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Well well, it only seems like yesterday that we all arrived in the beautiful city of Melbourne for the 2008 PokerNews Cup, but today the curtain falls on what has been an absolutely fantastic trip for the team. As they say, time flies when you're having fun and the last 12 days have a been an absolute blast with so much good food, partying, sightseeing, and of course poker.
It was also a highly successful trip for the team, with eight team members cash across three events and ZebalhaoPR even managing to get Team PokerRoom.com on a final table for the first time. Aside from the poker the real highlight of the trip was watching the team bond, I can honestly say that I have never meet a group of people who bonded as quickly and as tightly as our 21 team members did here in Melbourne.
The trip provided so many great events and activities for the players, so let's take a look back at some of the highlights;
OK folks, that's all from the 2008 PokerNews Cup. If you like what you saw here in Melbourne don't forget that qualifiers are currently running for the
2009 Aussie Millions. I hope to see you there!
After three long days of play, local player Nali Kaselias has beaten out 409 players to take down the PokerNews Cup Main Event and the $250,000 first prize.
Kaselias beat Danish player Kenneth Damm in head's up to take the title and was a very popular winner in his local poker room. Damm earned $120,000 for his second place finish and continued his amazing run at the PokerNews Cup, having already won the PokerNews Private Freeroll and the Tony G Celebrity Shootout earlier in the week. Damm played absolutely amazing poker all week and is certainly a player to watch out for in the future.
Here is the full results from the final table:
1st - Nali Kaselias $250,000
2nd - Kenneth Damm $120,000
3rd - David Lee $73,100
4th - Ray Sukkar $49,200
5th - Martin Comer $41,000
6th - Tim Heath $32,800
7th - David Gorr $24,600
8th - Grant Levy $16,400
9th - James Broom $12,000
With MadBaltic and Gishom being eliminated from the Main Event, Team PokerRoom.com's official participation in the PokerNews Cup has come to an end.
It has been a fantastic event for the team, with 8 players cashing across 3 events, here is a quick recap how they did it;
2008 PokerNews Cup Main Event;
Gishom - 37th $4100
Madbaltic -40th $4100
Tony G Celebrity Shootout;
ZebalhaoPR - 8th $3255
PLWashy - 20th $1085
PokerNews Private Freeroll;
Abunahra - 3rd $580
Ronnnies - 5th $349
PLWashy - 6th $302
chewy1979 - 7th $260
Gishom - 8th $210
wild_c4ll - 10th $126
Well that's it in terms of poker for our players, but tonight is the big player party so the action is really only getting started! Make sure you tune in tomorrow to see all the photos and stories from tonight's party and how the PokerNews Cup Main Event finished up. See you then!
Gishom has busted from the PokerNews Cup at Crown Casino, as the highest finishing player from Team PokerRoom.com. Patiently waiting for the right hand to move All-In, Gishom pushed his 62K into the middle from EP and waited for a call. It came from the big-stacked player to his left, with everyone else at the table folding.
Gishom turned over QQ against his opponent's AK, but found himself behind when the JA3 showed. 7 bricked for both, and then K on the river gave the oppponent his two pair, sending Gishom to the rail.
It has been an amazing effort from the Englishman, showing patience and a cool head over two gruelling days of Poker. Gishom's gentle nature and pleasant manners have also won him a lot of new friends here in Melbourne, as well as winning the $4100.
Congratulations Gishom, we hope to see you here next year for a third consecutive PokerNews Cup. Now it's time to party and head to the Official PokerNews Cup Party!
MadBaltic has finished his 2008 PokerNews Cup Main Event journey in 40th place, earning a cool $4100 for his efforts
Facing a raise to 22k from MP, MadBaltic pushed all-in with 55k from the cut-off before big blind pushed all-in over the top with about 80k. MP called to make it a big three way pot, and MadBaltic and BB both showed ATo against MP's QQ.
