By Heath Cram


Danish Chip Leader Henrik Gwinner is showing no signs of letting up on this PokerStars.net APPT Sydney Grand Final Field. In the first 20 minutes of play, Gwinner has already built on his monster chip lead, to go to 450k in chips.

In a battle of the blinds with Nicholas Gazal, Gwinner limped from the small blind and saw a flop.

The flop came: 8c 5c 7h
Gwinner led out for 5k and Gazal came over the top to 15k. Gwinner with his monster stack wasn’t to be pushed around, raising to 45k. Gazal slowed down and just called.

The turn came: 6h, for a double suited 8-high 4 card straight-possible board.

Gwinner announced all-in, with his opponent baffled as he folded Ace-8 face up (Top Pair, Top Kicker).

Gwinner is at a chip-strong table, with Tony Dunst, Carter Gill, Van Marcus and PokerStars qualifier Francisicus Dekkers all present. One gets the feeling early, that it won’t be a smooth ride for his opposition.

Gwinner only played one preliminary event (Omaha) prior to the APPT Sydney Main Event, and bubbled with the nuts on the turn.

“My opponent had 10 outs, we were on the bubble and I pushed with the absolute nuts. I can’t believe he could chase a drawing hand at that stage”, said Gwinner who was unluckily eliminated.

No such misfortune thus far for Gwinner who was dominant on day 1 with some courageous calls and advanced plays, and has began where he left off today.

Gwinner has cashed in tournaments all over Europe, with his performance highlighted by his $144,500 US first prize in the No Limit Masterclassics of Poker in Holland. Only months ago in October, Gwinner also went very deep in the WPT Spanish Championship. All of this will be a distant memory if he continues in this dominant fashion today on the road towards a $1 million (AU) first prize.