Day 1A of the Pokerstars.net APPT Grand Final has come to an end after seven levels. Out of the original 108 that took to the felt earlier today, 48 players remain. The 75-minute levels and a healthy 20K start bank offered players plenty of time to gather some chips and ease themselves into the long slog that awaits over the next six days.

Team PokerStars Pros Vanessa Rousso and Chad Brown (despite starting strongly) were the big names in action but they busted out at either end of the day. The three PokerStars Sponsored players who featured on day 1A – Celina Lin, Lei He and David Saab – were also casualties of a testing day.

It was also a day that featured many of the rising stars of Australian poker, although the majority fell by the wayside. Online sensations Jay SEABEAST Kinkade and James Andy McLEOD Obst were both were among the big names to tee off. Kinkade made an early exit and the youngster kid from Adelaide was among the first out.

Much of the drama was settled on a table that comprised Saab, famed jockey Shane Dye, Julian Powell and Jim Sachinidis. The least experienced of that quartet – Dye – handed out to the pros and finished the day with around 60k in chips.

Leo “The Mechanic” Boxell used his wealth of experience and class to end the day with just under 30k in chips. He was seated next to Brown and the two dominated the table for most of the day until Chad made his unexpected exit.

Those who shone towards the end of the day included West Australian Steven Musca and Daniel Kowalski of the UK; both have just under 100k. It looks, however, that the day 1B and 1C players will be chasing Phil Willcocks from Auckland and his impressive stack of 130k.

We’ll be back at 12.30pm tomorrow local time for the continuation of the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final from Star City Casino on the shores of Darling Harbour in Sydney, Australia.

Team PokerStars Pro Chad Brown has joined Vanessa Rousso on the sidelines after walked K-3 into the K-J of Phil Wilcox on a board of J-7-K-3. Tough break, but the temperature is going to be 84 tomorrow. Vanessa, pack the bathers and the sunscreen.

Lei He, the local player who finished third in last year’s APPT Grand Final, has also been eliminated by rhyming namesake Dave Lee. It was jacks versus fours, and the board stayed forlorn for Lei He.

The medicos finally unplugged the life support on the stack of PokerStars Sponsored player David Saab after the Manila-based Aussie pro had survived several all-ins.

Ironically, he busted when pushing with the best of it – A-K against A-Q – but a Q on the flop sent the last of Saab’s chips in the direction of Brett Burgess.

Kiwi PokerStars qualifier Phil Willcocks remains the chip leader with 120,000 ahead of David Lovell, Greg Cook, PokerStars qualifier Daniel Kowalski from the UK and Ray Lapitan. And so to day 1B ...

Watch APPT Sydney S2: A veteran's voice of calm - Avi Ayalon on PokerStars.tv

By James Potter

Tournament director Danny McDonagh has just announced that players will be playing seven levels, which means we have 75 minutes remaining on day 1A of the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final. McDonagh likes to keep the opening day as short as possible for APPT events.

“We understand that players come here for a holiday. We don’t want to kill them on the first day. It’s also nice to start off with a large field on day two. There is plenty of time to test them out as the tournament progresses,” he said.

McDonagh is an Australian poker icon, and his work on the APPT has underlined his reputation as one of the world’s most respected tournament directors.

Leo “The Mechanic” Boxell is also held in high regard in the local poker community. A motor mechanic from suburban Melbourne, his poker achievements are far too numerous to cover on this blog entry. He’s won numerous Australian and New Zealand titles but his most notable effort was when he finished second to Peter Costa in the 2003 Aussie Millions main event.

He always carries a lucky wombat with him (a small, furry, tank-shaped Australian marsupial) that sits upon his chips, keeping guard. Leo’s loving wife Bev is also always close by during most tournaments in which Leo plays.

Boxell is flying at the moment with just under 50,000 in chips,. He’s seated next to Team PokerStars Pro Chad Brown. The two most experienced players at the table, they’ve not tangled in too many pots.

Dan Ginnane is up there with the chip leaders on 80,000. Dan resides in Coogee Bay, one of the many beautiful seaside suburbs on Sydney’s east. Dan is quite the personality around town thanks to his work on Triple M radio as a rugby league presenter.

