A Handy Way to See the World
Red-Hot Poker
I OFTEN say that my favorite part of playing tournament poker and being a part of Team Poker Stars PRO is the opportunities it affords to travel and see the world. Just last week, I was in Los Angeles for the Legends of Poker event of the World Poker Tour. The event had an expanded field of 462 players this year, up nearly 200 entrants on previous years following a decision to halve the buy-in. In my opinion, the lower buy-in and broader field were a welcome change to the event, offering a more diverse set of opponents and, due to the larger number of players, an only marginally reduced prize pool.
In the end, it was relative new comer Andy Frankenberg who snagged a well-deserved win after being chip leader since day two. Frankenberg faced some difficulties on the final table when some bad beats quickly cost him his large lead. After finishing on top for five successive days, he had been playing relatively aggressively in the tournament until then. However, the sudden losses meant a quick change of gear was needed to keep the young player in the game. A switch to a defensive strategy, and some brave moves (including one hand where Frankenberg was forced to go in on just a 7-2, which fortunately paid off with a two-pair win) meant that he quickly regained his upper hand and ultimately snared the $US750,000 ($826,300) prize money.
It was an exciting event, in one of my favorite cities, however, no matter how rewarding and interesting travel can be, nothing quite equals coming home. This week I’ve been lucky enough to be back at my hometown casino, Crown, in Melbourne, for the annual Victorian Poker Championship. Crown is not only my hometown casino but also what I consider to be one of the premier poker rooms in the world, and this week 269 players, from the serious to the newcomers fronted up for the $2700 Victorian Poker Championship Main Event.
It was a fast tournament with the field quickly dwindling to just 97 players as we headed into day two, and the knockouts continued from there. Online player Michael “ITSOVER9000″ Egan was crowned Victorian Poker champion claiming $160,700 prize money on the final day of play when his 10, 7, bested Josh Barrett’s K, 3 when a seven was dealt on the flop.
It was another shining example of truly world-class poker tournaments for the Asia-Pacific region, joining the local PokerStars.net Australian New Zealand Poker Tour and Asia Pacific Poker Tour, in my favorite international poker destination – home.
Finally, a special hello to those who made it to the Poker stars barbecue at Cronulla Sharks last Wednesday! The 36 winners of the Poker Stars freeroll competition had a great evening, meeting the players and coaches from the Sharks as well as my brother, Tony. The winner of the poker tournament we held won a seat at the ANZPT so I’ll keep you posted how he fares.
