At just 22 years of age, Anthony Hachem is the youngest player on our final table. A Bank Teller by day, Hachem has been playing poker since her turned 18, but of course, has been very exposed to the game since 2005 when his father Joe Hachem won the WSOP Main Event and changed the game forever in this country.
However Anthony is now starting to make a name for himself in his own right. He was victorious in a side event at this year’s Aussie Millions and will now be gunning for an ANZPT title – two things that his father has yet to achieve.
Anthony noted that he was fortunate to have made it this far after running pocket kings into pocket aces in a monstrous pot against Gautam Dhingra on Day 1a, only to spike a king on the flop to stay alive and claim the chip lead. From there, he’s been able to navigate his way to his first ANZPT cash and final table.
Japan’s Iori Yogo adds some international flavour to this final table. Iori is a 30-year old professional poker player who predominantly plays cash games, but is enjoying a rich vein of form in tournaments here in Australia.
A runner-up result at the ANZPT Perth for $72,000 was followed up with an 11th place in the ANZPT Sydney, before another final table with a 7th place in the WSOP-APAC Accumulator event in Melbourne. Now with his third ANZPT cash in three events, Iori will take over the lead in the ANZ Player of the Year race.
Tony Kondevski is a Company Director from Sydney who has been playing poker most of his life after picking up the game during his school days. Tony is a popular personality on the tour after arriving on the scene with a stunning win at the 2009 Melbourne Poker Championships for $150,000. This result will be his largest cash since that day.
Tony spends spare time playing billiards and chess and he rates the Crown Poker Room as his favourite place to play poker. Tony will have some work to do on this final table as our short stack.
25-year old Fabian Craib has been around the Australian poker circuit for the last four years but really made a name for himself at this year’s Aussie Millions. A third place finish in the Opening Event for $120,000 was followed days later by a fifth place in the Bounty Event for another $30,000. With two previous ANZPT cashes and an APPT cash to his credit, Craib will be looking to capture his first title in this event.
After eliminating the dangerous Dave Allan on the final table bubble, Craib will enter the final table as our chip leader and will be the man to catch.
Michael Kanaan is a 29-year old professional poker player from Sydney. He first saw poker on TV four years ago, and now regularly crushes both live and online. He burst onto the scene in 2011 with victory in the ANZPT Sydney Main Event for $195,714 and has followed that up with several other major final table results around the Asia-Pacific including the APPT Cebu Main Event and the ACOP Main Event in Macau.
Michael also has an FTOPS online title to his credit which he considers his biggest highlight in poker.
With the second largest chip stack entering this final table, Michael will be looking to make history as the first two-time ANZPT champion.
Michel Bouskila is a 54-year old Travel Executive from Sydney. He has been playing on the Australian poker scene for the past five years, but is currently enjoying a rich vein of form in 2013. Michel won an Aussie Millions gold ring this year with victory in the Six-Handed event for $110,000 and will be looking to better that mark with a victory on his first ANZPT final table.
Away from poker, Michel is a big family man and also enjoys getting outdoors with a round of golf.
The ANZPT Repechage Main Event saw 844 entries from 598 unique players and after three flights and two solid days of poker, the field has been reduced to a final table of nine. Let’s find out a little more about our final table participants.
