Well the party is over, we have crowned our champion, Kiwi Daniel Craker, and now it is time to reflect on yet another great event from the Asian Pacific Poker Tour. The PokerStars.net APPT Auckland SkyCity Festival of Poker has certainly rocketed poker’s profile in the country. SkyCity Auckland has smashed all records here in New Zealand and can now lay claim to being the home of poker here.

New Zealand is a wonderful country full of natural wonders and incredible culture. Adding to this is the warmth of the locals making it such an inviting place to come. Whether bungee jumping off the Sky Tower or sampling some of the finest cuisines in the world is more to your liking, players from throughout Asia, Pacific, and indeed the entire globe, have enjoyed the wonders of the Land of the Long White Cloud, Aotearoa, New Zealand.

SkyCity is one of the friendliest Casinos we have reported from and all the players will walk away from this experience raving about the standard of service they have received here. The poker here has been nothing short of amazing with some of the world’s best flying in to enjoy all that was on offer. Team PokerStars Pros Joe Hachem, Greg Raymer and local celebrity Lee Nelson were all here and spent time out of their busy schedules, not only to play the game they love, but to spend their time with other players and the many fans that have flocked into the Festival.

Notable Sydney duo and sponsored PokerStars players Eric Assadourian and Grant Levy have both had good weeks and showed that they are also great ambassadors of poker. Assadourian and Levy went head to head in the $550 Pot Limit Omaha side event during the series, taking an hour and a half to find a winner, with Assadourian finally taking first and $12,000 NZD, while Levy pocketed himself $7,500 NZD.

While the remaining few players continued in the Main Event, the table next to it saw the High Rollers event in an epic heads up battle between Carter Gill and Michael Long, both from the USA. Finally it was Carter Gill who triumphed and took away $83,000 NZD for his troubles.

From a local perspective we had the antics of James “Paddywhack” Honeybone and his side-kick Chris Walton who both made Day 2 of the Main Event and showed some real New Zealand flair. The duo were often spotted wrapped in New Zealand flags or, for an appealing alternative, flanked by girls behind them holding the flags up.

The final table of the main event was the real highlight as locals packed the into the SkyCity Poker Room to watch Daniel Craker from Wellington, New Zealand, walk away with $257,040 NZD and the title of the APPT Auckland 2008 Main Event Champion. Daniel will be a great ambassador and it was fantastic to see the title (and the cash) stay in New Zealand. South Korean born New Zealander, Wang Che Jung, 3rd place, and Australain Matthew Konnecke, 2nd place, also performed amazingly throughout the event and it was a pleasure to watch them play.

The pressure was intense and even though we got to the final table quite quickly it was a hard fought event. Once the play was down to four handed things moved slowly and the action became steady and serious as the players came to terms with how close they really were to holding the first New Zealand Main Event title for the PokerStars.net APPT Series.

Ultimately it was New Zealander Daniel Craker who took down the title. Craker won his entry into the event at SkyCity Casino for just $80 in the very last satellite tournament held in the poker room. After winning the main event, Craker said of his victory “I didn’t get much sleep last night, I felt that I played flawless poker yesterday but didn’t really play that well today. When I got lucky and made two pair with my king-deuce I felt as if I had nothing to lose. I’m not sure what I am going to do now, but I know I’m going to go and celebrate tonight with my Wainuiomata mates!”

So now we move our attention to Manila in the Philippines for the next leg of thePokerStars.net APPT Season 2. APPT Manila is always one of my favorite events. If you are looking to immerse yourself in one of the most fascinating countries in the world for some culture mixed with your poker then put this one on your list of must attend events. PokerStars, as always, is running a myriad of different satellites for all bankrolls so there is no reason why you shouldn’t be able to join the team over there for Season 2 of the APPT Manila, the tour that brings world class poker to exotic travel locations.

Well that’s all we have for you Auckland, congrats to Daniel Craker, our APPT Auckland Main Event Champion and from the PokerStars blogging team we look forward to bringing you all the action from Manila.

By James Potter and Eliot James

8:28pm: Daniel Craker is the APPT Auckland 2008 Main Event Champion! Daniel Craker, $257,040 NZD ($153,399 USD), Matthew Konnecke eliminated in 2nd place, $162,792 ($97,153 USD)

The Trans-Tasman battle between New Zealander Daniel Craker and Australian Matthew Konnecke has finished after only eight minutes of heads-up play. Craker went into heads-up play with nearly twice the chips of Konnecke, putting him in a good position to secure the trophy and title, keeping first place on home soil.