The flop came QAK rainbow, giving MP a set of Q's, but also giving MadBaltic top pair and a gut shot straight draw. The Estonian was calling for a J on the turn, but it bricked with a 6, and when the river showed with a 2 MadBaltic was eliminated along with BB. Because our big Estonian team member had the smaller stack than his opponent he officially finished in 40th place.
What a fantastic effort it was by MadBaltic to navigate his way through two long days of Main Event play and take home $4100. Congratulations, you did yourself and your team very proud! Now it is time to celebrate!
Yes that's right, after almost 2 hours of drama the money bubble has finally burst with MadBaltic and Gishom now guaranteed at least $4,100.
The bubble bursting hand occurred on MadBaltic's table, and as John Pachos was eliminated in 41st place the young Estonian let out a loud scream of 'YES' and pumped his fists. MadBaltic was not involved in the hand, but he was becoming dangerously low stacked after giving up blinds and losing a big pot during the hand-for-hand play. He is now on 55k and I think we can expect a move from him pretty quickly once play resumes after the dinner break.
Gishom was also relieved when the bubble finally burst, two hours of giving up blinds and antes had seen his stack slip down under the 40k mark
As mentioned, the players are now on their dinner break and when they return blinds will be up to 4000/8000 with a 500 ante. The average stack is 205k and Harris Pavlou is the chip leader with 680k. Here is another look how the payout structure will progress;
1st - $250,000
2nd - $120,000
3rd - $73,100
4th - $49,200
5th - $41,000
6th - $32,800
7th - $24,600
8th - $16,400
9th - $12,000
10-16th - $9,020
17-24th - $7,380
25-32th - $5,740
33-40th - $4,100
Let's hope our boys can double up after the break and maybe get a crack at the higher pay levels deeper into the tournament
We are still on the bubble, with seven short-stacked players having all won their hands to double-up.
On the TV feature table, James Potter made the bold move of only checking one card, saw an Ace and pushed All-In. Finding two callers, he had an agonising wait while he watched the two other live players continue the hand. The board ran out giving each of his opponents a pair of eights, he flipped over both cards to find he was sitting on pocket rockets to triple-up and survive!
MadBaltic is just hanging in there on a stack of around 50K, and will hope for a player to bust very soon so he doesn't have to make any moves himself.
It's down to 41 and we are going hand for hand on the bubble. Each all-in call is meet with a big cheer and a great convergence of players, media, and fans around the table to watch the action unfold. MadBaltic and Gishom and getting a little low with just over 100k, but there is still no real pressure on them to make a move before we reach the money. it is just a question now of how deep they can go.
Blinds have just moved up to 3000/6000 with 400 ante and the average stack is 200k
The poker room at Crown Casino has become a hive of activity as we approach the bubble in the 2008 PokerNews Cup Main Event. Only 45 players are remaining and play has predictably started to slow down as we get closer to the payout structure. Gishom and MadBaltic are still going steady, having not been involved in any big pots since the last update. Let's hope the two guys can not only burst the bubble, but also go deep and get a big pay day!
The 2008 PokerNews Cup is over for Canadian Ronnnies, who will now have to settle for the Cash Games Tables at Crown Casino.
The button opened up the pot with a 10K bet, which was called by Ronnnies. Ronnnies lead out with a bet pushing 15K into the middle when the flop showed 8sJs9c. After going to the tank for several minutes the button moved All-In, with his huge stack easily covering Ronnnies's who made the call.
Ronnnies's showed his flush-draw Qs6s against his opponents JT, and the turn brought no love showing 6d. The river then gave his opponent trips when a J spiked, ending our laid-back Canadian's Australian PokerNews Cup dream.
It has been an amazing effort by Ronnnies , playing smart and patient Poker throughout the whole Tournament. With the Aussie Millions Qualifiers now available on PokerRoom.com, Ronnnies has told us he will be doing whatever it takes to join the Team again Down Under.
