September 02 2012, Remko Rinkema

The day was rough, tough and most of all, not easy; but nine players managed to secure a seat at the final table of the 2012 PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour Melbourne Main Event. The chip leader at Monday’s final table will be Tom Grigg, and he will have strong competition from experienced players like Brendon Rubie and Sam Razavi.

The day began with 44 hopefuls, but within the hour, 10 had left the room. Wayne Bentley was hurting players left and right, and quickly he managed to grab hold of the chip lead. Grant Levy was among the early knockouts when he lost his chips with against Keith Walker’s . Another familiar face left in the field, Oliver Gill, trusted his read but ran into Karan Punjabi’s flopped full house. Gill left empty handed as well.

Tony Hachem looked to be making a comeback after starting the day short-stacked, but that didn’t work out. First he doubled through PokerStars Team Online Roy Bhasin, only to bust to James Bills a few hands later. Hachem ran into aces and his day was done.

With the money within reach, most players decided to take it easy, but not Brendon Rubie. The Aussie Millions side event winner doubled on the bubble and was in serious contention from that point on. Dale Marsland was eliminated in 29th place, just one spot short of the money. Marsland five-bet all in with and ran into Bentley’s kings. The board brought mere blanks, and the money bubble burst.

Benn Skender busted shortly after the money, as did Mishel Anunu, but he didn’t have too much to complain about, with his cash in this securing himself the ANZ Player of the Year award. Anunu had a small sweat, but when Liam O’Rourke busted in 17th place, it was all his. For his prize, Anunu is able to play three APPT Main Events next season, his travel expenses covered, and also a seat into the $10,000 Aussie Millions Main Event.

The final player represented by PokerStars in this event, Roy Bhasin, was eliminated in 25th place worth a $8,455 min cash. Bhasin got his money in on the turn against Bills who had flopped top-two pair. Bhasin was looking for a club to fill up his flush draw, but the river was the three of diamonds.

Halfway through the day there was still a chance for a back-to-back winner, but unfortunately Leo Boxell didn’t manage to survive the day. Boxell took a big hit when he ran his queens into kings, and eventually he ran into pocket aces with his flopped flush draw. In the end, Boxell was sent home in 19th place, giving him a $12,080 cash.

The aforementioned O’Rourke busted in 17th place. Tom Grigg, who began the day with just 15 big blinds, had built his stack up considerably when the following hand occurred. Grigg raised under the gun to 20,000 after which Tam Truong three-bet to 50,000. O’Rourke was in the big blind and opted to four-bet to 120,000. This put pressure on Grigg, who didn’t flinch as he moved all in for right around 600,000 chips. Truong folded, and O’Rourke made the call. Grigg showed and doubled through O’Rourke into the chip lead.

With just 16 players remaining, everyone went on a one-hour dinner break. Following dinner, play slowed down considerably, but Sam Razavi’s play didn’t. In a massive pot he woke up with pocket-kings against Michael Guttman’s pocket-nines. Gunther Hornung was short, and also committed himself, holding . Both players were eliminated and Razavi took the lead.

The final table was within reach with just 14 players remaining, but everyone seemed to realize that. Even the deck seemed to be aware of it, since the short stacks kept doubling up. Billy Argyros, who’s better known as “The Croc,” was eliminated in 14th place followed about an hour later by Vineet Jindal. Ismail Ismail was eliminated one spot from a final table berth. This is how the final nine are looking heading into the final day of play.

APPT Melbourne Final Table

The final table will be in the Crown Poker Room in Melbourne, Australia from 1400 AEST Monday (2100 PST), so make sure to follow the PokerNews Live Reporting page as we continue to bring you all the action from the 2012 APPT Melbourne Main Event!

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May 29 2012, Shari Geller

Day 2 of the 2012 World Series of Poker boasted two firsts – the first bracelet awarded and the first large field, open event at the Rio this summer. Chiab “Chip” Saechao won Event #1: $500 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold’em, and took home $70,859 and a shiny new gold bracelet. Event #2: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em, got under way at 1200 PDT (2000 BST) with 2,101 players competing for their share of a $2,836,350 prize pool. This event heralded the return of Phil Ivey to the Rio, after having sat out last year’s WSOP. But Ivey was far from the only familiar face at the tables. A veritable “Who’s Who” of the poker world turned out on Memorial Day to take their first shot at a bracelet. After 11 levels, the field had dwindled to 240, still 24 shy of the money.

