2013 PokerStars.net ANZPT Queenstown Snowfest: Jonathan Bredin Leads Final 23
The Australia New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT) Queenstown Main Event continued with Day 2 action on Friday. The day began with 66 hopefuls eyeing the NZ$93,600 top prize, and when action concluded there were just 23 survivors. Leading the way with a monster stack of 212,400 was Australia’s Jonathan Bredin.
There were many times throughout the day that Bredin was the chip leader, but he didn’t truly edge away from his competitors until the last level of the night. The hand that would become the largest up until that point in the tournament began with blinds at 900/1,800. It was Bredin up against [Removed:17] and a raising war would eventually see Bredin six-bet all in for his six-figure stack. Yan made the call, with Bredin having him covered by a small amount. It was Yan’s A♥K♠ against Bredin’s Q♣Q♦ and when the dealer spread out a 9♦7♣9♣J♠5♠ board, Yan had been eliminated and Bredin had the only stack in the room which was in excess of 200,000.
Despite suffering from cerebral palsy, Bredin has been able to rumble with the best of them in Queenstown. Having limited use of one arm and impeded speech, Bredin has the aid of a special iPad and a carer to communicate his decisions. It has been remarkable to watch and Bredin will certainly be an inspiration to others in a similar situation who wish to play poker at an elite level.
There are plenty of notable players who will be joining Bredin at the felt on Day 3 such as Daniel Laidlaw, Daniel Neilson, Jackson Zheng, Raj Ramakrishnan, Casey Kastle and 2012 ANZPT Auckland champion Geoff Smith. Also surviving Day 2 was Australia’s Ricky Kroesen as he will be looking to fare better than his fourth-place finish in last year’s ANZPT Queenstown Main Event. Amazingly Kroesen was all in for just a few big blinds during the first level of Day 2, but ended up surviving with the sixth largest chip stack overall.
ANZPT Queenstown – Day 2 Top Ten
| Player | Chip Count |
|---|---|
| Jonathan Bredin | 212,400 |
| Wenjian Qiu | 158,200 |
| Asj Taylor | 137,500 |
| Daniel Neilson | 137,300 |
| Daniel Laidlaw | 133,200 |
| Ricky Kroesen | 124,900 |
| Andrew Forsman | 114,600 |
| Geoff Smith | 113,700 |
| Michael Chon | 111,500 |
| Kenny Frisby | 107,900 |
While all of the above players are still in contention for the title, it wasn’t the same story for Team PokerStars Pro Bryan Huang. Despite starting as the chip leader, Huang was short for most of the day before eventually shoving with Kx7x from the cutoff and running into the AxKx of an opponent. Also eliminated on Day 2 was the reigning ANZPT Queenstown champion Dave Allan as his 6x6x couldn’t compete with the QxQx of Chiu Yeung Lee.
The surviving players are set to return to the SKYCITY Casino on Saturday and play down to the final table. Make sure to check in with the PokerNews Live Reporting Team for continued continued live updates from the ANZPT Queenstown Main Event.
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