Seat 8: Michael Shinzaki from Los Angeles, California, USA (620,000 in chips): Having made his start five years ago playing college home games, the 22-year-old UCLA sociology graduate has built up a bankroll online and is now traveling the world playing poker full-time.  “It feels really nice to make the final table,” Shinzaki said. “I’ve been playing really well and I’m looking forward to seeing more of New Zealand after this event.”

Seat 9: Jens Walther from Germany (335,000 in chips): The story of this qualifier from Germany should give hope to every aspiring pro. After winning an NZPT Auckland seat online, he decided to take the opportunity to journey to New Zealand to play in his first live event.