Event #1: $500 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold’em

The final day of this two-day event began with 46 players. The chip leader was the appropriately nicknamed Chiab “Chip” Saechao, followed closely by James Routos and Matthew Wilmot. All eyes were on WSOP executive director Ty Stewart, the most famous name left in the field. Three hours later, the field was reduced to the final two tables, but sans Stewart. Donald Michael had propelled to the lead, with roughly 17 percent of the chips in play, in part due to his knockout hand against Stewart to reach the top 18.

The two went heads-up to a flop of and Stewart led out with a bet of 25,000, about half his stack. Michael came over the top to put Stewart all-in. Stewart was in trouble with for middle pair against Michael’s for top pair. The board ran out and Stewart was out in 19th place ($2,223).

Amy Brady had been the chip leader earlier in the day after busting Joshua Murray and taking down the biggest pot of the day in a blind versus blind contest. They limped to see a flop of and, not surprisingly, the raggedy board was just what the blinds needed. Brady bet, Murray raised, Brady reraised and the pot was already up to over 100,000. After the fell on the turn, Brady shoved and Murry made the call. He had flopped bottom two with and Brady had top pair with . But a on the river gave Brady the pot and Murray was out in 25th place ($2,223).

Brady ended her day in 14th place after a failed semi-bluff. With the board reading , Patricia Baker led out from the big blind for 35,000. Brady tanked then moved all-in for 117,000 more. Baker, who barely had Brady covered, made the call. Brady showed for an open-ended straight draw and Baker had top pair with . Brady missed all her outs on the turn and river and she took home the consolation prize of $3,379.

Saechao and Routos, two of the three chip leaders going into Day 2, joined Baker as the last three standing. When the dust settled, Saechao was crowned the winner, with Baker the runner up. Saechao had crippled Baker earlier when he won his second of two late-in-the-day coin flips, this one in sick fashion. His pocket tens were behind Baker’s on the flop, but the turn was the and, as if to rub it in even further, a on the river gave Baker trips to Saechao’s boat. Their final hand had Baker coolered as her straight fell to Saechao’s flush.

To read all the exciting action, check out our live reporting blog.

Event #2: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em

Some of the biggest names in the poker world turned out for the first open event of the 2012 WSOP, plopping down a mere $1,500 to take part in one of the weekly low buy-in events. Phil Ivey, absent from last year’s event, was in attendance along with Daniel Negreanu, Kathy Liebert, Allen Cunningham, Jennifer Harmon, Gavin Smith, and dozens of well-known pros. Main Event winners like Jonathan Duhamel and Phil Hellmuth, November Niners including Chino Rheem and Ylon Schwartz, and TV regulars Jean-Robert Bellande and Maria Ho represented a wide-range of the poker world. Out of this group, only Hellmuth survived to Day 2.

Ho may not have made it to the end of the day, but she had the knockout heard round the Rio when she ended Ivey’s day during Level 5. With blinds at 100/200, Ho raised to 450 from the hijack seat, Ivey repopped for his last 1,600 out of the small blind and Ho called. Ivey was ahead to Ho’s . The flop seemed safe, coming {2hs}, the on the turn added four more outs and one of those, the , sent Ivey out the door.

The other Phil, Hellmuth, had a better day. During Level 8 he tweeted that he had hit quad aces, which was overkill considering he had pocket aces against his opponents pocket queens. But in Level 9, he took pocket tens against his opponent’s pocket sevens only to see the board cruelly run out . Hellmuth built back up and will go into Day 2 with an above-average chip stack of 44,600.

After 10 levels of play, Sadan Turker is the chip leader with 158,100. Close on his heels are poker pros Eli Elezra, second in chips with 155,900; and Brandon Cantu, fourth with 130,100. Included among those still in the hunt for the first open bracelet of the year are such notables as Layne Flack, Noah Schwartz, John Juanda, Vanessa Selbst, Jason Mercier and Carter Gill.

The top 216 finishers will cash, with payouts ranging from a minimum of $2,893 to the top prize of $517,725.

Be sure to follow all the coverage of Event #2 when it restarts on Tuesday at 1300 PDT (2100 BST).

On Tap

Tomorrow, in Event #2, the first order of business will be getting into the money. The remaining 240 players will return to play down first to the top 216 and then to the final table as we move closer to knowing if the first open bracelet will be taken down by a known pro or an unknown amateur. Two more open events will kick off. First, is Event #3: $3,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha. The first match will start at 1200 PDT (2000 BST). Entrants will be capped at 512, so register early if you’re interested in playing. Later in the day, at 1700 PDT (0100 BST), Event #4: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low 8-or-Better, will get under way.

To make sure you don’t miss any of the action, follow our live tournament reporting.

Video of the Day

Kristy Arnett caught up with a scruffy Phil Hellmuth during a break in Event #2. The two discussed dental emergencies, second-place finishes, and no-limit hold’em records.

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