“My two passions are certainly rugby league and poker. I have been playing for about four years and am having a blast in this tourny,” he said.

With the blinds now at level 7 (300/600 with a 75 ante), the chip leader is Phil Wilcox (120,000), David Lovell (101,000), Shane Dye (80,000), Greg Cook (78,000) and Stewart Davidson (64,000). Half of the field who started the day (54 of 108) are aiming to survive day 1A. And what would they do if they went on to win? See here...

Watch APPT Sydney S2: Dreams may come true... on PokerStars.tv

We could make some cheap jibe about it being bedtime for the youngsters as we enter the evening session on day 1A of the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final at Star City. But we won’t. Instead, here are the details of how two of the more youthful members of today’s field have been sent to the rail.

PokerStars Sponsored player Celina bondgirl Lin committed the last of her chips with A-6 and found herself up against A-K. The board brought no help and the popular Melbournian was out of the tournament.

Steve stevo Leonard’s departure was far messier. He committed the last of his chips with Ah-7h on a board of 2s-6h-3s-2h-Kh. Nut flush good? Not if your opponent has pocket deuces.

Jay Kinkade always needed help with A-K against the pocket kings of Mark Deutsch and it didn’t come, as the board ran out 5s-Qh-2c-7s-10h. And here is today’s trivia item: not only is Kinkade a gun poker player, he is also the guitarist for Perth thrash metal band Distortion. And he seems such a nice boy.

The post-dinner devastation has also claimed Josh Pang Ang, who bubbled the final table at the last APPT stop in Manila. The Singaporean’s stack swung worse than the Dow Jones over the past few weeks before he missed a flush draw against the straight of Phil Wilcox, who now occupies the chip lead with more than 90,000.

Fresh from a final table in the PokerNews Cup main event, Dave Lee collected some valuable chips at the expense of Perth cash-game specialist Jovan Skekic, while Jarred Graham and Jim Sachinidis have also been eliminated since dinner.

With play midway through level six (blinds at 250/500 with an ante of 50) and about two hours of play remaining, 63 of the 108 players that started day 1A are still in contention.

The Croc’s latest target is none other than the new WSOP main event champion Peter Eastgate. Argyros figures the 22-year-old will be jetlagged from the long trip to Australia, and is prepared to put up AUD $10,000 that he will last longer in the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final than the Dane. The young PokerStars Sponsored player flies in tomorrow, wonder how long before news of the Croc’s offer reaches him!

Watch APPT Sydney S2: Billy's Eastgate Bet on PokerStars.tv

The latest news from our feature table is that Shane Dye is still beating up on his more fancied opposition and is sitting comfortably on approximately 50,000 in chips. His sparring partner PokerStars Sponsored player David “Superman” Saab has been crippled as the Aussie hoop applies his own brand of beat down on day 1A of the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final at Star City.

“I didn’t even realise I had played with Shane before,” Saab said. “He remembered me from a tournament in Melbourne where I apparently put him out of tournament when I hit a set against his aces. Everyone knows who I am. He is playing really well though today, with a very tight aggressive style of play.”

Shane, when asked if he enjoyed ‘riding’ over the top of the Superman, said: “I’m just annoyed I forgot to bring any headphones.”

Dye wouldn’t have any issues if he’d been seated next to PokerStars Sponsored player Lei He. Last year’s third-place finisher in the APPT Grand Final has started strongly and looks at ease in the early stages of the tournament.

“I have been sidetracked a lot this year so I really haven’t been able to spend the time on my poker that I would have liked to. This event is really special to me though and I would love to go a couple of spots better,” he said.

Meanwhile the preliminary events continue around the APPT Grand Final, with popular Crown player Sam Youssef the latest to celebrate victory after the $2,200 No Limit Hold’em six-handed event.

It’s been a big year for Sam who won the high stakes events at the Melbourne and Victorian Championships. He outlasted a field that included PokerStars Sponsored players Tony Hachem (sixth) and Emad Tahtouh (who has apparently suffered a fractured hand).

