Kiwi King!: The Daniel Craker Interview

By Arthur Crowson Oct 12, 2008 | 1 month ago

Daniel Craker, APPT Auckland - Day 3, 2008 Asia Pacific Poker Tour

The crowd that was gathered at Skycity Casino for the final table of APPT Auckland erupted with pride when Daniel Craker defeated Matthew Konnecke in heads-up play to win the title.

The friendly Craker hails from nearby Wellington, and with poker starting to gain massive popularity in New Zealand, it was fitting the country would have its own champion.

Craker put on a great performance at an uber-aggressive final table that saw players go from chip leader to busto in the span of a few hands. Craker even got the best of wild-man Wang Jung, who appeared destined to win the event.

PokerListings.com spoke to the admittedly still-shocked Craker moments after his big victory.

Where it all went down.

How does it feel to win the first APPT Event ever held in New Zealand?

It feels good man. It hasn't really kicked in yet but I'm still pretty excited.

Does it mean a lot to you that a New Zealander took down the inaugural APPT Auckland?

Yeah; it's good for New Zealand and it's good for New Zealand poker. It's still quite a young game here so hopefully with this exposure it will get a lot more players interested. Over time we'll start to develop some great players.

What do you do for a living and how long have you been playing poker?

I've played poker for just about three years now. I'm a plasterer and I work for myself. That's pretty much it.

One fly dude.

What got you into poker?

I just saw Chris Moneymaker winning on ESPN and I got into it from there. Since then it's been a real passion for me and I pretty much play it 24/7.  It's an addiction! [laughs]

How did you find your way into this particular tournament?

I got into the last satellite and actually ended up winning it.

Did you have a general strategy heading into the final table?

It was hard because I wanted to play aggressively but I wasn't getting very many cards. Nothing really happened for me for a long time so I thought I would just wait for a few people to get knocked out. At first it was more the other players making moves and me staying away from the action. Eventually I started taking down pots when the opportunity presented itself.

Almost pulled it off.

Did you know any of the players at the final table?

Not really. I'd seen Dan [Sing] around before but that was pretty much it.

Were you worried about any of them?

I heard the guy from Singapore [Nathanael Seet] was really good so I was more worried about him that anything else.

What did you think of that massive bluff by Wang Jung on Luke Stanford?

Sick, sick. It was a sick bluff but a good one. That guy is crazy!

Almost as good as an All Blacks rugby win.

What are your plans for the future? Are you going to be playing a bit more poker now?

Yeah, hopefully. We'll see what happens and what opportunities are out there.

Will we see you on the APPT again?

I'll see how it goes. I'll be able to tell you that in the near future.

Thanks so much for your time, and congratulations Dan.

Thank you.

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Dan Craker was an outstanding winner of an outstanding tournament. The first edition of PokerStars.com APPT Auckland is now complete and it's virtually guaranteed the tour will be returning with the popularity of the game in New Zealand on the rise.

Skycity Casino was an exceptional venue and the tournament itself was one of the best-run events we've seen in recent times.

With homegrown stars like Lee Nelson, James Honeybone and now Craker to help support the game, we're sure there's a bright future for poker in New Zealand.