The two young players didn’t waste any time finding hands to tangle with and on the second hand of heads-up play Craken pushed all-in over Konnecke’s raise. Konnecke called and put his tournament life on the line with As-9s. Craken rolled 2h-2c and our players were in a race. With the crowd anxiously watching the board was dealt out, Kc-6h-Td-5s-Qh, offering no help to Konnecke. The rail erupted into cheering and applause as Craken began his celebrations.

Our second placed Matthew Konnecke will take home an enormous $162,792, while our winner, Daniel Craken, takes home over a quarter of a million dollars, $257,040, and the innaugural winner of New Zealand’s largest ever tournament, the APPT Auckland Main Event 2008.

Keep tuned, we will bring you a full wrap up of the event over the next day.

8:20pm: Heads-up has begun! Wang Che Jung has been eliminated in 3rd place ($85,680 NZD)

Just ten minutes back from the dinner break, we have seen the elimination of Wang Che Jung in third place. Jung led the chip count for much of the final table and takes home over $85,000 for his efforts.

Jung limped his button for 24k, before Daniel Craker raised 80k from the small blind. Jung added a further 220k from the button, which Craker called. Craker checked a flop of 9h-2c-3c and Jung moved in for his last 470k. Craker wasted no time in calling and turned 8h-8c to be well in front. An uneventful 3s and Jc on the turn and river left Craker with almost 2 million in chips moving into heads-up play.

7:35pm: Dinner break

Play has stopped as we go on a 30 minute dinner break here at the APPT Auckland Main Event. Three players remain, Daniel Craker on 980,000, Matthew Konnecke on 760,000, and our chip leader Wang Che Jung on 1.1 million.

We will continue to keep you updated as soon as our players return to continue the battle for the championship. In the meantime, check out another player interview brought to you by the PokerStars.tv crew:

Watch APPT Auckland 08: Nat Seet Final Table on PokerStars.tv

6:55pm Dan Sing eliminated in 4th place ($59,976 NZD)

Dan Sing has been elminated in 4th place, taking home $59,976 NZD, after being on the unlucky end of a bad beat. Sing and Jung got all of the chips in the middle on the turn, with the board showing T-7-A-J. Sing was quick to snap over KQo for the nut straight, while Jung resignedly rolled over JT for two pair. Luck fell in favour of Jung however, with a repeating jack on the river to give him a full house.

The shortstack as we go three handed is clearly Daniel Craker who is taking his stack of 450k up against Jung and Konnecke who both have approximately 1.2 million in chips.

6:15pm Rollercoaster ride for Daniel Craker

Daniel Craker has been on a rollercoaster ride at the final table, adding excitment and entertainment to a table which has not seen an elimination for almost two hours.

Craker lost a significant portion of his chips in a battle of the blinds with Matthew Konnecke. After Craker raised from the small blind and called a re-raise from Konnecke, both players saw an ace high flop. Craker made a move, check-raising Konneke all-in. Konneke had no trouble calling with his AKo, and Craker, with J7o, was looking for running outs which never came.

Continuing the ride, Craker moved all in preflop the very next hand for 235k. Craker was called by both Konnecke and Jung in the small and big blinds and the action was checked through to the river on a board of K-4-T-7-2. Craker, pumping his fist, rolled K2o for two pair and scooped a 700k pot to get back in the game.

6:00pm: Dan Sing doubles up

Facing a 50k raise from Jung on the button, Sing flat called from the big blind. Players saw a flop of A-8-7 rainbow. Sing checked to Jung, who fired another 50k into the pot, which was called by Sing. Both players checked the K on the turn and a 5 fell on the river.

Sing led into Jung for 75k. Jung asked for a count and put Sing to the test for his last 113k. “Ok, let’s go” yelled Sing, quickly followed by Jung rolling 86s. “What? A pair of eights?” Sing asked in disbelief, shortly before he rolled over A5s for 2 pair. Still at the bottom of the chip count, Sing is back in the game after a much needed double.

Approximate chip counts:

Daniel Craker: 850
Matthew Konnecke: 550
Wang Che Jung: 850
Dan Sing: 450

5:15pm: Action slows as the prizes climb

Play has almost ground to a halt in the SkyCity Casino Auckland as we play the final table. Now down to four players, there are no particular shortstacks and nobody appears to feel pressured to make a move.

