APPT Auckland Live Updates

It took just two hands of heads-up play to settle the 2008 PokerStars.com Asia Pacific Poker Tour Auckland event.

In the final hand of the tournament Craker had the button and he bet $120,000 but Matt Konnecke raised to $500,000. Craker thought for just a few seconds before announcing that he was all-in. Konnecke made the call and we were in for a race with the entire tournament on the line. Konnecke was well-covered by Craker but would move into the chip lead if he won the pot.

The players revealed their hands:

Craker: 2♥ 2♣

Konnecke: A♠ 9♠

Both players made risky moves with their respective hands and the audience applauded them for it.

The dealer flopped K♣ T♦ 6♥ and Craker-supporters went crazy as their man was two cards away from the Auckland title.

The turn came 5♠ and the tension in the room was palpable as Craker looked to fade any ace or nine. The river fell... Q♥!

A deafening roar went up from the crowd as Craker had won the tournament with his pair of ducks holding strong. The home country hero will take home $153,393 for his efforts in the contest while Konnecke will take $97,152 back to Australia.

We at PokerListings.com would like to congratulate Craker on his big victory and spend a special thanks to PokerStars.com and the staff of Skycity Casino who put on a world class event.

Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you in Manila!

Wang Jung's wild aggression finally got the best of him against fellow Kiwi Daniel Craker. In the hand Jung limped from the button and Craker bet $80,000 from the small blind. Matthew Konnecke called from the big blind but Jung went in for the massive re-raise by betting $300,000.

Craker called and Konnecke got out of the way immediately. The flop came down 9♥ 3♣ 2♣ and Craker checked but Jung immediately went all-in. Before the dealer had even placed the all-in card to Jung, Craker had called.

It was a great call by Craker as Jung showed K♦ 6♦ for king-high. Craker showed 8♥ 8♣, which was enough to put him in the lead.

"No king, no king!" cheered Craker's supporters.

The turn came 3♠ and the river fell J♣ to give Craker the pot and eliminate Jung from the competition.

The New Zealander, of Korean decent, will take down $51,132 for coming in third.

We are now heads-up between Craker and Konnecke with the chip counts as follows:

We've completed Level 22 and the three remaining players are currently enjoying a 30 minute break. It's still anyone's game as the three remaining player's are fairly even chip-wise. Check back in about 25 minutes to see how this one plays out.

In the meantime check out the most recent chip counts as of the break:

The two remaining New Zealand residents went at it in the latest hand. Wang Jung bet $100,000 pre-flop and Craker called.

The flop came K♣ 7♥ 3♥ and Jung moved all-in and Craker insta-called. Jung flipped over Q♥ 8♥ for a flush draw while Craker showed K♦ 8♠ for top-pair. The dealer turned the 2♣ and then rivered the T♠ to give Craker the checkmark.

Ship the $771,000 pot directly to Craker! 

The most popular player remaining has been eliminated in a sick hand. Actor Dan Sing bet $65,000 from UTG and Wang Jung called.

The flop came A♥ T♣ 7♠ and Jung checked but Sing immediately bet out $85,000. Jung called and the turn came J♥. Jung once again checked but Sing bet $85,000, leaving himself with only $100,000 behind.

Jung thought for a minute and then announced he was all-in, easily covering Sing. Sing snap-called and flipped over K♣ Q♣ for the nut-straight. Jung showed J♣ T♣ for two-pair and would need a lot of help if he hoped to eliminate Sing.

The mostly pro-Sing crowd was on their feet as the dealer flipped over... J♠!

Jung rivers a boat to eliminate Sing. The entire crowd is silent and Sing can only shake his head as leaves to go pick up his $35,793 prize for first place.

We are now three-handed. 

Our four combatants are continuing to feel each other out at the final table of PokerStars.com APPT Auckland. They've just played the 150th hand and it feels strange there hasn't been an elimination in the last couple hours of play.

Blinds are now $10,000/$20,000 with a $3,000 ante.

Alright see if you can keep up with this. Daniel Craker, who was just our chip leader, tried to push Matthew Konnecke off a pot by going all-in on a flop of A♥ 5♦ 2♥. Unfortunately for Craker, Konnecke woke up with a hand in A♣ K♦. The board finished with bricks and suddenly Craker went from hero to zero with just $200,000 chips.

The very next hand Craker shoved from the button and both Wang Jung and Konnecke called. Both players checked the entire board of K♥ T♦ 4♣ 7♦ 2♣ only to have Craker flip over K♣ 2♦, which was the best hand.

"Nice river, Danny," said a fan.

Craker triples up to approximately $600,000. 

Wang Jung appeared to be running away with this event in the early stages of Day 3 but has taken a few hits in the last few hours of play.

