July 26 2012, Josh Bell

The third and final Day 1 flight of the 2012 PokerStars.net Australia New Zealand Poker Tour Queenstown Snowfest Main Event came to a close on Thursday. At the end of the day, Nurlan Boobekov had emerged as the chip leader, bagging up a stack of 69,200.

Forty-nine entries from Day 1c, combined with 51 from Day 1a and the 49 from Day 1b, created a total field of 149 and a prize pool of NZD$402,300. The remaining players will be chasing the NZD$110,600 first-place prize. With 27 players surviving Day 1a, 31 surviving Day 1b and the 29 still alive after Thursday’s Day 1c, there are 87 players who are still in contention to become the 2012 Queenstown Snowfest champion.

Some of those who began Day 1c but fell short of securing a Day 2 berth include Jan Suchanek, Keith Walker, John Apostolidis, Matty Yates and Australian Poker Hall of Fame member, Lee Nelson. Nelson’s run ended when he ran into Alicia Sale’s . The short-stacked Nelson simply showed a as he exited the tournament area.

Aaron Benton, Jarred Graham and Kristian Lunardi managed to use the final starting day as a springboard into Friday’s Day 2. 2011 APPT Melbourne champion Leo Boxell also survived Day 1c and is still in contention for the Queenstown Snowfest title.

Team PokerStars Pro Bryan Huang and PokerStars Team Online Pro Roy “GodlikeRoy” Bhasin are two other players who will be looking to make an impact in the late stages of this tournament. Huang and Bhasin both played on Day 1c, and both managed to bag up some chips at the end of the day.

Day 1c Top 10 Chip Stacks

The overall chip leader heading into Day 2 is David Allan from Day 1a, who holds a stack of 98,200. Interestingly enough, the top five chip stacks are all from Day 1a, with Ken Demlakian from Day 1b and Day 1c’s Boobekov filling the sixth and seventh spots on the leaderboard.

Day 2 will play out in a somewhat unique way with half the field engaged in three levels of action on Day 2a at 1230 NZST Friday (Saturday 1700 PDT). The other half will play three levels on Day 2b at 1600 NZST Friday (Saturday 2100 PDT). Surviving players from both Day 2 fields will then be combined later that same evening. Make sure to join the PokerNews live reporting team as they continue to bring you all the action from the 2012 ANZPT Queenstown Snowfest Main Event.

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July 25 2012, Brett Collson

Looking for the day’s biggest poker news? You’ve come to the right place. In this edition of the Nightly Turbo, we’re bringing you Victoria Coren’s interview with Rafael Nadal, Pinnacle Entertainment’s plans to expand the Heartland Poker Tour, and more.

In Case You Missed It

With two women bubbling the Main Event final table, what are the top stories left from the October Nine? Rich Ryan discusses that and more in his latest Five Thoughts piece.

The PokerNews Podcast crew assembled for the first time since the WSOP. This week, they talk to Amit Makhija about his deep run in the Main Event and his move to Vancouver.

In 1989, Don Zewin finished third place in the WSOP Main Event behind Phil Hellmuth and Johnny Chan. What has Zewin been up to lately? Find out in the the latest edition of Where Are They Now.

Day 1b of the 2012 PokerStars.net Australia New Zealand Poker Tour Queenstown Snowfest Main Event came to a close on Wednesday. Read about all of the action in our ANZPT recap.

Can you imagine a game that combines Scrabble and poker? Take a close look at Aspyr Media’s Poker Pals App.

We saw hundreds of different card protectors during the 2012 World Series of Poker. Which ones were the best? We bring you the top 10 in the latest edition of All Mucked Up.

Nadal on Poker

Tennis superstar and new Team PokerStars Pro Rafael Nadal recently pulled out of the London Olympic Games because of continuing knee problems. Will he spend some of his down time learning how to play poker at PokerStars? Fellow Team PokerStars Pro Victoria Coren sat down with Nadal to ask him about poker, tennis, and competition.

For the full interview, check out the Huffington Post UK.

Plans for Heartland

When Pinnacle Entertainment acquired the Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) and assets of Federated Sports + Gaming Inc. (FS + G) at a bankruptcy auction last month, the poker community was left wondering about the fate of the popular HPT tournament circuit.

On Wednesday, Pinnacle announced in its Q2 financial statement that it has big plans for the HPT in the future. Anthony Sanfilippo, president and chief executive officer of Pinnacle Entertainment, said that Pinnacle intends to “expand the Heartland Poker Tour and more extensively integrate its events into our property portfolio.” Pinnacle operates six casinos in St. Louis, Louisiana and Indiana.

“In July, we extended our development strategy and growth pipeline with the acquisition of the assets of Federated Sports and Gaming, Inc. and Federated Heartland Inc,” Sanfilippo said. “Through the Heartland Poker Tour purchase, we acquired an impressive portfolio of brands and intellectual property that will help us advance a new line of business and our online gaming strategy … We expect the Heartland acquisition to be accretive.”

Pinnacle was one of at least four groups bidding on the HPT and FS+G in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland last month. The highest bid for the HTP went for $4.2 million, and FS+G’s assets went for $300,000. Those assets included the Epic Poker League, Global Poker Index, and the EpicPoker.com website, which had been taken down as of Wednesday morning.

The HPT is in its eighth season. In 2011, the HPT made 17 stops in 15 states. Two of the tournaments were held at Pinnacle-owned casinos.

For more, read Pinnacle’s quarterly financial statement.

LAPT Goes To Panama

On Wednesday, PokerStars announced the addition of a new stop to the Season 5 Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT). From Sept. 26 through 30, the LAPT will hold a series of events at the Veneto Hotel and Casino in Panama City, Panama, marking the first time the tour has visited the country in five years.

LAPT Panama will feature nine events, culminating with a $2,500 Main Event from Sept. 27 through 30. There will also be a $5,000 High Roller and the America’s Cup of Poker, which pits players from several nations against each other in a team format.

Before the LAPT hits Panama, the tour will make its way to Medellín, Colombia from Aug. 7 through 12. Be sure to follow the Nightly Turbo for daily updates from the LAPT.

Remaining LAPT Season 5 Schedule

The aftereffects of the World Series of Poker had little impact on the Global Poker Index Player of the Year race this week. Very few tournaments were taking place around the world, and as a result, there were no changes in the top 10 of the standings.

David Baker occupied the top spot for the second consecutive week. He overtook Jonathan Duhamel for the top spot last week after cashing eight times at the 2012 WSOP for nearly $800,000. He won the $2,500 8-Game Mixed event in June, and followed that up with three more final tables before placing 56th in the Main Event for $128,384.

Some of the big movers outside of the top 10 this week were Scott Baumstein (up 15 spots to No. 13), Shannon Shorr (up 40 spots to No. 25), David Sands (up 35 spots to No. 38) and Galen Hall (up43 spots to No. 44). Baumstein added another cash to his productive 2012 when he took fourth place in the $5,000 Bellagio Cup VIII event on July 10 for $22,404.

Here’s a look at the Top 10 of the Global Poker Index Player of the Year standings:

The Global Poker Index Player of the Year, presented by PokerNews, honors the player who has the strongest performance in live tournaments during the calendar year, according to the USA Today Global Poker Index point system.

For the full GPI Player of the Year standings, head on over to GlobalPokerIndex.com.

Welcome to Queenstown!

Queenstown is one of the most popular stops on the on the PokerStars.net Australia New Zealand Poker Tour. Nicki Pickering took a look around at the top attractions the city has to offer.

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