2014 PokerStars.net APPT Auckland Main Event Day 1c: Matenga Dominates
The final stop on Season 8 of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour continued on Friday at the SKYCKITY Auckland Casino in New Zealand. It was the third and final Day 1 flight of the NZ$2,500 buy-in APPT Auckland Main Event, and there were 79 entrants.
When added with the first two Day 1 flights, the final field weighed in at 225. That’s 12 larger than last year’s field, and it’s the top 24 who will make the money. The eventual champion will pocket a very nice NZ$132,000 (approx. $104,000), and you can find full prize pool on the event's live reporting pages.
There were eight 60-minute levels played on Day 1c, and 29 made it through to Day 2. In the end, it was Terangi Matenga who bagged the most chips. His stack of 170,400 trails Day 1a chip leader Ben Rendall and Day 1b leader Mehrdad Razmi heading into Day 2.
Day 1c Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Terangi Matenga | 170,400 |
| 2 | Robert Spano | 130,600 |
| 3 | Marc Witkopf | 116,700 |
| 4 | Darren Lukas | 112,500 |
| 5 | Luke Brabin | 101,400 |
| 6 | Joachim Chia | 97,700 |
| 7 | Milton Trickey | 88,300 |
| 8 | Thomas Ward | 79,800 |
| 9 | Jesse McKenzie | 64,100 |
| 10 | Angela Brewster | 63,500 |
Matenga became the chip leader late in the final level of the night when he started dominating his table. It all culminated in the elimination of reigning ANZPT Melbourne champion Edison Nguyen. It was a simple race for Nguyen’s life as he held AxQx against Matenga’s JxJx and wasn’t able to improve.
Nguyen’s elimination had more implications than most bust outs on Day 1c because he came into the event leading the ANZ Player of the Year race, and this is the last event to pick up points. Meanwhile, the player currently in fourth place on the leader board, Luke Spano, was able to make it through Day 1c. If he can make it deep into the money in Auckland, then he will be a real threat to make it to the top of the leader board and secure himself an APPT Season 9 sponsorship.
Some of the others from Day 1c who will be joining Spano at the felt on Day 2 include Jesse “On the Mac” McKenzie, Joachim Chia, Luke Brabin, and Thomas Ward.
Players like 2011 Aussie Millions champ David Gorr, however, were eliminated throughout the day. Gorr got his chips in with the A♣3♠ on a A♠8♠6♦ flop and ran into Marc Wittkopf’s 8♦8♣. Gorr couldn’t improve to trump Wittkopf’s set and was sent to the rail, while Wittkopf went on to secure a spot on Day 2.
The combined 80 surviving players from all three Day 1 flights will now return at 12:15 p.m. local time on Saturday and aim to play into the money and as close to the final table as possible. Once again the PokerNews Live Reporting team will be on the floor providing continued updates from APPT Auckland, so tune in then.
While you wait for tomorrow's action, check out the video below with our very own Sarah Grant. She heads to Auckland's Sky Tower to reveal a series of facts that will have you scratching your head.
Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!