In a recent hand Jung and Sing saw a board of A♣ 8♥ 7♠ K♦ 5♣ and Jung, who had Sing easily covered, went all-in.

Sing thought for a minute and then called. Jung flipped over 8♦ 6♦.

"Pair of eights?" said Sing as he flipped over A♦ 5♦. "I can beat that."

Sing has a great deal of supporters in the audience and they heartily approved of the hand giving applause to their boy as he raked the pot.

Here are the approximate chip counts following the hand:

It's Australia versus New Zealand all over again. In the latest hand of the tournament New Zealand celeb Dan Sing bet $46,000 from the button but Aussie Matthew Konneck re-raised an extra $100,000 from the big blind.

Sing thought for a minute before eventually calling to see a flop of J♦ 9♦ 6♥. Konneck took one look at the flop and moved all-in for $371,000 which represented the last of Sing's chips.

Sing went into the tank for a few minutes before throwing mucking his hand frustration.

After the hand Konneck was up to $640,000 and has been making some big moves in the last hour of play. 

We've reached Level 21 and the action has finally slowed down. The four remaining players are reasonably deep and they seem to have realized that in the last hour of play. There's a great deal of blind stealing going on right now as first place of the 2008 edition of APPT Auckland is getting closer and closer.

The most exciting hand in the last 30 minutes saw Kiwi Dan Sing get Matthew Konneck all-in while holding A-A to Konneck's J-J but somehow the Aussie managed to hit his a straight on the turn.

Kiwi Daniel Craker has come out of nowhere to establish himself as one of the chip leaders while Wang Jung has maintained his monster stack of chips.

Blinds are now $8,000/$16,000 with a $2,000 ante.

The approximate chip counts as we head into Level 21 are as follows:

Crowd favorite Luke Stanford has been eliminated by Dan Sing. Sing and Stanford played several pots against each other with Sing eventually crippling Stanford down to $75,000.

In his final hand Stanford was facing a race of $50,000 from a UTG Dan Sing and decided call and then go all-in blind on the flop. Sing announced he would call blind on the flop as well.

The flop came K♣ 9♣ 7♣ and Sing flipped over K♦ Q♣ for top-pair. Stanford threw down A♦ 8♣ in frustration. The turn came 8♥ and gave Stanford a few more outs but he couldn't find them as the river fell Q♦.

Stanford will receive $27,611 for coming in fifth. Meanwhile Sing, who started the day with $57,000 chips, is picking up steam and has over $500,000 now.

Nathanael Seet, who has been a force during the last couple of days in this tournament, is no more.

Seet was crippled in a pivotal pot against Luke Stanford when the New Zealander hit a miracle river to double through Seet.

Several hands later Seet moved in with Q♠ 5♠ and Wang Jung called with A♦ T♣. The board came K♠ 4♦ 2♦ J♥ Q♦ and despite hitting a queen on the river Seet is eliminated by Jung's straight.

"Oh well back to the cash games," said a cordial Seet after the hand.

On the plus side Seet will head back to Singapore $20,453 richer.

Finnish player Jani Karke has been playing from the short-stack all day and finally succumbed to no chip disease.

In his final hand Karke shoved with A♥ T♣ after facing a bet from Daniel Craker. Craker thought for a minute before calling with 9♥ 9♦.

The board came 4♦ 3♦ 2♥ 8♣ 2♣ to eliminate Karke. The calm Finn merely shrugged and headed for the exit.

Karke will receive $15,339 for coming in seventh. That's a lot of Markka! 

We've just witness the biggest hand of the tournament. It all began with Wang Jung betting $30,000 pre-flop and Luke Stanford calling from the big blind.

The flop came Q♠ 8♠ 3♥ and Jung fired for $60,000. Stanford made the call and the turn came K♥. Jung bet again, this time for $120,000. Stanford thought for a couple minutes and then made the call as the river fell 7♦.

Here's where things get interesting.

Jung makes a massive bet $300,000 on the river, which sends Stanford deep into the tank. Stanford is obviously deeply disturbed by the bet and scratches his head while trying to get a read on Jung.

After several minutes Stanford asked, "Will you show if I fold?"

"Sure," said Jung.

That didn't seem to comfort Stanford as he continued to ponder his decision. Stanford has approximately $350,000 behind and will basically be calling for his tournament life.

A few minutes later Stanford got up and left the room.

"Is he going to get a drink?" joked a railbird.

In actuality Stanford just wanted to check the tournament clock, which is oddly placed in the media room.

Stanford came back to the final table and thought for a few more minutes before finally calling the clock on himself.

With 10 seconds left on the clock Stanford said, "It would just be such an outrageous bluff..." implying that Jung had a hand.

Finally Stanford threw his hand into the muck and, true to his word, Jung flipped over 9♥ 5♥ for the stone-cold bluff!

