2014 PokerStars.net ANZPT Perth Main Event Day 1a: Beh and Marsland Battling for Lead
The second stop on Season 6 of the PokerStars.net Australia New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT) began in dramatic fashion on Wednesday evening in Perth, Australia. There were 85 players at the beginning of Day 1a of the ANZPT Perth Main Event, and at the end of an action-packed night, which included plenty of controversy, 54 remained.
Throughout much of the day, affable Australian poker personality Oliver Gill was the chip leader, but heading into the final moments of the night a prominent Aussie Dale Marsland was looking like he was unstoppable and ultimately finished the day with 75,375 in chips. In the end, though, Bernard Beh scraped over the line to be the chip leader with 79,850 in chips, while Gill and Marsland remained as top five stacks.
Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bernard Beh | 79,850 |
| 2 | Dale Marsland | 75,375 |
| 3 | Lorinda Johnson | 70,400 |
| 4 | Paul Mac | 64,225 |
| 5 | Oliver Gill | 63,425 |
| 6 | Patrick Mahoney | 59,275 |
| 7 | Scott Buchanan | 52,225 |
| 8 | David Taylor | 45,750 |
| 9 | Nicholas Embury | 44,650 |
| 10 | Bjorn Ostby | 43,700 |
Beh has amassed more than $300,000 in tournament results in events all around the region and plenty of that has been posted in Perth. Beh’s largest career score was at the 2012 ANZPT Perth when he won the $4,000 High Roller for $48,000.
Like Beh, Marsland is no stranger to success in Perth. Marsland has even made the final table of the ANZPT Perth Main Event on two separate occasions. He finished fourth in the inaugural year in 2010 and then finished third last year. Having had such a great start, Marsland will be looking for more success in 2014.
Marsland amassed many of his chips late on Day 1a of ANZPT Perth when he took down a sizable pot against Daniel Levy. Marsland held the 6♠6♣ and led for 9,300 into a pot of 25,000 on the river of a 3♣6♥10♠7♣2♥ board. Levy made the call and mucked when he saw Marsland’s flopped set.
While they didn’t fare quite as strongly as Marsland and Beh, players like Lorinda Johnson, Paul Mac, and Gill finished Day 1a with large stacks. Sal Fazzino, Ben Breadsell, Ashley Warner, and Patrick Crivell also bagged up plenty of chips.
Crivell was one of the short stacks all day, but a late surge meant he would ultimately bag up a healthy stack. Crivell’s good fortune during the last level of Day 1a was Jimmy Wong’s bad-beat story as Crivell held the 5♣5♥ and Wong was all in holding the A♦A♥. The board ran out 4♦3♦5♦3♠9♠, with Crivell spiking a five to survive and thrive. Crivell recently finished 12th in the 2014 Aussie Millions Main Event.
Perhaps over shadowing the poker on Day 1a of the ANZPT Perth Main Event was a bit of a controversial situation involving prominent US player Jim Collopy and a strange ruling which was made against him. Be sure to check out the full story, because it’s certainly not something you will see happening at many tournaments around the world.
Hopefully there will be less controversy at the felt on Day 1b, but just as much action. The second starting flight will kick off at 12:30 p.m. local time on Thursday. It has been rumored that the second and final Day 1 flight is going to be a massive day, and a new record for largest ANZPT Perth field plans to be set. Be sure to join the PokerNews Live Reporting Team for all the continued ANZPT Perth live coverage starting then.
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