Players are currently on a 10 minute break and when we return play will resume at 8000/16000 with a 2000 ante. Approximate chipstacks at the moment are:

Daniel Craker: 885,000
Matthew Konnecke: 392,000
Wang Che Jung: 1,130,000
Dan Sing: 380,000

There is currently over $565,000 NZD remaining in the prizepool for these four players, with over a quarter of a million dollars for the lucky player who secures the title of APPT Auckland Main Event Champion.

Despite the slowing pace on the felt, excitement is still high among the onlookers railing here. Local fans are still keen to see the title kept in New Zealand and tension will only climb as we continue. With three Kiwis and an Aussie in the remaining four there is guaranteed to be at least one New Zealander in the eventual heads-up battle.

Watch APPT Auckland 08: Michael Mariakis Final Table on PokerStars.tv

4:35pm: Stanford heads for the door, eliminated in 5th place ($46,276 NZD)

Already shortstacked from his recent fray, Luke Stanford pushed the last of his chips in with A8o. Dan Sing, who has picked up a couple of recent pots to jump over 500k in chips, was quick to call with KQo. A king high flop put Dan in front and a queen on the river only added insult to injury.

We are down to four players in the APPT Auckland Main Event, all of whom are guaranteed $59,976 NZD minimum. Action is still flying here at SkyCity Casino as the players get ever closer to the quarter million dollar first place prize.

Watch APPT Auckland 08: Luke Stanford on PokerStars.tv

4:25pm Luck runs out for Luke Stanford as Daniel Craker doubles up

Local player Luke Stanford has taken two large pots recently when luck fell his way to crack his opponent’s hands. Finally the luck has run out for the Kiwi as he doubles up Daniel Craker.

With both players all-in on a queen high flop, Stanford showed AQ to be well ahead of the shorter stacked Craker, holding QT. A ten fell on the turn to rocket Craker in front of Stanford, and the river subsequently blanked. Luke is now one of our shortest stacks, and wil be needing to find a spot to double up.

Approximate chip counts at the moment are:

Daniel Craker: 840k
Matthew Konnecke: 135k
Wang Che Jung: 1.46M
Luke Stanford: 140k
Dan Sing: 140k

Sidenote: APPT Auckland High Rollers

There was a high rollers event offered to the players here at the PokerStars.net APPT Auckland SkyCity Festival of Poker. What the field lacked in size (17 runners) was certainly no reflection of the quality of entrants.

Notable runners included Team PokerStars Pro Lee Nelson, David “Superman” Saab, Eddie Sabat (APPT Macau Main Event Champion), Andrew Scott, Carter Gill.

They played down to the final 5 last night and have now got back under way on the table next to the Main Event final table. We will bring you the winner of this event once the event has been completed.

Seat 1: Lee Nelson
Seat 2: Shaun Gray
Seat 3: Josh Egan
Seat 4: Michael Long
Seat 5: Carter Gill

Prize Payouts:

1st: $83,000
2nd: $50,000
3rd: $33,000

3:50pm Seet exits in 6th ($34,272 NZD)

Crippled three hands earlier, Seet jammed for 70k from the button and was called by Jung in the big blind. Seet showed Q5s to Jung’s ATo and was run down by a board of K-4-2-J-Q, giving Jung the broadway straight.

With four New Zealand players starting the final table here at the APPT Auckland Main Event, four still remain. In their midst is Australian Matthew Konnecke. Trans-Tasman rivalry will be feirce as the four Kiwis look to keep the title in New Zealand, and the local fans cheer from the rail.

3:45pm Nathanael Seet crippled on the river

After raising to 27k UTG, Luke Stanford shoved for an extra 267k from the button. Painfull, Seet considered his options and where he would be if he lost. Finally Seet announced “call” and rolled over As-Kh. Stanford was behind with Qc-Tc and needing help from the board.

The board ran out 3c-3d-4s-8d-Qd, with the crowd of locals erupting into cheers and and applause as Stanford scooped the pot on the river.

Fellow Singapore player Ivan Tan jokingly asked Tournament Director Danny McDonaugh if they could run it twice. With that loss, Seet is under 60k and is the clear shortstack at the table.

3:10pm: Jani Karke eliminated in 7th place ($25,704)

Just one hand before their first break, Jani Karke and Daniel Craker managed to tangle in an all-in pot. It was another race situation as Karke took ATo up against Craker’s pocket nines. A low board kept the nines in front and Karke’s final table appearance has come to an end.

