David Lim Wins 2013 PokerStars ANZPT Auckland
The first stop on Season 6 of the Australia New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT) came to a dramatic conclusion at the SKYCITY Auckland Casino on Sunday as Australia’s David Lim was crowned champion of the ANZPT Auckland Main Event.
Lim, the first Australian to win a PokerStars.net sponsored event in Auckland, started the day with the second largest stack and ultimately overcame fellow Aussie Nathan Gubieski heads up to claim the title and NZ$110,760 to go along with it.
ANZPT Auckland Final Table Payouts
| Place | Player | Prize (NZD) |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | David Lim | $110,760 |
| 2nd | Nathan Gubieski | $70,290 |
| 3rd | Amant Nauhria | $39,618 |
| 4th | Paul Gahan | $31,950 |
| 5th | Nicolas Oger | $26,625 |
| 6th | Stanislav Chataline | $22,365 |
| 7th | Brad Stafford | $18,105 |
| 8th | Ia Rimamaki | $13,845 |
| 9th | Dean Stevenson | $10,650 |
The day started off action-packed as Jason Cook was quickly eliminated in 12th place, and Raybon Kan fell in 11th as 10 players then remained. Then, the last lady standing, Angela Brewster, was eliminated in 10th place when her K♠Q♦ couldn’t improve against the A♥9♦ of Gubieski, and the final table was set.
Considering he started the day with such a massive stack, it wasn’t surprising that Amant Nauhria started the final table as the chip leader. Lim wasn’t far behind, while Gubieski and La Rimamaki were the biggest improvers prior to the final table.
It took only a few hands to see the first player eliminated at the final table, and unfortunately for Aussie Dean Stevenson, it was he who would find the rail in ninth place for an NZ$10,650 payday. Stevenson was sent home when his A♥K♣ couldn’t improve against Lim’s J♥J♠.
Next to go was the affable Kiwi Ia Rimamaki as he lost multiple small pots early at the final table before finding himself all in for just 49,000 in chips holding the A♠Q♥. Rimamaki’s opponent was France’s Nicolas Oger, who held the A♣K♥. When no help came for Rimamaki, he was eliminated in eighth place.
When seven-handed action began, four of the remaining players had less than 20 big blinds. One of those players was Brad Stafford, and it didn’t take long for him to be all in preflop holding the 9♣9♠ against the Q♣Q♠ of Paul Gahan. The board ran out with no help for Stafford, and he was sent home in seventh place.
Stanislav Chataline had been nursing a short stack for much of the previous few levels and eventually found himself all in on the turn of a J♠7♦5♦3♠ board holding A♠7♠ against Nauhria’s J♥3♥. The river didn’t help Chataline’s cause and he was sent home in sixth place.
Oger was then eliminated in fifth place in dramatic fashion. He was all in preflop holding the A♥K♣ and was up against Lim’s K♥K♦. Oger managed to catch a good flop as the dealer spread out the J♣A♣J♥. The 2♥ turn was safe, but then the K♠ completed the board on the river, giving Lim a full house sending Oger to the rail.
Following the elimination of Oger, Lim had almost 2 million in chips and was the big chip leader, having almost half of all the chips in play. Gubieski had worked his way into second in chips, while start-of-day chip leader Nauhria had dwindled down to under 1 million. Nauhria continued to lose chips to almost every player at the table, but he would hang onto his tournament life as Gahan hit the rail in fourth place. Gahan was all in preflop holding the K♣Q♦ against the 10♦10♠ of Gubieski and wasn’t able to improve.
Compared to his opponents, Nauhria was extremely short stacked at the beginning of three-handed play and ultimately wasn’t able to rebuild. His last chips went to Lim when he moved all in preflop holding the Q♣9♣ Lim had the A♣J♣. The board changed nothing, keeping Lim in front, and the ANZPT Auckland Main Event final table was down to two players.
At the beginning of heads-up play, Lim had just over a 2-1 chip lead, and it would take only 15 minutes for the tournament to be over.
The final hand of the event began with blinds at 12,000/24,000/4,000. Lim opened the button to 50,000, Gubieski three-bet to 119,000, and Lim four-bet to 219,000. Gubieski then moved all in for around 900,000, and Lim quickly called, turning over his Q♣Q♥. His queens were ahead of Gubieski’s A♣10♦. The board ran out J♠8♦J♦6♦6♣, and Gubieski was sent home as the runner-up, earning NZ$70,290.
Congratulations to all the final table players on their efforts, but most importantly to the latest ANZPT champion, David Lim. Lim earned NZ$110,760 and the title.
The next PokerStars event in this region will be the upcoming 2014 Aussie Millions, which for the first time will be run in partnership with the Asia-Pacific Poker Tour.
Photo courtesy of Poker Asia Pacific.
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