After the hand Jung was up to over $1 million chips while Stanford fell down to $350,000.

Another player has bit the dust at the final table of PokerStars.com APPT Auckland. In his final hand Australian Michael Mariakis open-shoved in early position and the suddenly dominant Wang Jung called from the button.

Everyone else got out of the way as Mariakis showed A♠ Q♠ to Jung's 7♦ 7♠.

The flop came a dramatic 7♣ 6♦ 4♠ to give Jung a set and a death grip on the pot. The turn was the Q♣ which sealed the deal for Jung.

Mariakis is out eighth and will receive $11,760.

Jung is our new chip leader with approximately $830,000

Wai Yuen, the last woman standing in this contest by a large margin, has been eliminated. Wang Che Jung bet $30,000 from UTG and Dan Sing flat-called from middle position. Yuen decided to ship it for $80,000.

After several minutes thought Jung decided to put an addition $94,000 into the pot, perhaps to isolate. Sing laid it down and the players flipped over their cards:

Yuen: A♠ K♦

Jung: Q♣ J♣

Yuen is in the lead with her big slick but Jung is live. The crowd is on the tip of their toes as the dealer flips over... J♥ 4♦ 2♦!

The jack in the door draws ohs and awes from crowd and suddenly Yuen is in terrible shape. The board finishes 3♦... T♥ to eliminate Yuen. The first elimination at the final table will receive $8,692 for her efforts.

Overall chip leader Luke Stanford has not had a great start to the final table of APPT Auckland. Standford just lost a large hand versus up and comer Wang Jung.

In the hand Jung bet $21,000 from middle position and Stanford re-raised to $55,000 from the button. Jung called and the flop came Q♣ 2♣ 2♥. Both players checked the flop and the turn came K♦. Jung checked once again but Stanford opted to bet $60,000.

Jung, perhaps smelling weakness, raised to over $100,000. His bet was good as Stanford immediately threw his hand into the muck.

After the hand Jung was up to nearly $500,000 while Stanford fell down to approximately $750,000.

Eric Mutrie, just like the dollar of his home country, has fallen off the map. Mutrie was crippled in a giant hand against Dan Sing where the New Zealander flopped a straight with 10♥ 6♥ on a 9♦ 7♦ 8♠ 5♣ board. Mutrie himself had a straight draw with K♠ 6♠ and opted to get it all-in on the turn. There was no help on the river and Mutrie was left with under $10,000 chips to his name.

The very next hand Mutrie got it all-in with 4♠ 2♠ after a bet from Matthew Konneck. Michael Mariakis also came along for the ride and when the flop came K♥ 6♥ 3♥ Mariakis scared off Konneck with a $40,000 bet.

Mariakis revealed K♠ 6♠ for top-pair and Mutrie would need a lot of help if he hoped to survive. It didn't happen as the board finished 3♣ and then Q♥.

With Mutrie's elimination we have ourselves a final table

Edit: Final tables players are currently being interviewed so play has been paused.

It didn't take long for us to find our first casualty on the final day of APPT Auckland. Edward Holdcroft bet $50,000 pre-flop and chip leader Luke Stanford popped it up to $140,000.

Everyone else got out of the way and Holdcroft eventually made the call. The flop came 9♠ 5♣ 3♣ and Stanford moved all-in. Holdcroft snap-called for the rest of his $150,00 stack and both players flipped over their cards:

Stanford: A♠ A♥

Holdcroft: Q♦ Q♠

Holdcroft was left shaking his head at his misfortune while some of his mates tried to cheer him up.

"Come on Edward, have faith," they offered.

The turn came 3♠ and Holdcroft would need the miracle queen to stay alive in this tournament and hopefully grab a spot at the final table.

It wasn't to be as the river fell 7♥ and ended Holdcroft's tournament. The hooded New Zealander will receive $6,135 for coming in 11th.

After the hand Stanford was up to $806,000 chips and if he wins a few more hands he will be almost impossible to stop at the final table.

Action is underway from Skycity Casino in Auckland. We are going until there is a winner so prepare for intense poker action as the 11 remaining players attempt to win the $153,393 prize for first place.

There is a buzz brewing in New Zealand and for once it's not for the formidable National Rugby team- the All Blacks. Today it's all about poker and with the richest final table ever played in New Zealand it's no wonder people are excited.

We're not quite at the final table yet as play was put on hold when we reached 11 players last night but there are still five Kiwi's going for gold so local fans have to like their chances of a New Zealander winning the first PokerStars.com APPT event ever held in the country.

We're approximately 30 minutes away from the start of the final day of APPT Auckland so grab some cheese pies, settle into your seat and get ready to hit that refresh button like a maniac.

Here's a look at the chip counts as players head into battle: