2010 PokerStars.net APPT Sydney Day 1a: Hansimikali Sitting On Top
Today saw the fourth season of the PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour make its way to Sydney, Australia, and the Star City Casino for the final stop of an extremely successful 2010.
With the weather Down Under slowly making the transition into ideal summer conditions, not too many people chose the indoors over the beautiful beaches and sights that Sydney has to offer. Unfortunately, a poker tour — the second biggest in the Southern Hemisphere — was in town.
As expected, a small Day 1a field took to the felt with 75 players anteing AU$6,300 to be part of one of the final tournaments of the year. Reigning champion Aaron Benton uttered "shuffle up and deal" to put the cards in the air. Quads were the early flavor of the day with New Zealanders Jackson Zheng and Damon Lum both rivering quads. Benton himself turned quads late in the day to double to over average.
Although some players found some blessed two- and one-outers to keep them alive in the tournament, Australian online players Sam "MILF ISLAND" Rotar, Bradley "BaZa88" Bower, Ricky "rickwaa" Kroesen and Kristian Lunardi hit the rail along with tournament stalwarts Mike Ivin, Tino Lechich and Greg Cook as 41 survived for a Day 2 berth.
Definitely not having a restless night following his day on the felt is Australian Manuel Hansimikali who managed to amass a healthy 136,600-chip stack on the back of some extremely solid play.
Top Ten Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count |
| 1 | Manuel Hansimikali | Australia | 136,600 |
| 2 | Reza Vakili | Australia | 129,800 |
| 3 | Brent Bibby | Canada | 128,800 |
| 4 | Vijayan Nagarajan | Malaysia | 118,300 |
| 5 | Jai Kemp | Australia | 108,600 |
| 6 | David Saab | Australia | 94,900 |
| 7 | Miray Badaoui | Sweden | 93,100 |
| 8 | Anthony Kanaan | Australia | 91,400 |
| 9 | Jackson Zheng | New Zealand | 87,900 |
| 10 | Jonathan Karamalikis | Austraia | 83,500 |
Sitting behind Hansimikali is local Reza Vakili who captured a sizable pot early with a set before finding himself on the positive side of a cooler with a set-over-set situation to finish with an impressive 129,800. Canadian Brent Bibby was an early chip leader courtesy of a set-over two-pair situation to finish with 128,800. Malaysian Vijayan Nagarajan (118,300) and Jai Kemp (108,600) rounded out the top five.
David Saab (94,900), Jonathan Karamalikis (83,500), Joel Dodds (61,900), Billy Argyros (54,200) and Benton (59,400) are just a few of those still in contention for the potential half million first prize.
The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will again be on the floor tomorrow from 12:30 p.m. local time providing exclusive live coverage from the Star City Poker Room and Day 1b of the PokerStars.net APPT Sydney Main Event!