“It wasn’t about the money; I only do it for the trophy and the enjoyment of the game. It would have been disgraceful to lose the event when I got heads up. I owed it to the Melbourne boys to take the title home,” Youssef said.

As the sun starts to sink below the Blue Mountains to the west of Sydney on day 1A of the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final, the blues have set in for a number of players who’ve exited the tournament.

Melbourne’s Julian Powell found himself all-in against Michael Wong with A-K after a pre-flop raising war. It was an astute move, as Wong showed just 7d-8s, but options opened up when the flop landed 10s-As-6s.

Sure enough, the 9c came on the turn and Powell was looking for a spot at the nearest cash game.

The Perth party at table 19 has been broken up with the departure of Matthew Kirk and Michael Pedley. With the flop showing Ad-8s-Jc, Mark Deutsch disappeared into the tank and eventually called with pocket queens, well behind Kirk’s A-K. Bang, Q on the turn, adios Matty.

Pedley’s tremendously consistent year on the local and international circuit ended on a disappointing note, but Jay Kinkade and Jovan Skekic are still waving the flag for the Sandgropers.

At the other end of the chip count, it’s Warwick Mirzikinian who’s leading the field a merry chase. The Star City regular actually won three seats into the APPT Grand Final. Winning form is good form, and Mirzikinian has torn a swathe through his tablemates so far today.

Also prominent on the chip count are a couple of online players very familiar with each other’s skills.

Queensland’s Harris harrismp Pavlou (currently holding about 60,000 in chips) is best known for his online PLO cash-game prowess but has also impressed on the live scene this year.

Tony bond18 Dunst won a $3k buy-in event at the Bellagio Cup after four cashing four times at the 2008 WSOP. He’s best known for his online tournament record, but is showing he’s no slouch at the live form of the game with a stack of 50,000 currently in his possession.

With players about to head off for the dinner break at the midway point of level five (200/400 with a 25 ante), about 25 players have hit the rail. Meanwhile, the countdown is on for players awaiting days 1B and 1C.

Dating back to the days before Australia was a federated nation, there has always been a healthy rivalry between the country’s two biggest cities.

Separated by less than 1,000 kilometres (that's not far in Australia), the cities that sit at either end of the Hume Highway are surprisingly different. Indeed, the rivalry between the cities was the reason that neither Melbourne (the largest city at the time) nor Sydney (the oldest city) was chosen as the capital when Australia officially became a nation in 1901.

How else are they different? When the world thinks of Australia, it thinks of Sydney’s Harbour Bridge and that Opera House, not the brown and muddy Yarra River. But Melbourne is widely recognised as the home of the nation’s cultural heritage, the best shopping and the finest restaurants.

The cities are home to rival football codes – rugby league in Sydney and Australian football in Melbourne. Sydneysiders drink middies of beer, Melburnians drink pots of beer; Sydneysiders eat potato scallops, Melburnians eat potato cakes. You get the idea.

The rivalry between the cities has certainly flowed over into poker. Team PokerStars Pro Joe Hachem (Melbourne) is the yin to PokerStars Sponsored player Grant Levy’s yang. Melbourne has Van Marcus, Sydney has Eric Assadourian; Melbourne has Steve Leonard, Sydney has Daniel Kochan.

But the battle for the hearts and wallets of poker players has stepped up another level since the first PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final was held last year.

Suddenly, Australia’s premier poker event the Aussie Millions (played in the nation’s largest poker room at Crown in Melbourne) was feeling some pressure from a major event that was played only weeks earlier at Sydney’s Star City Casino.

Once the winner of the 2008 APPT Grand Final has been confirmed, work will start on a brand new poker room at Star City, and another chapter will be written in the long-standing rivalry.

20,000 starting stack; generous structure; four days of play; an estimated AUD $1 million first prize – what’s the hurry? Surprisingly, there are plenty of short stacks in the room midway through level three on day 1A of the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final at Star City in Sydney.

One of those short stacks belongs to PokerStars Sponsored player David Saab, who lost a race with pocket deuces against the A-K of Michael Wong on a board that ran out Ac-9d-8h-3s-Qc.

Another player struggling in the early going is PokerStars Sponsored player Celina Lin. Gutted to finish just two spots short of the money in the APPT Manila main event, the Chinese-born Australian has taken a few hits early to be down to less than 10,000.

Celina leads a small but diverse line-up of female players in today’s field. They include PokerStars qualifier Kristine Milinkovic, Valerie Gigliotti, who won a seat via a media freeroll and Lizzie Clarke, the girlfriend of PokerStars Sponsored player Eric Assadourian.

Last week, Lizzie’s sister Sally won the ladies event (part of the APPT Grand Final preliminary schedule) for almost AUD $6,000. With Eric’s father Assadour also set to line-up in the main event, it’s shaping up as quite an extended family affair.

Sadly that list of female players in the APPT Grand Final no longer includes Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso, who has been one of the great supporters of the APPT since its inception last year. On a flop of 5c-10d-2h, Rousso moved all-in responding to a bet of 3,800 and quicker than you can yell “shark”, there was the call.

Vanessa showed pocket jacks but found herself up against pocket aces, which duly saluted the judge. Well, there are worse places to be stuck than Sydney on a sunny day!

Meanwhile, Vanessa's partner and fellow Team PokerStars Pro Chad Brown has rocketed to around 50,000 in chips. He appears to be in total control of the table and is sitting next to one of Australia’s poker icons, Leo “The Mechanic” Boxell.

By James Potter

Shane Dye is not only one of Australia finest jockeys; he has also been one of the biggest personalities of the sport over the years. When talking of a ride, a horse or another jockey he is never short of an opinion and it is this self-belief that will help him become one of Australia’s better poker players.

His record in the saddle is impressive. He won the 1989 Melbourne Cup aboard Tawriffic, then won Australasia’s premier two-year-old race the Golden Slipper, four years in a row from 1989-1992.

Dye developed a love for the game when he returned from many years riding in one of the toughest racing theatres in the world, Hong Kong. Dye, while recovering from a horrendous injury, started playing poker.

Not only did he find that he enjoyed the game, he was a natural from the start and the results came early. He has already won a couple of smaller tournaments here at Star City in Sydney and played well and made day 2 of the PokerStars APPT Auckland main event earlier this year.

The affable Kiwi-born Aussie is never short of a witty comment, and when asked what his strategy for the day was, he replied: “What do you think? Get some good cards and survive!”

The jockey’s poker skills are being tested at the “table of death”, with Dye seated with PokerStars Sponsored player David “Superman” Saab, Jim Sachinidis and Julian Powell.

Saab is a lovable rogue – the Korean-born Aussie, who currently resides in Manila, is quickly making a name for himself across the world as one of the loudest (but best) players in the game. His clash with Dye, an equally dominant force in the world of horse racing, will be worth watching.

The start of the poker boom in Australia can be traced back to a single date: July 13, 2005. That was the day that Joe Hachem was crowned the World Series of Poker main event champion. Within weeks, poker rooms around the country were being packed with a new breed of player. Three years later, the young guns have taken over the local scene, as shown by the results in the major local events in 2008.

Players like James Broom (Melbourne champion), Jay Kinkade (Australia’s number one ranked online player and the 2008 Victorian champion) and Van Marcus (APPT Manila main event winner) lead a long list of young champions challenging the old guard that has dominated the game here for more than a decade.

Another one of those young stars emerging through the ranks is Jarred flopnutsonyou Graham, a multiple title winner online this year who is ranked firmly in the top five online players in Australia.

He’s also among the early movers today after he claimed one of the first scalps of the day. On a flop of Q-J-10 with three players in the hand, there was a bet of 1,100, Graham made it 3,000 with one caller. The turn was a 6, it was checked to Graham who bet 4,000 and took it down.

The same two players were at it again just minutes later after a flop of K-8-2. Graham shoved over the top all-in and, surprisingly, received a call. His opponent showed K-10 for top pair, but Graham showed pocket aces and took down his first scalp of the day.

APPT tournament director Danny McDonagh has confirmed today’s day 1A field at 108, with players currently on their first break midway through level 2 (blinds at 100/200).

Watch APPT Sydney S2: Day 1a Intro on PokerStars.tv

The temperature is nudging 85 degrees outside; the ferries are chugging across Sydney Harbour in the brilliant Australian sunshine and in the Star City poker room, the anticipation is reaching fever pitch as players begin to assemble for the first of the three day 1 flights in the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final.

Last year, the finale of the APPT’s first season attracted a massive field of 561. Registrations are ticking over, meaning this year’s field could still surpass that figure. Last year’s winner Grant Levy, a born and bred Sydneysider, has just given the order to shuffle up and deal after a short word from APPT president Jeffrey Haas.

We also had a stirring rendition of Australia’s unofficial national anthem Waltzing Matilda, which seamlessly morphed into every poker player’s favourite The Gambler. Nice touch.

Many of the big names have confirmed their entries for days 1B and 1C, but that’s not to say the day 1A field isn’t without some talent. Leading the entry list are Team PokerStars Pros Vanessa Rousso and Chad Brown, along with PokerStars Sponsored players Celina Lin and David Saab (seated two spots to the right of well known jockey Shane Dye, these two should get the table talk going before too long).

The list of PokerStars qualifiers includes two of Australia’s premier online players Daniel puntnko Kochan and James Andy McLEOD Obst. Kochan has a runner-up finish in the PokerStars Sunday Million to his name while Obst won the $215 Pot Limit Omaha (w/ one rebuy and one add-on) event in the recent WCOOP on PokerStars.

Others in action today include veritable minefield of Western Australia’s best players – Nino Marotta (fifth in the 2008 Aussie Millions), Kent Hunter, Jay SEABEAST Kinkade, Michael Pedley, Sam Jessop, Jovan Skekic and Matthew Kirk.

Others representing the host nation include young guns Joel Dodds (14th in the past two APPT Macau main events), Julian Powell, Steve stevo Leonard, Harris Pavlou, Jarred Graham and Michael Chrisanthopoulos. Play is expected to run for about 8-9 hours depending on the number of players eliminated. The structure for today’s play (75-minute levels) is:

Level 1: 50/100
Level 2: 100/200
Level 3: 100/200 (25 ante)
Level 4: 150/300 (25 ante)
Level 5: 200/400 (25 ante)
Level 6: 250/500 (50 ante)
Level 7: 300/600 (75 ante)
Level 8: 400/800 (100 ante)
Level 9: 500/1000 (100 ante)

Watch APPT Sydney S2: A taste of things to come on PokerStars.tv

By James Potter

The Astral Bar is a penthouse bar and restaurant perched on top of the 17th floor right on the edge of Sydney Harbour and the City. It is one of Star City Casino’s many jewels and was a fitting place to launch the Pokerstars APPT Grand Final.

Local beer and local Aussie fare including specials such as meat and mushroom pies and skewered king prawns gave players a real flavour of the land Down Under. The funky grooves of the band belted out some tunes as the sun set over the city and the players relaxed before the action in the main event starts.

Notable early arrivals include Team PokerStar Pros such as Vanessa Rousso, Chad Brown, Gavin Griffin and Lee Nelson plus last year’s winner Grant Levy were among the guests.

Watch APPT Sydney S2: Welcome Party on PokerStars.tv

• Andrew Johns is considered by many as the best rugby league player to ever lace on the boots and can now lay claim to being the Star City Charity Poker Event Champion. So who did he beat? Well, he did it the hard way, having to take down Team PokerStars Pro Joe Hachem.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever played to be honest so to beat a world champion, I don’t know. I can assure you it’s all luck! I’ve been bitten by the bug, though. My mates are going to hate me but it’s something else I can lair them up about. I loved it,” Johns said.

Other notable sporting champions who took to the green felt were former Wallabies full-back Matt Burke, triple Melbourne Cup winning jockey Glen Boss and former world heavyweight boxing champ “Aussie” Joe Bugner.

The fairer sex was also represented by marathon swimmer Susie Maroney and two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist Jane Flemming. The day, however, belonged to Johns who donated $10,000 to his chosen charity Ronald McDonald House.