3:00pm: Jung first to join the millionaires club

After eliminating the first two of our players from the final table, Jung has taken a commanding chiplead. Jung is using the chips to his advantage and playing some very aggressive poker. In his most recent hand, Jung fired a 300k bet into a 431k pot against Luke Stanford, our former chip leader heading into the final table.

After painful deliberations, even going to the tournament screen to check the prize structure, Stanford finally called time on himself. APPT Tournament Director Danny McDonaugh counted down the last ten seconds and Stanford finally announced fold with four seconds remaining. Jung was quick to flip nine high and the rail erupted in cheering and appluase.

With that last pot, Jung now has 1.1M in chips, roughly fourty percent of the chips in play.

2:40pm: Wai Kwan Yuen first elminated ($14,565 NZD), Michael Mariakis follows behind ($19,706 NZD)

As predicted things have started moving here on the final table of the APPT Auckland Main Event. We have had two eliminations in quick succession and are now down to our final seven players, with those left guaranteed over $25k.

Yuen was the first to fall. After a UTG raise from Jung and a call in MP from Sing, Yuen pushed her last 31k into the pot. Jung re-raised a further 145k, pushing Sing from the hand and playing the pot heads-up.

Yuen showed As-Kd to Jung’s Qc-Jc. The first card out of the door was Jung’s jack, on a flop of 2d-4d-Jh. The turn of 3d left Yuen calling for any of her 17 outs to get back in front. The Th wasn’t one of them, and we lost our first player, and only female to make it through to the final table.

Just two hands later another big pot began to brew with Mariakis opening to 24k from middle position. After a call directly behind from Craker, Jung re-raised from the small blind a further 75k. Mariakis moved all-in for a further 115k and, after Craker folded, Jung quickly called.

Jung flipped 7-7 and was in a classic race with Mariakis’ AQs. A seven high flop quickly decided the outcome and Jung scooped another huge pot to be propelled to the top of the chipcount with a stack just shy of 900k.

2:20pm: Final table settling in

Players have settled in at our final table and the play has been subdued during the first 45 minutes of play here at SkyCity Casino. We have just moved up levels, and the blinds are now 4000/8000 with 1000 antes.

As yet, no players have had their life put to the test. The few all-ins we have had thus far have been from our shorter stacked players who have managed to pick up the blinds and antes. Approximate chipcounts at the moment are:

Daniel Craker: 410k
Nathanel Seet: 450k
Wai Kwan Yuen: 115k
Matthew Konnecke: 150k
Wang Che Jung: 495k
Luke Stanford: 600k
Jani Karke: 127k
Dan Sing: 175k
Michael Mariakis: 300k

With the blinds having just moved, and the players now comfortable, we can expect the eliminations to begin. We will be keeping you posted throughout!

By James Potter and Eliot James

The final table has been decided and we have taken a chance to chat with all of our playes. We will be bringing you updates of critical hands and knockouts throughout the final table as they happen. Here is an introduction to our final nine:

Seat 1: Daniel Craker is a 30 yr old plasterer from Wellington. Well, in his own words, hopefully not a plasterer for much longer. He resides in the Lower Hutt in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, a beautiful city located at the bottom of the North Island. He flew up and won his way into the tournament in a single table satellite but plays a lot online. He has a ripper home game back at home and has asked the PokerStars Blogging team to mention the “Wainuiomata Boys”. Who were we to refuse? Cheer on your boy, he’s going strong.

Seat 2: Nathanael Seet is a 24yr old poker pro who resides in Singapore. Nat is a high stakes cash player who can always be found in the biggest game in most card rooms. If experience counts for anything then Nat would be a short priced favorite over this field. He has made a name for himself online but he prefers the hard edge of live poker as it suits his style. He hasn’t played a lot of tournaments and says that this is his biggest result up to this point in time. He started playing 3 years ago and has never looked back. He lists his other interests as World of Warcraft and also loves soccer, especially Manchester United.

Seat 3: Wai Kwan Yuen, from Birmingham, United Kingdom, qualified for APPT Auckland on PokerStars for a minute $4 just one week ago. A full time poker player, Wai has been playing poker for the past few years. The only female to make the Final Table in Auckland, Wai heads into the Final Table positioned 6th with 162,000 in chips.

