Thursday, 28th March 2024 14:20
Home / Uncategorized / ANZPT6 Melbourne Day 1b: Sunny skies in Melbourne

There were high expectations yesterday for Day 1a of the ANZPT Melbourne Main Event, and no one went home disappointed. A field of 242 runners for Day 1a sets us well on the way to a million dollar prize pool and a new record for the ANZPT.

So it’s with even greater expectations that we arrive in the Crown Poker Room this afternoon in Melbourne for the second and final flight of the $2,200 Main Event.

There’s a fun, but intensely fierce rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne, and I’m sorry Sydney, your bridge is nice, but today the sun is shining over Melbourne while Sydney cops the rain. And perhaps it’s symbolic of the new records that may just be set here today.

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Can we match yesterday’s number of 242? That would set a record for an ANZPT in Melbourne, it would be the biggest ANZPT field this year and, in fact, the biggest ANZPT field since Season 1.

The real number we’re looking for is 252. That would be a total field of 494 and set a new benchmark for the ANZPT, eclipsing the 493 entrants in the inaugural ANZPT Sydney event in 2009.

However the figure we really want to see is 258. That would give us 500 total entrants and a beautiful $1,000,000 prize pool for the first time in the history of the ANZPT.

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The early indications are that it’s going to be very close to those last two marks. Luckily, we love a sweat!

Generally we see bigger flights for the last day in these Main Events, and with this event mostly running over the weekend, it’s a great opportunity for regular working Joes to get down to the Crown Poker and try their luck in a major poker championship.

Anthony Legg has set the mark at 160,200 chips and once again our players will have eight levels of play to try and match, or better, that mark. We’re expecting to see the likes of Team PokerStars Pro Bryan Huang as well as 2005 World Champion Joe Hachem. The Australian Poker Hall of Famer has never cashed in the ANZPT, but success in this event does run in the family after his son, Anthony, picked up the ANZPT Repechage title in 2013.

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Anthony Hachem made a name for himself with victory in the ANZPT in Melbourne last year

The players are now taking their seats, exchanging pleasantries and getting ready for a big day ahead. Stay tuned to the PokerStars Blog as we bring you stories from beyond the felt while the PokerNews crew deliver live updates of all the action.

Heath “TassieDevil” Chick is a Freelance Contributor for the PokerStars Blog.

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