2012 PokerStars.net ANZPT Season 5 Auckland Day 1a: Angie Fitzgerald Leads
Day 1a of the PokerStars.net Australia New Zealand Poker Tour Auckland Main Event attracted 66 players to the SKYCITY Auckland Casino. Twenty-six players were left when the day was finished with online qualifier and local resident Angie Fitzgerald atop the chip counts with a stack of 113,500. Her persistence in playing many hands proved to be the right way to go — she was the first player to reach six-figures and stayed up there for the remainder of the day.
The three players who ended the recent ANZPT Melbourne Main Event on the podium — champion Paul Hockin, and runners-up Michael Guzzardi and Ashley Warner — were all in Tuesday's field and will progress to Day 2. Snapping at Fitzgerald's heels but unable to finish in the six-figure club, are Guzzardi (98,000), Slav Sheynin (89,200), and Yu Xiang (78,200). Cole Swannack, Graeme Putt, and Ivan Zalac were also among the players who made it through Day 1a.
Some of the players who weren’t so fortunate included Leo Boxell, Liam O’Rourke, Jesse McKenzie, Jackson Zheng and Brooke Howard-Smith.
O’Rourke got all his chips in the middle holding 9♥10♥ on a flop of Q♥6♦8♣. He was up against Brooke Howard-Smith, who showed 8♥8♦. The turn and river Q♠ and A♦ only improved Howard-Smith’s hand, and sent O’Rourke home early.
Jesse McKenzie suffered the same fate when he also fell to Howard-Smith. Both players got their chips in the middle on an A♣6♠4♦ flop, but Howard-Smith’s flopped two-pair holding A♥4♥ took the lead over McKenzie’s A♦Q♦ and stayed there through the turn and river. Even after recording the aforementioned knockouts, Howard-Smith was eliminated later in the day.
ANZPT Auckland Day 1a Top 10 Counts
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Angie Fitzgerald | 113,500 |
| 2 | Michael Guzzardi | 98,000 |
| 3 | Miroslav Sheynin | 89,200 |
| 4 | Yu Xiang | 78,200 |
| 5 | Leang Kang | 75,400 |
| 6 | Cole Swannack | 71,200 |
| 7 | Jared Adams | 67,100 |
| 8 | Paul Hockin | 63,000 |
| 9 | Graeme Putt | 62,600 |
| 10 | Andre Nunes-Carreira | 59,600 |
Day 1b is set to kick off later today at 1830 NZDT Thursday (2130 PDT Wednesday) with approximately 42 online qualifiers already registered.
Be sure to head on over to the PokerNews Live Reporting Page for all of your up-to-the-minute tournament updates.
