2013 PokerStars.net ANZPT Queenstown Snowfest: Michael Chon Leads After Short Day 1a
The final stop on Season 5 of the Australia New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT) began on Tuesday with the NZ$3,000 ANZPT Queenstown Snowfest Main Event seeing 40 players partake in the first of three Day 1 flights. After a short day of only five 60-minute levels, 29 players had survived and it was Michael Chon who held the chip lead with a stack of 59,375.
The day of began with some exciting news as Jonathan Karamalikis, Liam O’Rourke and Tom Grigg were announced Full Tilt Poker Ambassadors for the ANZPT. Karamalikis didn’t play on Day 1a, while Grigg and O’Rourke were both busy at the felt.
Grigg had a characteristically swingy day, becoming an early chip leader with a stack of 60,000 before eventually finishing the day with just 24,100. O’Rourke on the other hand wasn’t as lucky with all his chips going into the stack of Jon Narby. O’Rourke’s final hand saw him all in on a 9x7x8x flop holding 10x8x. Narby held AxAx, and when the board was completed with a 5x on the turn and a Kx on the river it was all over for O’Rourke.
During the late stages of Day 1a it was looking like well-known Australian online poker player Matt “mjw006” Wakeman was going to be the chip leader. Wakeman won a massive pot in a cooler hand against fellow Aussie online pro Jesse “On The Mac” McKenzie. The hand in question saw all the chips go in the middle on the river of a 5♠6♥8♣9♠9♦ board. McKenzie held 5♦5♥ for a flopped set and a full house on the river. However, that wasn’t strong enough for Wakeman’s 9♣6♣ as the bigger full house sent McKenzie to the rail.
Some of those who fared better than McKenzie on Day 1a included Oliver Gill, Ali Ghezelbash, Tobin Ryall and Raj Ramakrishan, all of whom joined Chon at the top of the chip counts. A few others who survived Day 1a and are in contention for the title include Ben Richardson, Dean Francis, Brett Chalhoub and Stevan Chew.
ANZPT Queenstown Snowfest – Day 1a Top Ten
| Name | Chip Count |
|---|---|
| Michael Chon | 59,375 |
| Wenjian Qiu | 59,150 |
| Ali Ghezelbash | 55,225 |
| Andrew Forsman | 55,000 |
| Jonathan Bredin | 53,875 |
| Matthew Wakeman | 53,700 |
| Oliver Gill | 45,750 |
| Tobin Ryall | 42,000 |
| Raj Ramakrishnan | 40,950 |
| Nathan Harvey | 38,050 |
All of the surviving players from Day 1a now have a couple of days off before returning to the felt on Friday for Day 2. Until then, the PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be in the SKYCITY Casino every day to bring you continued action of the ANZPT Queenstown Main Event.
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