Seat 4: Matthew Konnecke is a 27 year old from Sydney, Australia. An Office Administrator, Matthew has been a dedicated online poker player for the last four years. Deciding to cross the Pacific this month and try his skills offline, the PokerStars.net APPT Auckland is Matthew’s first live tournament this year. Making up half of the Aussie contingent, Matthew heads into Final Table play positioned 8th in chips.

Seat 5:Wang Che Jung is a 33 year old business man from a small New Zealand town called Blemheim in the South Island of New Zealand. Blemheim, situated near Nelson, is great wine country and a few hours North of Christchurch. Jung was a native of South Korea and moved to the Shaky Isles 7 years ago to start a new life for himself, his wife, and his 3 year old daughter. This is his first live tournament ever and won his way into the event in an $80 satellite at SkyCity. Wang is a likable guy and says that even though he has only been playing poker for 2 months it is defiantly his new favorite pastime.

Seat 6: Luke Stanford is the best placed of all the local New Zealanders and has plenty of chips to push around on this final table. Luke is 26 years and lives 50 metres away from SkyCity Casino. He loves the cash games here and puts in a lot of hours both online and in live play. He currently works in Risk Management but it is clear that Luke could have a bright future in the game. This is his first major tournament but learned his trade playing in the local tournies in literally his own backyard.

Seat 7: Jani Karke is a 36 year poker pro from Finland. He is travelling with his girlfriend and fellow pro Teresa Nousiainen who qualified to the tournament on PokerStars. Jani crafted his poker skills as a cash player but in recent times has played a lot of tournaments throughout Europe. He has played many EPT tournaments but this is his best finish up to date. He plays a lot online but really enjoys the challenge of live poker. With a good finish here he is hoping to travel a lot more on the tournament circuit in 2009.

Seat 8: Dan Sing is an actor and won his way through to the final in the celebrity event here at the APPT Auckland. Dan has been playing poker for 5 years and tries to get down to SkyCity when he can. He is a proud New Zealander and has made Auckland his base for the time being and has a Chinese, Malaysian and Samoan heritage. He has all his mates here cheering him on and he has asked to mention the ‘Leveeda Poker Boys’.

Seat 9: Michael Mariakis is a 48yr old Logistics Manager for Harvery Norman. He lives in Kyle Bay in Sydney and is married. Poker is his passion and he is an avid player on PokerStars under the User ID ’smmmooth’. He has mostly played online but heads down to Star City on occasions. This is his first major live tournament and he has had the time of his life. He lists Golf as his other passion but it is clear that Poker is what this guy loves to do.

By James Potter and Eliot James

Within 30 minutes of play today we have lost both our 11th and 10th placed players, Edward Holdcroft and Eric Mutrie.

Holdcroft, who started the day as one of our big stacks on 297k, was eliminated early after open-raising in middle position and facing an 85k re-raise from chip leader Luke Stanford. Holdcroft called the re-raise and both players saw a 9 high flop. Holdcroft open jammed his last 150k and was snap called by Stanford. Holdcroft rolled queens as Stanford flipped over Aces. No help came for Holdcroft and Stanford scooped the biggest pot of the tournament and rocketed to over 800k in chips. Standford holds over a quarter of the chips in play heading into the final table.

Mutrie followed less than an orbit later. After being short-stacked, Mutrie called all-in from the small blind for 12k after Dan Sing opened to 16k. Michael Mariakis in the big blind called and three players saw the flop of 6h-3h-Kh. Mariakis led out for 20k and Sing folded. Cards were turned and Mariakis’ Ks-7s left Mutrie’s 2s-4s in need of a 5 which never came.

Play has stopped for 30 minutes here as we take an opportunity to talk to the players on the final table and make preparations for the final battle. We will be bringing you constant updates throughout the final table as the players battle it out for a quarter of a million for first place here at the APPT Auckland Main Event.

By James Potter and Eliot James

Good morning all and Welcome to the final day of the PokerStars.net APPT Auckland SkyCity Festival of Poker. We have 11 combatants ready and later today one will be crowned the inaugural APPT Auckland champion and will walk away with over quarter of a million dollars.

The stage is set and we are ready to bring you some of the hottest action on offer. We will bring you player profiles of our final nine after we lose two more players and will stay with you all day until only our champion remains.

Yesterday went pretty quickly and it will be interesting to see how the players approach today. I would think that there will be some fairly cautious players out there early with players like Seet and Stanford looking to take control and push their big chip stacks around. It will be fascinating to watch and report so make a cup of tea, sit back and relax with all the information from the APPT Auckland.