This Week in Poker: Poker Tournament News Feb. 7 - 13

Check out CardPlayer.com every Friday for a weekly wrap-up of the news from the live poker tournament trail.

Card Player Player of the Year Update

1: Poorya Nazari — 3,000
2: Anthony Gregg — 2,500
3: Benjamin Spindler — 2,000
4: Stewart Scott — 1,920
4: Moritz Kranich — 1,920
6: Steve Weinstein — 1,800
7: Allen Carter — 1,680
8: Peter Rho — 1,600
8: Arnaud Esquevin — 1,600
10: Alexandre Gomes — 1,500
10: Todd Terry — 1,500

POY Movement

Through 20 preliminary events at the L.A. Poker Classic at Commerce Casino the biggest winner so far is Nikmil Gera, who defeated a field of 404 players that purchased 342 re-buys in Event No. 17 ($1,000 no-limit hold'em w/rebuys). Gera was awarded $195,373 and 960 points for the win, which puts him in an eight-way tie for 23rd place. The L.A.P.C. has also handed out first-place prizes to more than a half-dozen winners, most notably David Plastik, who won the second event, a $500 no-limit hold’em event. The only double winner in L.A. thus far is seven-card stud specialist Robert Golick, who won both the $300 and $500 seven-card stud preliminary events to collect $28,795 in prize money and 312 points. Golick continued an impressive string of stud results at Commerce with the two wins; he also finished in second place in the $1,000 seven-card stud event at the 2008 L.A.P.C. 

The major prizes have yet to be awarded at press time at the L.A.P.C., with a $5,000 pot-limit Omaha w/rebuy event, a $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. event, a $10,000 heads-up no-limit hold’em event, and the $10,000 World Poker Tour no-limit hold’em championship event still on the schedule, so look for the series to make a major impact in the coming weeks on the POY race. Be sure to check out all of the action in these big events on CardPlayer.com, the live coverage team will be featuring full coverage from all of these events beginning Sunday.

This Week in Poker

PokerStars Australia New Zealand Poker Tour Adelaide

The very first stop on the new PokerStars Australia New Zealand Poker Tour was won by Melburnian Karl Krautschneider at the SKYCITY Casino in Adelaide, Australia, on Feb. 7. This was the inaugural stop for the PokerStars ANZPT, which will feature stops in both Australia and New Zealand during its first season. There is also a strong possibility that other stops will be added to the schedule during 2009. Here is a look at the full run of events slated for this new tour's first season:

Adelaide, Australia: $3,000 main event -- Feb. 4-7
Sydney, Australia: $2,200 main event -- April 30-May 3
Queenstown, New Zealand: $2,500 main event -- July 21-25

Krautschneider defeated poker professional Tony “Bond18” Dunst heads up to take home $170,215 AUD in prize money. Dunst took home $111,520 AUD in prize money. The tournament attracted a field of 215 players who created a prize pool worth $586,950.

At the start of their heads-up match, Krautschneider held 2,454,000 to the 1,824,000 that Dunst had in his chip stack. Dunst was mounting a comeback during the heads-up match, but Krautschneider made a straight on the river against Dunst’s two pair to take back the advantage. Dunst held two pair once again on the final hand when he called all in on the turn. This time, Krautschneider made a flush to win the tournament. Krautschneider had won his way into the tournament through a $33 PokerStars qualifier, and he turned it into a six-figure payday in the end.

Here are the final-table results:

1: Karl Krautschneider -- $170,215
2: Tony “Bond18” Dunst -- $111,520
3: Daniel Noja -- $64,565
4: Mike Stecker -- $52,825
5: Dean Nyberg -- $41,085
6: Julius Colman -- $29,345
7: Celina Lin -- $23,475
8: Bruno Portaro -- $17,610
9: James Broom -- $11,740

Notable Cashes: Elliot Smith (11th), Tony Hachem (15th), Mel Judah (16th), and James Obst (18th).

You can also read a little bit more about the creation of the ANZPT in a story that CardPlayer.com broke in January when the creation of the tour was announced by PokerStars.

Heartland Poker Tour – Quapaw, Oklahoma

The first Heartland Poker Tour main event of 2009 crowned a champion on Feb. 8 in Quapaw, Oklahoma, at the Downstream Casino Resort. The winner was Sean Saninikone, and he took home $127,404 in prize money for topping a field of 457 players in the $1,000 buy-in main event. Saninikone is a factory worker who is facing a layoff in the coming month, and he we ecstatic after the final table. “This couldn’t have come at a better time for me and my family,” said Saninikone.

The final table was one of the longest in HPT history, playing out as the sun rose Monday morning. The final table was filmed and will air as the 99th and 100th episodes in the show’s history. Here is a look at the final table results:

1: Sean Saninikone -- $127,404
2: James Jennings -- $63,702
3: Matt Newcombe -- $38,221
4: Chad Long -- $29,728
5: Daniel Haley -- $25,481
6: George Miller -- $21,234

The record field of 457 players represents a strong start for the 2009 season, the fifth for the HPT, especially considering that the Downstream Casino was a first time venue for the tour.

“We saw that the people of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, and Texas are serious about their poker. We’d never been to this area so we weren’t sure of the outcome. Having over 450 players was unbelievable for a first-time venue,” said HPT co-founder Todd Anderson.

The event in Oklahoma was the first stop on the schedule of 18 events that are lined up for 2009.

Selected Tournament Results:

L.A. Poker Classic Event No. 19 (pot-limit Omaha)

Buy-in: $1,500
Number of Entries: 71
Total Prize Pool: $103,305
First-Place Prize: $35,577
Places Paid: 9

Final-Table Results:

1: Patrick McMillan -- $35,577
2: Jason Mercier -- $19,008
3: Robert Williamson III -- $14,463
4: William Brewer -- $10,331
5: Adam Junglen -- $7,748
6: Stephen Ladowsky -- $5,682
7: Frank Nasciemento -- $4,473
8: Konjuhi Abdtl -- $3,440
9: Antonio Angelo -- $2,583

Looking Ahead

L.A. Poker Classic

Card Player Live Coverage Event -- $5,000 pot-limit Omaha w/rebuy

Sunday, Feb. 15: Day 1 (Begins at 3 p.m.)
Monday, Feb. 16: Final Table (Begins at 4 p.m.)

Card Player Live Coverage Event -- $10,000 H.O.R.S.E.

Monday, Feb. 16: Day 1 (Begins at 3 p.m.)
Tuesday, Feb. 17: Day 2
Wednesday, Feb. 18: Final Table

Card Player Live Coverage Event -- $10,000 Heads-up No-Limit Hold’em

Wednesday, Feb. 18: Day 1 (Begins at 3 p.m.)
Thursday, Feb. 19: Day 2
Friday, Feb. 20: Final Rounds

Tournament Series Preview
Event Schedule
Preliminary Update Part I
Preliminary Update Part II
Preliminary Update Part III

CardPlayer Live Coverage Event – PokerStars European Poker Tour Copenhagen Open

Tuesday, Feb. 17: Day 1A (All days begin at noon)
Wednesday, Feb. 18: Day 1B
Thursday, Feb. 19: Day 2
Friday, Feb. 20: Day 3
Saturday, Feb. 21: Final Table

Caesars Mega Stack Series

Event Schedule
Event Preview Story

Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza

Event Schedule
Event Preview Story

Oklahoma State Championship of Poker

Event Schedule
Event Preview

WSOP Circuit – Council Bluffs

Event Schedule
Event Preview

Bay 101 Shooting Star

Event Schedule

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