July 28 2012, Josh Bell

The 2012 PokerStars.net Australia New Zealand Poker Tour Queenstown Snowfest Main Event played down to a final table on Saturday. Ken Demlakian leads the final nine and is in the best position to take home the title and the NZD$110,000 first-place prize.

The penultimate day of play began with 31 players, all with high hopes of making the final table. It took just a few minutes to eliminate three players at the start of Day 3 and from there, the eliminations kept flying fast and furiously. Six players were eliminated during the first level of the day, and almost half the field was gone by the end of the second.

In the early stages of the third level, 2009 APPT Sydney champion Aaron Benton was crippled when he three-bet shoved holding and ran into Tatjana Zizic’s . Benton held just a couple of big blinds after that hand and was eliminated a short while later when he ran into Ricky Kroesen’s .

It was also during the third level of the day that the money bubble was reached. First, Billy “The Croc” Argyros was eliminated in dramatic fashion two spots off the money. Argyros got his stack all-in holding against David Zhao’s and managed to turn a set after the flop housed an . It was looking good for Argyros to stay alive, but an on the river would give the lead back to Zhao and eliminate Argyros with no money to show for his three days at the felt. After Argyros’ elimination, hand-for-hand play would last around half an hour before Michael Kanaan was sent home as the “bubble boy.”

Kanaan had a roller coaster afternoon, first losing a huge chunk of his stack in a cooler situation when he lost set versus set against the eventual chip leader, Demlakian. It would then be Demlakian who sealed Kanaan’s fate, with Demlakian hitting a set on the river of a board after Kanaan got it in good on the flop holding .

With the bubble popped, the 15 remaining players were guaranteed at least a min-cash of NZD$7,050. The first few in-the-money eliminations occurred quickly, with Jason O’Brien going home in 15th place, Tatjana Zizic in 14th and Michael Fadersen in 13th. David Wonson was then eliminated in 12th place and only 11 players remained.

Play started to slow down at this point, with the prospect of making the final table fresh in the players’ minds. Eventually Stewart Ballard was eliminated in 11th place, followed by Chiu Yeung Lee in 10th. Lee got all his chips in the middle holding against Jordan Westmorland’s . The board ran out , giving Westmorland a straight and sending Lee home as the unlucky final table bubble-boy.

A stacked final nine includes some of the best players from around Australasia. Demlakian, who finished Day 1b as the chip leader, is followed closely by Westmorland and Zhao. Also at the final table are David Allan, Matt Wakeman and Kroesen. These three players are some of the most talented in Australia and so can not be ruled out. Also still in contention and looking to solidify his name as one of the best in the region is Team PokerStars Pro, Bryan Huang.

The full final table lineup, including chip counts, can be seen below.

2012 ANZPT Queenstown Snowfest Final Table

One of the above nine players will claim the ANZPT title and the NZ$110,600 first-place prize. Who will become the newest ANZPT champion? Make sure to join the PokerNews live reporting team from 1230 NZST Sunday (Sunday 1700 PDT) to find out!

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July 27 2012, Brett Collson

Before everyone is glued to their televisions for the start of the London Olympic Games, we’re here to deliver Friday’s biggest stories in the world of poker. In this edition of the Nightly Turbo, we’re covering an online poker deal in California, the new bling of the European Poker Tour, and more.

In Case You Missed It

The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs released a discussion draft of a bill on Internet gaming on Thursday. PokerNews’ Matthew Kredell breaks down the details.

Olympians from all over the world have made their way to London for the 2012 Olympic Games. PokerNews spoke with some members of Team USA who enjoy playing poker during their down time from competition.

How was the high-stakes action at the PokerStars tables this week? Read the Online Railbird Report to find out the week’s biggest winners and losers.

Poker coach Nick DiVella recently made a deep run in the World Series of Poker Main Event. In the latest Strategy With Kristy podcast, DiVella discussed some key hands he had along the way.

Day 2 of the 2012 Australia New Zealand Poker Tour Queenstown Snowfest Main Event came to a close on Friday. Find out who advanced to Day 3 in our daily ANZPT recap.

Cantor Prepares for Online Poker in California

On Friday, Cantor Gaming and Horse Racing United announced an exclusive agreement under which Cantor would develop an Internet poker platform once online poker is legalized in California.

Cantor Gaming, which operates race and sports books across seven Las Vegas resorts, would provide Horse Racing United the technology and supporting infrastructure to operate an online poker site within state lines. The agreement is subject to Horse Racing United receiving a license to operate an intrastate gambling website. Horse Racing United is a not-for-profit organization representing the interests of substantially all Thoroughbred racing and breeding within California.

Horse Racing United and Cantor Gaming are both supporters of Senate Bill 1463, which was introduced in California last February. The bill seeks to generate “hundreds of millions of dollars” for the state in the fiscal year 2012-13. California is facing one of its most concerning budgetary crises in its history, and many state politicians have looked to online gaming to help get the budget under control.

“As other states begin to move to legalize online gaming, California is well positioned to leverage its size and generate revenue that otherwise would not exist,” said Lee M. Amaitis, president and CEO of Cantor Gaming. “If enacted, it will provide additional support to California’s horse racing industry.”

The online poker deal is the second made by Cantor Gaming in California. Last month, the company agreed to provide mobile gaming for Colusa Casino Resort.

Read more in Cantor Gaming’s press release.

New Watches for EPT Winners

When Season 9 of the European Poker Tour kicks off next month, a new piece of hardware will be up for grabs at every stop.

Each of the six EPT Main Event winners will receive a “Black and Steel” design Slyde by HD3 watch worth “5,480. In addition, the winner of the PokerStars.com and Monte-Carlo®Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final will receive a “Black and Rose Gold” design a retail value of “9,000.

“The EPT is delighted to be working with Slyde by HD3, and are very pleased to be offering our winners these beautiful watches as part of their prize,” said EPT President Edgar Stuchly. “We are looking forward to an exciting Season 9, and the fact that we are working with such a prestigious brand of luxury Swiss watches shows the appeal of the European Poker Tour to companies outside of poker.”

Season 9 gets under way Aug. 15 in Barcelona. The tour then makes stops in San Remo, Prague, the Bahamas, Deauville, London, and Berlin before the Monte-Carlo®Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final in May 2013.

The full EPT schedule can be found right here at PokerNews.com.

888poker Revenue Skyrockets

888 Holdings Plc, which operates 888poker.com, announced this week that poker revenues for the second quarter of 2012 were up 59 percent over Q2 of 2011. Revenue reached $20 million from April 1 through June 30 of this year, up from $13 million last year.

888 also had 378,000 active business-to-consumer customers in the second quarter, a 63 percent increase over the same quarter last year. The company said the numbers were “primarily boosted by ongoing product improvements, targeted marketing and effective CRM.”

888 CEO Brian Mattingly credited the positive results to the company’s marketing campaigns and market-leading customer relationship management. “We have the right product offering and back office capabilities to grow and sustain market share, as indicated by the success in building a significant market share in the newly regulated Spanish poker market,” Mattingly said in a statement.

888poker has done well in the new Spanish gaming market, which opened early last month. According to PokerScout.com, 888poker.es ranks second to PokerStars.es in real-money ring game traffic. Meanwhile, 888poker’s dot-com offering ranks fourth overall behind PokerStars, iPoker and PartyPoker.

Read the full financial report at 888′s website.

Declarations in Queenstown

Liam O’Rourke won’t agree that he crushes online poker tournaments. We’ll let you be the judge after his chat with PokerNews’ Nicki Pickering during the ANZPT Queenstown Main Event.

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