The Real Deal - Issue 3

Casino Edition

AUSTRALIA’S PREMIER POKER AND SPORTS MAGAZINE

Issue #3

Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiariwins $18m in Big One for One Drop

TOUCH OFMAGIC

Inside• WSOP CONFIRMED FOR

AUSTRALIA NEXT YEAR

• WE CHAT WITH AFL SUPERSTAR GARY

ABLETT JNR

• SAMPLE A TOP DROP ON THE MORNINGTON

PENINSULA

July/August 2012

MIDWAY REPORT FROM THE 2012 WSOP:AUSSIES GO CLOSE, HELLMUTH SNARES #12

COUNTDOWN TO THE 2012 SYDNEY CHAMPS AT THE STAR

PRINT POST APPROVED PP 100008841AU$7.95 inc. GST

BERTRAND “ElkY” GROSPELLIER, LEE NELSON, TYSEN STREIB and TONY DUNST

TOURNAMENT POKER

STRATEGIES FOR TODAY’S

AGGRESSIVE GAME

Featuring 2011 World Series

of Poker bracelet winner

Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier

NO VILLAIN LEFT STANDING

In the highly fl uid and fast-changing tournament-poker universe, the dominant trend

is toward looser and more aggressive (LAG) play, in which players move chips around

at dizzying speeds. The Raiser’s Edge shows you how to adapt to the current state of all

stages of tournament play, analysing how and why the LAG and hyper-LAG styles work,

and instructing on how to apply – and defend, against – them.

This book closely examines the many techniques used by the world’s most

successful players, including three- and four-betting, fl oating and squeezing, smooth-

calling and min-raising, thin value betting, and the evolution of the metagame, along

with equilibrium strategies based on starting hands and heads-up play. Even the ages

and nationalities of your opponents are considered. There’s also an extensive bonus

chapter on reading tells, contributed by body language expert Steve Van Aperen.

Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, one of the hottest tournament poker players in the

world, has teamed up with Lee Nelson and Tysen Streib, authors of the acclaimed

advanced tournament strategy book Kill Everyone, and poker star Tony Dunst to pen this

groundbreaking title. With tournament poker evolving at a furious pace, serious players

need to be ahead of the curve. The Raiser’s Edge conveys the powerful state-of-the-art

tactics that will get you there fast.

GROSPELLIER

NELSON

STREIB

DUNST

MM RE final cover Artwork Updated.indd 1

6/10/11 9:37 AM

Serious knowledgefor the serious player

Featuring 2011 World Series of Poker bracelet winner Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier

Authors: Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Lee Nelson, Tysen Streib and Tony Dunst

Authored by respected poker champions Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Lee Nelson and

Tony Dunst, along with maths whiz Tysen Streib, the Raiser’s Edge shows you how to adapt to the current

state of all stages of tournament play, analysing how and why the LAG and hyper-LAG styles work, and

instructing on how to apply – and defend – against them.

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6/10/11 9:37 AM

Serious knowledgefor the serious player


Authors: Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Lee Nelson, Tysen Streib and Tony Dunst

Authored by respected poker champions Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Lee Nelson and

Tony Dunst, along with maths whiz Tysen Streib, the Raiser’s Edge shows you how to adapt to the current

state of all stages of tournament play, analysing how and why the LAG and hyper-LAG styles work, and

instructing on how to apply – and defend – against them.



WWW.POKERMEDIA.COM.AU

4-10 FROM THE NEWS DESK The latest news from the poker world, including the passing of a poker

legend, a preview of the NZ Champs and monks caught monkeying about

12 ONLINE POKER The news may not be so good abroad, but the Federal Government has

signaled the possibility of an online poker trial here before too long

14 TOURNAMENT WRAP A huge rundown of results including the Melbourne Champs, EPT

Grand Final, Autumn Classic in Adelaide and the first Perth Poker Champs

16 PUB POKER The MAIN EVENT returns to Crown in September for its second

running while the next NPL500 will be played at The Star for the first time

PMA News

18 WSOP ASIA PACIFIC We speak with the key players behind the stunning announcement that

the WSOP will be heading to Crown Melbourne in April next year

20 AUSSIE MILLIONS 2013 The schedule for next year’s Aussie Millions has been released, with the

2013 version moved forward by a week compared to previous years

32 WSOP HIGHLIGHTS Our halfway report includes the results up to event 42 and the major

headlines so far, including Antonio Esfandiari’s staggering $18m win

34 SANDY STUPAK The story behind Australia’s “lost” WSOP bracelet winner and her role as

half of one of the most famous Las Vegas couples

36 JOE HACHEM PMA’s man looks back at a busy start to 2012 including his debut as an

APT ambassador while taking aim at some so-called “pros” in the game

38 SYDNEY CHAMPS After a highly successful ANZPT Sydney, The Star is gearing up for the

latest running of the Sydney Poker Championships next month

The Poker Room

Opportunity knocks when WSOP heads Down UnderIt was news that had been rumoured for months, but it was still bloody exciting to hear the announcement that the first World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific would be held at Crown in April 2013.

This is the biggest news for Aussie poker since that hot July night in 2005 when Joe Hachem took out the WSOP Main Event title. Sure, the Aussie Millions is an event of global significance, but there’s something special about the allure of those gold bracelets that whips the poker world into frenzy.

Combined with news that the Federal Government is considering a trial of online poker within the foreseeable future (hopefully marking the first steps on the road to regulation), it’s an exciting time for our industry after a pretty hollow 12 months for poker across the globe.

All the big news and developments of recent months are covered in this edition of The Real Deal, including details of WSOP APAC along with the official release of the Aussie Millions schedule for 2013.

We also look at the results and big stories from the first half of the 2012 WSOP, including Antonio Esfandiari’s historic win in the Big One for One Drop and the stellar performances of several Aussies.

Look out for a preview the 2012 Sydney Champs while our regular pub poker section highlights news of the second MAIN EVENT and the NPL500’s move to The Star for the first time.

We go behind the scenes of Aussie Poker of Hall of Famer Lee Nelson’s stunning new NZ resort and his intriguing new cookbook while Tony Hachem had the opportunity to chat with one of the greats of the AFL, Gary Ablett Jnr. Thanks for your support of The Real Deal, and keep spreading the word!

Bet smart and be lucky.Sean Callander

2

JULY/AUGUST 2012 3

38 SUMMER TO REMEMBER The planets have aligned for one of the greatest line-ups of major

sporting events in Europe ever, including the Olympics and Euro 2012

44 SPLIT APPLE RETREAT Lee Nelson guides us around his amazing luxury NZ resort

and peek into the Split Apple kitchen thanks to his brand new cookbook

48 RISK We constantly weigh up risk versus perception – a case of the

irrational muddying the rational waters of our everyday lives

50 WINERIES Check out one of the nation’s most underrated wine regions,

Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula and its stunning array of cold climate classics

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52 GARY ABLETT JNR Tony Hachem chats with one of the greats of Australian football about

life as captain of fledgling AFL club the Gold Coast Suns

58 BEYOND THE BACK PAGE The emotional story of pacer Come On Frank and the remarkable South

Australian family who’ve helped build his larger than life persona

60 TOP 10 The combination of wildlife with major sporting events mostly ends in

tears as we discover in out latest wild and wacky top 10

62 ULTIMATE SPORTING TOUR The torch has almost arrived in London meaning the 2012 Olympics

and one of the banner events, the men’s 100m sprint, are coming up soon

Sportsbook Published by Poker Media Australia Pty Ltd. ACN 152 305 667; 518/1 Queens Road, Melbourne VIC 3004. © 2011. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced, in whole or in part, without the prior permission of the publisher. The publisher will not accept responsibility or any liability for the correctness of information or opinions expressed in the publication.

PUBLISHER: Sean [email protected]

GENERAL MANAGER: Stephen [email protected]

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PARTNERS:We kindly ask all readers to notify the advertisers that you saw their advertisements in The Real Deal. We recommend you use the advertisers wherever possible.

DISCLAIMER:Warranty and Indemnity: Advertisers and/or advertising agencies, upon and by lodging material with PokerMedia Australia for publication or authorising or approving of the publication of any material, indemnify PokerMedia Australia, its servants and agents, against all liability claims or proceedings whatsoever arising from the publication and without limiting the generality of the foregoing to indemnify each of them in relation to defamation, slander of title, breach of copyright, infringement of trademarks or names of publication titles, unfair competition or trade practices, royalties or violation of rights or privacy regulations and that its publication will not give rise to any rights against or liabilities in the Publisher, its servants or agents and in particular, that nothing therein is capable of being misleading or deceptive or otherwise in breach of Part V of the Trade Practices Act 1974.

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Controversial poker Hall of Famer plays his final hand

"In my humble opinion, I'm no ordinary hustler. You see, neighbour, I never go looking for a sucker. I look for a champion and make a sucker out of him."

POKER has lost an icon with the passing of Thomas Austin “Amarillo Slim” Preston jnr. He passed away last month just after midnight at a hospice near his home in Amarillo, Texas. He was 83 years old. His family was by his side.

Preston’s daughter confirmed the poker legend’s death with noted poker historian, Nolan Dalla. The family released the following statement regarding Preston’s passing:

“We hope everyone will remember our beloved Amarillo Slim for all the positive things he did for poker and to popularise his favourite game – Texas Hold’em.”

Born Thomas Austin Preston jr on December 31, 1928 in the small town of Johnson, Arkansas, the winner of five World Series of Poker gold bracelets was one of the early pioneers of modern-day poker.

He is widely credited for introducing the game to mainstream culture through his media appearances, almost always embellished by his larger-than-life personality.

Preston, along with fellow road gamblers of the 1950s and 1960s Doyle Brunson and Brian “Sailor” Roberts, were the original “Texas Rounders” – which referred to a famed group of poker pioneers who travelled throughout Texas and the American South and Midwest in search of underground poker games before eventually becoming famous at the poker tables in Las Vegas.

Their exploits have been romanticised over the years in both film and literature, making the icons sort of modern-day rock stars in their later years.

Soon after winning the 1972 World Series of Poker Main Event Championship, Preston became a pop culture icon. He appeared frequently on network television talk shows, including NBC’s The Tonight Show with Johnny

Carson and ABC’s Good Morning America.His quick natural wit and southern charm served him well as he introduced

poker to countless American viewers and households. Preston also appeared on several television game shows, such as To Tell the Truth and What’s My Line?

Standing six feet, two inches tall and never weighing over 175 pounds, Preston lived up to his moniker and was easily recognised by his trademark white Stetson hat and cowboy boots, often caked with dust from his 600-acre ranch in the Texas Panhandle.

But his life was not without controversy. In August 2003, Preston was indicted in Randall County, Texas on charges of indecency with a 12-year-old child. The charges were reduced to misdemeanour assault in a plea bargain and on February 10, 2004, he pleaded “no contest” to the reduced charges “to protect his family”.

Preston received a $4000 fine, two years probation and was ordered to undergo counselling. In a 2009 interview, he stated that he was innocent of any wrongdoing, but chose to take the plea bargain in order to spare his family from a court trial.

In 2003, National Public Radio’s Scott Simon sat down with Preston for an interview where the gambling icon shared some of his exploits over the years while promoting his memoir co-written with Greg Dinkin, titled Amarillo Slim in a World Full of Fat People.

“In my humble opinion, I’m no ordinary hustler. You see, neighbour, I never go looking for a sucker. I look for a champion and make a sucker out of him.”

A sample of Slim's gambling exploits“I like to bet on anything, as long as the odds are in my favour,” Amarillo Slim was fond of saying, and he was a master at rigging the odds in his favour. He bet on which of five sugar cubes a fly would land on and whether a stray cat could carry a Coke bottle across a room.

He claimed to have beaten Minnesota Fats at pool, choosing broomsticks as the cues. He chose frying pans to beat the tennis star Bobby Riggs at table tennis, then switched to Coke bottles for the rematch after Riggs practised with pans.

He said he won $300,000 playing dominoes with the country singer Willie Nelson. Slim claimed to have played poker with presidents Lyndon B Johnson and Richard Nixon, and the drug baron Pablo Escobar, and supposedly hustled the Hustler publisher Larry Flynt for USD $1.7 million.

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Chase the Bracelet in July 2012

Collect 5 unique bracelet pieces at any APL, 888PL or Pub Poker nightly event during July to gain entry to a Main Event Freeroll in your state

GTD For First Place$100,000

New game takes players Baccpo to the futureSix senior Buddhist monks offered to resign this week after they were captured on secret video footage drinking, playing poker and smoking at a luxury hotel in South Korea. The leader of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism made a public apology today and said an internal investigation into the footage had been launched, The Korea Herald reported.The video – recorded by a hidden surveillance camera in a hotel room in Jangseong – shows the men gambling and carousing before a memorial service for a dead Zen Master at Baekyang Temple on April 23.A former member of the Jogye Order’s head office lodged a complaint and accused eight monks of being involved in 13 hours of gambling. The total sum won during the poker game was one billion won ($875,000). Among the group were two spiritual leaders, high-ranking monks and abbots from branch temples.

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Appeal dismissed as poker player's career goes off the railsTHE player who finished runner-up in the PokerStars ANZPT Player of the Year award has been fired after it was revealed he’d repeatedly called in sick so he could jet across the country in pursuit of the title.

As first reported in the Sydney Morning Herald, John Maklouf was sacked for his sick leave sojourns but tried to appeal against the decision to the NSW Transport Appeals Board.

Maklouf, who has amassed more than $150,000 in tournament winnings including a second-place finish in the 2010 ANZPT Canberra Main Event, worked as a duty manager at Granville station in Sydney’s west until he was fired for breaching the RailCorp code of conduct in October 2011.

A judgment handed down by the Transport Appeals Board showed that, in from April to November 2010, Maklouf went on sick leave five times, unpaid leave once and accrued public holidays to take part in seven poker tournaments.

The tribunal found that, having obtained medical certificates from doctors for ailments such as “hip pain” and “stress”, Maklouf then participated in tournaments on the Gold Coast, in Melbourne, Darwin, Sydney and the Philippines.

Tilly turns tutor as Lisa Simpson turns her genius to online pokerWHAT’S in the cards for Jennifer Tilly? A guest spot on The Simpsons. The actress and WSOP bracelet winner will make a cameo appearance in an episode as herself, popping up in an instructional DVD that Lisa watches to brush up on her card skills (it turns out that Homer doesn’t trust banks and has stashed Lisa’s college fund in an online poker site).

”It was a real pleasure to have the Bride of Chucky on the show. Only three people in the crew were mysteriously killed!” executive producer Al Jean joked.

Tilly – the ex-wife of Sam Simon, who developed The Simpsons with Matt Groening and James L Brooks – frequently lends her voice to another animated comedy, Family Guy. The Simpsons’ episode, titled Gone Abie Gone is scheduled to air early in the show’s 24th season.

The path to enlightenment leads through a pre-flop three-bet SIX senior Buddhist monks offered to resign this week after they were captured on secret video footage drinking, playing poker and smoking at a luxury hotel in South Korea. The leader of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism made a public apology today and said an internal investigation into the footage had been launched, The Korea Herald reported.

The video – recorded by a hidden surveillance camera in a hotel room in Jangseong – shows the men gambling and carousing before a memorial service for a dead Zen Master at Baekyang Temple on April 23.

A former member of the Jogye Order’s head office lodged a complaint and accused eight monks of being involved in 13 hours of gambling. The total sum won during the poker game was one billion won ($875,000). Among the group were two spiritual leaders, high-ranking monks and abbots from branch temples.

Luck of the Irish deserts O'Sheas as doors close for goodON our trips to Vegas over the years, one of our favourite regular haunts has been O’Sheas – the ramshackle, down-market, Irish-themed casino on the Strip as part of the Flamingo.

Strip poker (well, just a poker table placed on the Strip), cheap table games, cheaper drinks, carpet that was last cleaned around the time of Elvis and a permanent World Series of Beer Pong set-up – O’Sheas had it all.

Sadly, it is no more. On Monday, O’Sheas closed for the final time to facilitate demolition, making way for its new spot in the $550 million Linq development. Chants of “O’Sheas!” broke out at the bar as people bought their last drinks and gambled their final dollars before the casino shut its doors for good at noon.

The Linq is an entertainment district, which will be constructed along a private street that separates the Flamingo and Imperial Palace. The Linq’s centrepiece is a 550-foot observation wheel, dubbed the Las Vegas High Roller. The Imperial Palace will be renamed, renovated and rethemed as part of the development. A new O’Sheas will be part of The Linq when it opens in 2013.


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Chase the Bracelet in July 2012

Collect 5 unique bracelet pieces at any APL, 888PL or Pub Poker nightly event during July to gain entry to a Main Event Freeroll in your state

GTD For First Place$100,000


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YEARS before the Aussie Millions was conceived, our best players were regularly jetting across the Tasman Sea to contest the New Zealand Poker Championships in Christchurch Casino.

The welcoming atmosphere created by the staff and management at Christchurch Casino combined with the attractions of the city and the surrounding Canterbury region made the NZ Champs a must for players across the region.

As we all know, Christchurch was hit by a pair of devastating earthquakes – the first in September 2010 which caused extensive damage before a second on February 22 last year, resulting in the death of 185 people. The city still bears the deep scars of the quakes but the hardy folk of Christchurch have picked up the pieces and the city is slowly getting back to normal.

Christchurch Casino closed for a short time after last year’s quake but the building escaped serious damage and it was business as normal in time for last year’s series in which Jamil Dia (pictured) became the first player to win Aussie Millions and NZ Poker Champs main event titles. Eight years earlier, Dia was the first New Zealander to win the title.

The 2012 NZ Poker Champs is scheduled for August 18-26 and comprises one of the extensive line-up of events ever offered. Keep an eye on PokerMedia Australia for more details about the 2012 NZPC in coming weeks.

2012 NZ Poker Champs schedule (buy-ins $NZD)

August 18 (11.30am) $220 NZPC No Limit Hold’em Women’s Championship (capped at 60 players)

August 19 (11.30am) $440 Welcome to the 2012 NZPC No Limit Hold’em Turbo (capped at 60 players)

August 20 (11.30am) $550 NZPC No Limit Hold’em Repechage flight 1 (capped at 60 players)

August 20 (7pm) $330 NZPC’s Minh Tran Memorial Two-card Manila (capped at 40 players)


August 21 (7pm) $550 NZ Pot Limit Omaha Championship (second chance format; capped at 40 players)


August 22 (6.45pm) $550 NZPC No Limit Hold’em Repechage final

August 23 (11.30am) $660 Canterbury Championship No Limit Hold’em (capped at 80 players)

August 23 (7pm) $120 South Island Champs satellite w/ $50 rebuys (capped at 30 players)

August 24 (11.30am) $880 South Island Championship No Limit Hold’em (capped at 80 players)

August 24 (7pm) $120 NZPC Main Event satellite w/ $50 rebuys (capped at 30 players)

August 25 (11.30am) $1650 NZPC Main Event day 1 (capped at 80 players)

August 26 (12.30pm) $1650 NZPC Main Event day 2

August 26 (1pm) $440 Farewell to 2012 NZPC No Limit Hold’em Turbo (capped at 60 players)

NZ Poker Champs mark latest step in recovery of South Island city

News

STATE consumer affairs bodies in three states have dismissed a complaint brought against the Australia New Zealand (ANZ) Player of the Year promotion. PokerMedia Australia received information that three individuals had challenged that the ANZ Player of the Year award was unfair on two grounds:

• The terms and conditions of the competition had been changed after its initial announcement (more points events had been added); and• The competition had not been issued a permit in any of the states in which it was being contested.

The complaint was dismissed on the grounds that the promotion could not possibly be challenged under State laws as the family of companies that offer the prize operate outside Australian State and Federal laws.

At least one of the state consumer affairs bodies involved referred the complaint to the Australian Federal Police for further investigation but further action is unlikely.

According to the ANZPT website, the top two finishers on the ANZ Player of the Year leaderboard will share in more than $40,000 in prizes.

“The Australia New Zealand Player of the Year Champion will win sponsorship to three Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) events as well as the Aussie Millions Main Event! Sponsorship includes Main Event entry and USD $1500 towards travel and accommodation expenses. Sponsorship will apply to Season 7 APPT Main Events and the 2013 Aussie Millions. This prize is valued at approximately AUD $28,000.

“The Australia New Zealand Player of the Year Runner-up wins sponsorship (Main Event entry and USD$1,000 towards travel and accommodation expenses to four Season 5 ANZPT events. This prize is valued at approximately AUD $13,000.”

The website states that there are two more qualifying events for the ANZ Players of the Year title – the ANZPT Queenstown Snowfest at SKYCITY Queenstown (July 24-29) and the ANZPT Melbourne Grand Final at Crown Melbourne (August 31-September 3)

ANZ Player of the Year award survives challenge from disgruntled players


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SINGAPORE gaming operator Genting has announced it had taken a stake in Echo Entertainment, raising the prospect of a battle with billionaire rival James Packer for control of the $3 billion Australian casino company.

Packer, who wants to use Echo’s licence to build a new casino complex in Sydney to attract more Asian high-rollers, has been agitating for change at Echo after building a 10 per cent stake in the company, and last Friday succeeded in ousting the company’s chairman.

Analysts have speculated that Genting, south-east Asia’s largest gaming group, was preparing for an acquisition, having built up a war chest of $3.1 billion, declaring Echo’s Sydney casino would be the prize.

Like its rivals such as Las Vegas giants

Sands and MGM Resorts, Genting is racing to dominate the Asian casino world – considered the most fertile ground for gambling with about $45 billion in annual revenue up for grabs.

Genting Group, whose biggest assets are Malaysia’s Genting Highlands casino complex and Singapore’s S$6.6 billion Resorts World

at Sentosa, also has stakes in Resorts World Manila and several UK casinos.

Genting missed out on a concession in Macau more than a decade ago and has been aggressively raising its game across the region, with its parent company planting itself in countries such as the Philippines and Vietnam to help it secure revenues in what are expected to be fast-growing emerging casino markets.

Echo completed a costly AUD $870 million refurbishment of its Sydney Star casino last year. Crown owns casinos in Melbourne and in Perth, and about a third of Melco Crown Entertainment, which has casinos in Macau. It wants Echo’s casino licences in Sydney and the Gold Coast because they are more likely to attract Asian high rollers than Melbourne and Perth.

Genting, Crown eye a slice of the Echo Entertainment pie

WHEN it comes to charity, poker players are always prepared to dig deep, especially when it comes to one of our own.

Grant Levy is among Australia’s most successful and respected poker players but his battles on the felt pale in comparison to that currently being fought by his sister-in-law Kirsten, the 25-year-old wife of his brother Chris and mother to two boys aged three and 12 months.

As described by Grant’s wife Sharon, Kirsten returned to work late last year as a Business Manager for the Young Endeavour Youth Scheme after a period of maternity leave.

“In the week leading into Christmas, Kirsten started feeling a little more tired than usual. On Christmas morning Kirsten woke extremely fatigued and subsequently missed out on the whole day’s celebrations,” Sharon recalled.

“The seizures started on Christmas night. She was rushed by ambulance to Nepean Hospital. Doctors initially suspected viral encephalitis or meningitis but the tests for these and countless other infections and diseases came back negative. While the doctors searched for answers, Kirsten was placed into a medically induced coma in an attempt to stop the seizures and limit brain damage.

“After being moved to Westmead Hospital and weeks of testing, a diagnosis was

made. Kirsten has non-paraneoplastic limbic encephalitis (NPLE), an autoimmune disease that caused Kirsten’s immune system to react against itself, causing antibodies in her blood to attack her brain tissue. Kirsten had no symptoms of the disease prior to the tiredness.

“Once a diagnosis was made, Kirsten was slowly woken from the coma, but the initial treatment plans didn’t work. She eventually started responding and communicating seven weeks after she was initially hospitalised.

“Kirsten is determined to get home to her boys and is working hard with speech and physiotherapists. In the meantime, her husband Chris is juggling full-time work as a high school teacher with daily visits to Kirsten, while looking after his boys.

“Kirsten’s disease is extremely rare, newly discovered, and there isn’t a great deal of research on it or people who have been diagnosed with it. This makes it difficult for doctors to treat Kirsten and give a long-term A“We don’t know what the future holds for Kirsten and her family and this uncertainty makes the situation difficult to deal with, both emotionally and in a practical sense. Despite the uncertainty, it is clear that the family’s daily living expenses, coupled with the cost of rehab and therapy sessions, will increase significantly.

“In the long term, it is possible that

renovations will be needed to their home, or a new home purchased that is wheelchair friendly. A wheelchair will also mean a new car and potentially a carer will be required.”

The Kirsten Levy Foundation has been established to help this young family cope with this difficult period in their lives.

Little by Little Inc. is a local charity and have kindly offered to sponsor the foundation, which means all donations over $2 are tax deductable. Donations can be deposited into this bank account:

Name: Little by Little Incorporated Gift Fund AccountBSB: 062597Account No: 10625390

Note: to ensure the Foundation receives all donations, please write ‘Kirsten’ and your phone number in the reference line when making the deposit. Please also send a message via the Kirsten Levy Foundation Facebook page to advise of your deposit.

Donations can also be sent to:Kirsten Levy FoundationPO Box 14, Cranebrook, NSW 2749

Young mum’s health battle inspires poker community to act


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IN a stunning development for the Australian gaming industry, the source also confirmed that the trial could be extended to in-market online sports betting. At present, in-market bets on sporting events can only be placed over the phone.

The source also confirmed that the trial of online poker, which may take several years, is directly aimed to combat unregulated offshore sites that offer their services to Australian customers illegally.

This story is at odds with previous statements from both major political parties. A recent gambling reform Senate committee report recommended not legalising online poker and in-play betting, but said the live sports betting rules could be loosened to allow betting on final results live.

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie supports legalising local casino-style gaming such as poker, roulette or blackjack on the basis of it being a lesser risk, as it would help punters avoid problems with overseas sites.

Stories in the News Limited press also feature correspondence between Merrill

Lynch gaming analyst Mark Bryan and his clients on the Government’s plans after attending an online gaming symposium with Tattersalls, Tabcorp and bookmakers.

“In-play live online betting: Many in the industry indicated that they expect this to be legalised alongside poker in the next six to 12 months following overseas precedents. It seems (Communications Minister) Stephen Conroy’s department recently provided a brief on draft legislation,” Bryan stated.

Industry members have confirmed Mr Bryan’s email, saying senior government figures believe the moves could clean up inconsistencies between local and overseas laws. Mr Bryan warned in his brief that the volatile political climate could scuttle the laws.

A spokesman for the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy would not comment on the specifics of this story, suffice to say the department was completing its review of the Interactive Gambling Act introduced under the Howard Government in 2001.

Online poker trial moves closer to realityA Federal Government source has revealed to PokerMedia Australia that trials of regulated online poker could begin here within 12 months.

TABCORP management have stated they are hoping Australia will legalise online poker so that it can proceed with plans to venture into the Internet gambling sector. “Piloting tournament poker would be an area that should be profitable for us,” the company’s CEO and managing director David Attenborough said.

If laws change, Tabcorp will leap at the chance to trial online poker and cash in on the booming but controversial area of betting at cards on the Internet.

Attenborough said the company had surveyed clients a couple of years ago and found that up to 50 per cent of customers had tried online poker but it was unknown how many continued to play the game.

Australian-based gambling companies are currently not allowed to offer online poker, but

Tabcorp signals interest in online gaming

JULY/AUGUST 2012 13

Australians are able to play on illegal offshore websites. An attraction of online poker for gambling companies is the margins they can earn, as they don’t have to spend on overheads for a physical space.

The Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy recently released an interim review of laws covering Internet gaming, which proposes several changes including trialling tournament poker and allowing betting on the Internet as a sport or event is in progress.

Attenborough said it was “sensible” that Internet betting on live sports was allowed as people could already do it via the phone, in its retail outlets or through international websites.

“It’s just not good for the customer to be betting online, the game kicks off, then a little sign comes up and says if you want to now have the next odds that are offered you must pick up the phone,” he said.

It’s unclear whether changes to the laws will be passed by Australia’s lawmakers, with the conservative opposition saying it did not support “watering down” of the laws.

Tabcorp is one of Australia’s largest gambling companies and is seeing strong growth in gambling revenues through its online sector. The company stated in a recent third quarter trading update that wagering turnover via the Internet was up 16 per cent on year at USD $488.7 million, and in the first half was up 19 per cent on year at USD $1 billion. Wagering through the company’s retail outlets is the main source of turnover, which is also growing.

Attenborough also said the company was preparing to launch its Internet television, or IPTV, offering in coming months. “It’s the next generation of the way people will bet so we are making sure we’re at the forefront of bringing that to market.”

Despite Australia’s retail sector struggling as consumers save more of their money rather than spend, Tabcorp has seen its wagering revenues grow. In the third quarter wagering revenue grew 4.5 per cent on year to USD $374 million, and for the first half grew 2.8 per cent on year to USD $823 million.

“I think customers are spending because they’re actually enjoying the variety of what’s

Have your say on our industry’s future

THE Internet gambling survey can be accessed at http://www.psych.usyd.edu.au/CFIDE/gamble/ and will run until at least the end of 2012. The survey team is comprised of Dr Sally Gainsbury from the Centre for Gambling Education and Research (CGER), CGER director Professor Nerilee Hing, Professor Alex Blaszczynski from the School of Psychology at the University of Sydney, the University of Lethbridge’s Dr Robert Wood and Professor Dan Lubman from Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre, a major Australian telephone and online gambling-help provider.

POKER players often bemoan the fact that they have little opportunity to have their say on key issues relating to the future of the industry so there’ll be no excuse not to participate in the second phase of a national online survey looking at interactive forms of gambling technology, recently launched by Southern Cross University and the University of Sydney.

Australians are spending around $1 billion annually on illegal offshore gambling sites, yet with few regulations in place players are leaving themselves open to identify fraud, being ripped off or developing gambling problems. Interactive gambling technologies include the use of computers, mobile phones, wireless devices and smart televisions to access online gambling sites.

“Research shows online gambling can be risky, but that the best way to protect players is to provide a regulated environment that has harm minimisation and responsible gambling features and tools in place,” lead researcher Dr Sally Gainsbury from Southern Cross University’s Centre for Gambling Education and Research (CGER) said.

“We encourage individuals and organisations that support responsible gambling policy to support the online gambling survey through participating and also hosting links to the survey to enable further recruitment.

Professor Alex Blaszczynski of the University of Sydney’s School of Psychology said the survey would help the research team develop a player profile.

“Gaining a full understanding of the extent, characteristics and patterns of involvement of Internet users will assist in guiding the development of policies designed to protect recreational players and those at risk of developing problems,” Professor Blaszczynski said.

The research aims to recruit a large, representative sample of Australian gamblers to further the understanding of the impact of Internet gambling, including the contribution to gambling problems.

Dr Gainsbury said Internet gambling had changed significantly in the past decade, with more and more Australians using illegal offshore gambling sites.

“The constant access of online gambling has critical social implications, particularly given its appeal to younger people. Unfortunately overseas sites may not have strong consumer protections or responsible gambling measures, meaning that Australians are vulnerable to being cheated, having their identity or financial details stolen or developing gambling problems,” she said.

on offer,” Attenborough said, pointing out the company had invested “an awful lot of money” in its retail offering.

• Additional reporting, Wall Street Journal


News

JACKIE Glazier broke her duck in major championship final tables to claim a celebrated victory in the 2012 Melbourne Poker Championships Main Event.

Followed by scores of friends and fellow pros around the country via social media throughout the afternoon of the final table, the outpouring of congratulatory messages underlined the regard in which Glazier is respected in the poker community.

This was also her biggest tournament cash, surpassing the USD $72k she claimed for victory in a Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza $1k buy-in event in Las Vegas last year.

It almost seemed destiny had picked this event for Glazier. She was runner-up in the Joe Hachem Deep Stack event, which opened the Melbourne Poker Champs last week, and scratched her way into day two via the day 1C repechage flight having been KOed on days 1A and 1B.

The outright short stack with three tables remaining, she soared back to start the final table third in chips behind Ryan Hong and Simon Moshi. The final results were reversed with Hong out in third and, despite starting with the chip lead, Moshi finished second.

The pivotal hand came on the first hand of heads-up play when Moshi shoved all-in with K-J, Glazier called with pocket sixes and the board ran out eight-high. It was all over when Glazier found two-pair on the flop for her 8-4, leaving Moshi’s flopped pair of sevens wallowing.

Also noteworthy in the results was Sherrie Gelberg’s seventh-place – the same position she attained in this very event last year while defending champion Scott Peel ran all the way to 15th.

1 Jackie Glazier $95,0002 Simon Moshi $67,0003 Ryan Hong $47,0004 Liwei Han $35,0005 Nishi Gamage $27,0006 Simon Kidson $21,0007 Sherrie Gelberg $17,0008 Stelios Yenofkian $13,0009 Paul Schembri $10,00010 Ismail Ismail $7000

Event 1: $550 Joe Hachem Deep Stack NLHE (475 players; 45 players paid; total prizepool $237,500) – winner: Ron Parsons $49,450

Event 2: $200 No Limit Hold’em Megastack (389 players; 147 rebuys; 27 players paid; total prizepool $66,130) – winner: Ryan Peters $20,200

Event 3: $300 No Limit Hold’em Non-Stop Turbo Teams Event (44 teams; six teams paid; total prizepool $11,440) – winners: Michael Burke & Mark Burke $4320

Event 4: Event 4: $340 Seven-game Mixed Event (56 players; seven players paid; total prizepool $16,800) – winner: Ashish Gupta $5500

Event 5: $550 Pot Limit Omaha double chance (70 players; eight players paid; total prizepool $11,200) – winner: Toan Nguyen $11,200

Event 6: $550 No Limit Hold’em w/ Bounties (89 players; nine players paid; total prizepool $44,500) – winner: Spiros Maroulis $12,800

Event 7: $550 No Limit Hold’em Six-handed (114 players; 12 players paid; total prizepool $57,000) – winner: Julien Besson $17,700

Event 9: $400 No Limit Hold’em Turbo Terminator – winner: Milan Gurung $6000

Event 10: $200 No Limit Hold’em Turbo Ante up – winner: Ashwin Ravikumar $3590

Featured event: Melbourne Poker ChampionshipsVENUE – Crown Casino, Melbourne, Vic; 433 players; 36 players paid; total prizepool AUD $433,000, winner Jackie Glazier

PERTH POKER CHAMPIONSHIPSVENUE – Burswood Casino, Perth; buy-in $1100; 310 players; 36 players paid; total prizepool $310,000; winner Mat Carlsson

($78,275)

ONE of five locals at the final table, 22-year-old Mat Carlsson was in second chip position but the stacks were spread quite evenly. Carlsson chipped up midway through the final table when he found pocket aces to KO Didier Guerin and pocket kings that spelt the end for David Lloyd. Overnight chip leader Jon Curtis hit the rail in fourth before Anthony Aston bowed out third – the same result he achieved in the recent ANZPT Sydney Main Event. The heads-up battle started with Anthony Marenko holding a slight lead over Carlsson until the eventual winner took a big chip lead when his flopped two-pair, queens and threes, won a big pot against Marenko’s pair of queens.

APT PHILIPPINESVENUE – Resorts World Manila, Philippines; buy-in USD $2500; 254 players; 27 players paid; total prizepool USD $615,950; winner Divan Le Roux

(South Africa) $197,000

REIGNING Aussie Millions champion Oliver Speidel dominated this event dominated the tournament over the openiAng three days and looked set to steamroll his way through the final table after claiming the first three scalps – fellow Aussies David Steicke and Adam Monaghan then Portugal’s Antonio Martins. However, Speidel’s hopes of victory ended when his A-J lost a race to the pocket sixes of Coetzer, before he added the name of Aussie Ryan Hong to set-up the all- South African finale between Divan Le Roux and Conrad Coetzer. Le Roux prevailed after a fierce heads-up duel in which the lead changed hands on several occasions.


Event reviews + results

A U S T R A L I A

The new hub for news and informed commentary relating to the Australian

poker industry

AUTUMN CLASSIC POKER SERIESVENUE – Adelaide Casino, SA; buy-in AUD $550; 177 buy-ins; 21 players paid; total prizepool AUD $88,500; winner Adam

Cusenza ($84,032)

ALMOST five years ago, Adam Cusenza finished runner-up in the first SKYCITY Adelaide Championship Main Event. Fast forward to 2012 and Cusenza’s name has been added to the list of Adelaide Casino champions after winning the first Autumn Classic Main Event. Cusenza emerged victorious in this unique ‘Super Repechage’ event to pocket the first prize of $22,210. Simon Beshara, who was runner-up in the Jonathan Karamalikis Cup event at Adelaide Casino late last year, was again second, earning $13,590. Under the innovative format of this tournament, players could enter as many flights as they like. Ross Lepro and Joe Sandaev survived more than one flight, meaning they took their largest stack through to day two and ‘cashed out’ their extra stack for $1100.

WPPT GOLD COASTVENUE – Jupiters Hotel and Casino, Gold Coast, Qld; buy-in AUD $3500; 101 players; 13 players paid; total prizepool AUD $323,200; winner Tristan Bain

($84,032)

TRISTAN Bain turned in one of the most dominant displays in recent Australian tournament poker history with his wire-to-wire victory in the WPPT Gold Coast Main Event. After starting the day with a narrow chip lead over Minh Nguyen, the same two players contested the heads-up duel but it took Bain only 10 hands to dispatch his rival. On a flop of 4d-9h-10h, Nguyen bet 175,000, Bain re-raised to 435,000, Nguyen pushed all-in and Bain, who had him covered, called. Bain turned over 10d-9d for two pair while Nguyen was looking for a jack to make a straight or better two-pair. The turn 6s and river 2c were no help sending Minh to the rail as runner-up. Nguyen earned $54,944 for second place.

JULY/AUGUST 2012 15

EPT GRAND FINALPOKER SERIESVENUE – Monte Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort, Monte Carlo, Monaco; buy-in €10,600; 665 players; 97 players paid; total prizepool €6,650,000; winner Mohsin Charania (USA)

€1,350,000

THE final table of the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo was destined to be a fast-paced affair after the long struggle to get down to eight players. The action certainly delivered with crazy swings, dramatic all-in confrontations, and finally a coin flip for the marbles. When the dust had settled, it was Mohsin Charania hoisting the trophy as champion. Charania’s victory is the culmination of several years of grinding the live tournament circuit, the first major live victory of his career. After flattening out the difference between first and second place before the start of heads-up play, Charania and Lucille Cailly ran into an inevitable all-in confrontation on just the fifth hand of heads-up play. Charania’s pocket queens dodged any of the outs Cailly had with her A-K.

News


DETAILS of the third edition of the National Poker League’s marquee event have been announced and, for the first time, the tournament will be played in a casino poker room.

The Star in Sydney will, for the first time, play host to the NPL500 III on August 25-26 where it’s expected that a field of 250 players will again battle for $500,000 in cash and prizes.

NPL500 III Tickets can be won via NPL satellite games, which include giveaways, Special Events, Quarterly Finals, Regional Finals and Monthly Finals. Buy-ins may be available if there are unallocated seats two weeks before the tournament.

Based on a field of 250 players, the winner will take home a prize package of $200,000 including $102,000 in cash, a stunning Audi A4 2.0L TFSI S-Line

(valued at $95,000) and a ticket to the next NPL World Tour event valued at $3000. The top 25 players are ensured a minimum payout of $2500 while the top

eight will all earn NPL World Tour seats.Inaugural NPL500 winner Terry Tserdanis took

home $250,000 in prizes, including a WSOP Main Event seat, an Aussie Millions Main Event seat, $135,000 in cash, plus a brand new Lotus Elise S sports car.

Last year, Ben Pride took the NPL500 II title at the Parramatta Leagues Club, with his prize package comprising $133,000 in cash, an Audi TT sports car plus WSOP Main Event and Aussie Millions Main Event seats.Note: $500,000 (AUD) prize pool is based on NPL500 attracting 250 players plus nine NPL Masters Team members. Should there be less than 250 players the prize pool will be adjusted to compensate for the reduction in players. More details of the NPL500 will be available on PMA closer to the event.


Star power added to NPL500III

Mick Gallen completed almost total domination of the sixth edition of the Aussie Hold’em Newcastle Poker Champs Main Event final table to claim the title and first prize of $10,000.The eventual champion set-up a heads-up duel with Leanne Haas and confirmed his victory after Haas raised to 40,000, he made it 80,000 and she called. They watched a flop of 5c-2c-9c – Haas checked, Gallen bet 80,000, Haas pushed all-in and Gallen eventually made the call. It was 5d-9d for Haas with an ominous draw for Gallen (6s-8c). The turn was the 3h but the river 7d filled his straight for the win. Haas earned $3100 for her runner-up finish.Congratulations to Player of the Series Stan Barker, thus earning entry into the Spring, Summer and NPC VII Main Events.

News in brief

Gallen wins NPC VI Main Event

Southern Cross Poker has announced that the guarantee for the next edition of the East Coast Poker Championship (ECPC) to $30,000. The next ECPC will be played at Mayfield Diggers on August 5.Included in this prize pool will be three WSOP Asia Pacific packages to Crown Casino in April 2013. The packages are valued at $1800 and will include return airfares from Newcastle, two nights’ accommodation

and entry to the $1100 WSOP bracelet event.

ECPC to offer $30k guarantee

Pub Poker

JULY/AUGUST 2012 17

The fifth edition of the APL Sydney Champs will take place at Club Central Hurstville on Saturday, August 11. Registration kicks off early at 9am to allow maximum time for the real action, and the cards will fly at 11am. If the last APL Sydney Champs is any indication, the 400 tickets available for this event will quickly sell out. That will mean the cash only prize pool could again reach $28,000.The last Sydney Champs winner was John Dale from the Hills District region. As well as winning the Sydney Champs title, he walked away with $10,000 in cold, hard cash. The Sydney Champs runs as a genuine deep stack event with a 20,000 start stack combined with relaxed and extended blinds.

APL Sydney Champs turns five

IT’S hard to believe but there are just five days until the opening event of the 2012 World Series of Poker. Meanwhile, the countdown is also on in earnest for members of the Australian Poker League’s (APL’s) TeamWSOP.

For the fourth successive year, the APL is sending a squad of its elite performers to Vegas to contest the biggest tournament on the planet – the WSOP Main Event.

The majority of the players won $17,000 TeamWSOP packages in APL Pro Open events over the past 12 months while Scott Brown earned his package after winning the APL Player of the Year title at the MAIN EVENT.

Incredibly, Trevor Allan is making his second appearance in this squad after journeying to Vegas as part of the inaugural team in 2009. Even more

remarkably, his Pro Open victory came holding the same hand – K-5!

The final Team WSOP spot was decided at Penrith Panthers last Sunday when 66-year-old Bruce Morris topped a huge field of 440 players to claim the May 2012 NSW Pro Open title.

The Newcastle-based Morris emerged victorious after a torrid three-way battle with East Sydney’s Peter Gerikaytes and Mitchell Gallard, both of who will join Jon-Michael Newell in the next MAIN EVENT at Crown in September.

Having proudly followed the fortunes of APL players at the WSOP over the past four years, PMA wishes the latest batch of qualifiers all the best for their trip of a lifetime to the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino and the biggest poker festival on the planet!

2012 TeamWSOP squad

• Benjamin O’Connell (Queanbeyan, NSW; age 22)

• Cameron McNeill (Drummoyne, NSW; age 30)

• Adam Hudson (Drummoyne, NSW; age 40)

• Bachir Skaf (Ryde, NSW; age 29)

• Scott Brown (Launceston, Tas; age 30)

• Trevor Allan (Dubbo, NSW; age 53)

• Ngoc Thu Nguyen (Cabramatta, NSW; age 48)

• Bruce Morris (Eleebana, NSW; age 66)

• Tolga Sema

• Faramarz Delnawaz

TeamWSOP chases glory in Las Vegas

MAIN EVENT returns to Crown in SeptemberIT’S back – even bigger and better than last time! Full House Group has announced the next edition of The MAIN EVENT, to be held over five days in the Crown Poker Room, Melbourne.

With a guaranteed prize pool of at least $100,000 for first place, and capped at 600 runners, we are once again expecting a great turnout. Open to APL, 888PL and Pub Poker players from all over Australia, The MAIN EVENT is a qualification only tournament, specifi-cally designed to find out who is ‘the best of the best’.

The structure of the September MAIN EVENT will differ slightly from our first event, held in February, in which Illawarra’s Nathan Gauci captured a first prize package of $120,000.

Registration will begin on Wednesday, September 5 and the action will get underway from Thursday

when Victorian players will be seated in flight one of The MAIN EVENT. On Friday flight two will feature all interstate players.

Saturday will be considered day two of The MAIN EVENT, and our Player’s Party will be held at Crown in the evening. Day Three will conclude the event on Sunday with the winner expected to be decided in the early evening.

A full-schedule will be on offer over the five-day tournament, including even more side events for players and league members.

There are a number of ways our players can qualify for the MAIN EVENT. Players can qualify by winning at State Champs, NSW Pro Open, Regional Finals, $10K Deepstack, North QLD Champs, Ladies Champs, Head Hunter, Special Direct Satellites and the

Last Chance Qualifier.Regular MAIN EVENT updates will be provided

at www.playapl.com, www888PL.com.au, www.pubpoker.net.au, www.maineventpoker.com.au, APL and 888PL Face-book and Twitter to keep players informed of what is in store at THE MAIN EVENT.

PokerMedia Australia is proud to be an official media partner of The MAIN EVENT and we again look forward to being at Crown for the biggest tournament in the Australian pub poker industry.

THEREALDEAL

WSOP heads to Australia in 2013

After months of rumours, Crown and WSOP officials have announced that the first World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific will be played at Crown Casino in April next year. Five WSOP gold bracelets will be up for grabs.

Gold rush

IT was the news that we’d dreamed of hearing one day. With poker’s popularity across the Asia-Pacific, the World Series of Poker (WSOP), in partnership with Crown Melbourne, has reached a multi-year agreement to bring the major poker tournament series to the region commencing in April 2013.

World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific (WSOP APAC) will take place April 4-15, 2013, at Crown Melbourne and feature five WSOP gold bracelet events.

“Our goal is to establish the worldwide grand slam of poker and use our platform to elevate the game through a series of major championships,” WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart said.

“With WSOP Las Vegas growing annually and WSOP Europe poised for long-term success after five years, the time is right to turn our attention to the dynamic poker scene in Asia and Australia. Given Crown’s success with the Aussie Millions Poker Championship, we couldn’t ask for a better partner than Crown to establish the Asia-Pacific’s definitive poker festival.”

“This exciting partnership brings together two industry leaders, and two strong brands, to create a premier poker event in this region,” Crown Melbourne’s Chief Executive Officer, Greg Hawkins said.

“This initiative will provide Crown with significant exposure in Asia, Europe and America, and forms an integral part of Crown’s global

marketing strategy to attract further international visitors to Australia and Crown Melbourne.”

“Our agreement firmly aligns with our objective of attracting the very best local and international players, all vying for a coveted WSOP bracelet. We are incredibly proud of what we have achieved with the Aussie Millions and look forward to featuring WSOP Asia Pacific on our poker calendar in April 2013.”

The agreement marks the first time the WSOP is exporting its prestigious tournament series to Australia, and marks just the second expansion of the 42-year-old brand, after the advent of WSOP Europe in 2007. To date, WSOP gold bracelets have only been awarded in Las Vegas (1970-2011), London (2007-2010) and France (2011).

Crown’s agreement with the WSOP includes provisions for international television production of the event and is expected to be shown globally on ESPN.

Sean McCreery, Crown’s Executive General Manager of Table Games said there had been a long interest from Crown poker players in the WSOP, particularly since Joe Hachem’s win in 2005.

“Crown has previously run several sanctioned WSOP satellite events which were a great success, and so the logical next step was always a bracelet event. Formal discussions to bring a WSOP Championship to

PMA Poker Room


Hachem shares in WSOP APAC celebrations

“I’m incredibly excited about the news that the WSOP is coming to Crown! The guys at Crown and from Harrahs/WSOP have been working on this deal for about two years – a lot of us knew it was coming but the tail end of the paperwork took longer than expected. When it was finally announced it was such a relief.

To have a WSOP in my hometown, here at Crown is great news. It means we’re going to have two international events in Melbourne, which I’m really excited about with my links to both Crown and the WSOP.

I can’t wait! It also means one less trip OS for me at that time of year. It’s scheduled for early April in 2013 at this stage so it should be a lot of fun. People have already got a good feeling about coming to Crown so to come for a second time each year should be easy. And it will attract a lot of players who haven’t ventured down here yet because of the World Series brand, so overall it’s a plus-plus for everyone.

I think it’ll compliment the Aussie Millions. I think both will grow because it will firstly attract a lot of players that haven’t come to Australia yet, where they’ll experience Australia and they’ll be more likely to come back for the Aussie Millions, and the guys that regularly come for the Aussie Millions will have another reason to come back for the WSOP event.

It should also attract more players from Asia (which is part of the strategy). Obviously there are more Asians playing now and they’ll now have somewhere close to visit to compete for a WSOP bracelet.

We need more high profile events here and we can’t get more high profile than WSOP, so looking forward to it!”

As Australia's only WSOP Main Event champion, Joe Hachem was quick to add his voice to the excitement already building for

April 2013, as he told The Real Deal.

Crown began in earnest over 12 months ago,” McCreery said.“Tim Barnett, Michael King and myself worked with the WSOP

team from a commercial perspective – but the entire poker team really contributed to the deal through their ongoing efforts in making the Aussie Millions and Crown’s international poker reputation such a success.”

McCreery said the full schedule will be released after this year’s WSOP in Las Vegas: “Both teams will be actively involved in formulating the schedule, bringing together the WSOP’s tournament expertise combined with Crown’s local knowledge,” he said.

And McCreery was quick to quell some concerns from players that the WSOP schedule would conflict with the Aussie Millions.

“There will be some similarities, however both the Aussie Millions Poker Championship and WSOP APAC will feature some unique feature events that clearly differentiates the two tournaments,” he said.

“The Aussie Millions and the WSOP are two of the major brands in the poker world. As such, the tournaments will easily be able to stand on their own and as they are such different events held at different times of the year, we believe players will choose to visit Crown in January and again in April.

“Full details on how to qualify for WSOP APAC will be released at the same time as the schedule, but certainly we would expect that both online and live satellites will be available to Australian players.”

McCreery also pointed out that, as this is a WSOP event aimed at the Asia-Pacific region, that players from the south-east Asia will play a key role in the success of the series.

“As the home of the Aussie Millions, the Crown Poker Room currently hosts the biggest and best poker event in Asia, and it is expected that the prestige of a WSOP bracelet will further build on this and be an attractive proposition to players from Asia the same way it is for players all around the world,” he said.

Joe Hachem

JULY/AUGUST 2012 19

IT feels like the 2012 Aussie Millions has been barely consigned to history but the Crown Poker team have been quick to compile and announce the 2013 schedule, with 26 separate poker events with buy-ins ranging from AUD $500 to AUD $250,000.

The comprehensive slate of the game’s most popular variations will be on offer and Aussie Millions Championship Rings will be awarded to each of the 26 event winners.

Regular attendees of the Aussie Millions will notice that the schedule has been moved forward a week, with events scheduled in February for the first time.

Crown’s Chief Executive Officer Greg Hawkins said: “As one of the only remaining independent events on the international poker circuit, the Aussie Millions has effectively become one of the top four poker majors and a favourite among some of the most renowned players in the world.”

With a reputation that ranks it alongside the highly acclaimed World Series of Poker (WSOP), Crown will transform into a Mecca of the poker world for the Aussie Millions, during the peak of the Australian summer and host an anticipated 4000 guests from around the globe, all vying for a slice of the anticipated AUD $20,000,000-plus prize pool.

The prize pools provide a substantial incentive to travel and each winner will also receive a Championship Ring as a memento of their victory. While the entry fees may sit outside the budget of some players, everyone can qualify via

the countless satellite tournaments held during the year and during the event, offering players the chance to win a place in the Aussie Millions Main Event itself for a fraction of the AUD$10,600 entry fee.

The annual poker tradition, which dates back to 2003, has become a must-visit tournament for global poker players including revered players like 2007 Aussie Millions Champion Gus Hansen.

“It’s the place I keep coming back to, for the poker, the Australian Open tennis, the atmosphere, the staff and the Australian people. The exquisite effort by Crown to make it a great event for the novice, the aspiring amateur and the high-stakes pro keeps you coming back time after time,” Hansen said.

The Aussie Millions also offers major high-stakes cash-game action in the Poker Room, the newly created ultra-lounge Club 23 and the prestigious Mahogany Room. The Crown Poker Room is one of the most prestigious poker venues in the world and is the largest outside Northern America, consisting of more than 70 premium poker tables.

On Sunday, January 20, Crown will also play host to what has become renowned as the most high profile poker fundraising event in the country, the Joe Hachem and Shane Warne Charity Poker Tournament.

Created by poker icon Joe Hachem and Australian cricket legend, Shane Warne, the event will raise much-needed funds for seriously ill and underprivileged children throughout

Lucky 13Schedule confirmed

for next Aussie Millions

Crown Melbourne has announced the 2013 Aussie Millions Poker Championship

schedule. Hosted by Crown, one of the world's leading integrated entertainment

resorts, the 2013 Aussie Millions will officially commence on Thursday, January 17 at

6.15pm, with the first Aussie Millions event the AUD $1100 No Limit Hold'em.

THEREALDEALPMA Poker Room


Australia for The Shane Warne Foundation. Players are encouraged to secure their seats early at www.tswf.com.au.

The coveted Aussie Millions Main Event (AUD $10,600 No Limit Hold’em) is the grandest spectacle of all poker events and will garner the majority of the media coverage. The Main Event, which begins on Sunday, January 27 will reach, the final table on Saturday, February 2.

In terms of prize money, the prestigious Aussie Millions Main Event shares the limelight with some of Victoria’s other major events including the Melbourne Cup, Australian Open and the AFL Grand Final.

Some of the game’s best known players will meet head-on with locals, online qualifiers and the odd starlet in order to take home the coveted title of Aussie Millions Main Event champion and the estimated first prize of AUD $2,000,000.

January 17 (6.15pm) Event 1: $1100 No Limit Hold’em day 1 flight 1

January 18 (12.30pm) Event 1: $1100 No Limit Hold’em day 1 flight 2 (repechage)

January 19 (12.30pm) Event 1: $1100 No Limit Hold’em day 1 flight 3 (repechage)

January 20 (12.30pm) Event 1: $1100 No Limit Hold’em day 2

January 20 (2.30pm) Special Event: $1000 Joe Hachem & Shane Warne Charity Poker Tournament

January 21 (12.30pm) Event 2: $1100 Pot Limit Omaha

January 22 (12.30pm) Event 3: $1100 No Limit Hold’em Shootout

January 23 (12.30pm) Event 4: $1100 No Limit Hold’em/Pot Limit Omaha

January 24 (12.30pm) Event 5: $1100 No Limit Hold’em Six-Max

January 25 (12.30pm) Event 6: $1150 No Limit Hold’em w/ $1000 Rebuys

January 26 (12.30pm) Event 7: $1650 No Limit Hold’em Bounty Event

January 27 (12.30pm) Event 8: $10,600 No Limit Hold’em Main Event day 1 flight 1

January 27 (2.15pm) Event 9: $1100 No Limit Hold’em Teams Event

January 27 (2.30pm) Event 10: $100,000 Hold’em Challenge

January 27 (6.15pm) Event 11: $2500 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo


January 28 (2.15pm) Event 12: $1100 No Limit Hold’em Mix Max

January 28 (6.15pm) Event 13: $5000 Chinese Poker


January 29 (2.15pm) Event 14 $1100 No Limit Hold’em Terminator

January 29 (6.15pm) Event 15: $2500 H.O.R.S.E.

January 30 (12.15pm) Event 16: $1100 No Limit Hold’em

January 30 (12.30pm) Event 8: $10,600 No Limit Hold’em Main Event day 2

January 30 (6.15pm) Event 17: $2500 Pot Limit Omaha

January 31 (12.15pm) Event 18 $550 Australian Poker Hall Of Fame Classic

January 31 (12.30pm) Event 8: $10,600 No Limit Hold’em Main Event day 3

January 31 (6.15pm) Event 19: $5000 No Limit Hold’em Mix Max

February 1 (12.15pm) Event 20: $2500 No Limit Hold’em Six-Max

February 1 (12.30pm) Event 8: $10,600 No Limit Hold’em Main Event day 4

February 1 (2.15pm) Event 21: $250,000 Challenge

February 1 (6.15pm) Event 22: $5000 8-Game Mixed Event

February 2 (12.15pm) Event 23: $600 Turbo No Limit Hold’em Cubed w/ one $500 rebuy & add-on

February 2 (12.30pm) Event 8: $10,600 No Limit Hold’em Main Event final table

February 2 (2.15pm) Event 24: $25,000 Challenge

February 2 (6.15pm) Event 25: $1100 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo

February 3 (2.15pm) Event 26: $5000 Turbo No Limit Hold’em Six-Max

JULY/AUGUST 2012 21

What’s new in 2013

INTRODUCED at the 2011 WSOP Europe, Mix Max events are sweeping the globe as the latest popular addition to major tournament schedules.

So it’s no surprise to see two different Mix Max Events joining the Aussie Millions line-up for 2013. Event 12: the AUD $1100 No Limit Hold’em – Mix Max will start on Monday, January 28 while Event 19: the AUD $5000 No Limit Hold’em – Mix Max kicks-off on Thursday, January 31. Mix Max events start as full ring games, redraw to six max events at a later stage and finish in heads-up brackets.

The hugely popular AUD $600 Turbo No Limit Hold’em Cubed event, which was introduced this year, will return in 2013. Players will have the option to purchase a single AUD $500 rebuy and add-on prior to the end of the first break.


Tricked you!Antonio “The Magician” wins the biggest tournament prize ever offeredJuly 3, 2012 will go down as the richest day in poker history. No time, no day, no event ever in the history of the game awarded more cash. Eighteen million, three hundred and forty six thousand, six hundred and seventy three dollars' and that was just the prize for one player.


WINNING a WSOP gold bracelet is always a special moment. It’s often cited as the highlight of any poker career. It’s usually the greatest achievement many will make in their lives. But Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari went a few steps further, winning the richest prize in poker history: USD $18,346,673.

A total of 48 participants from around the world competed in the three-day event. Esfandiari’s first-place prize in the unprecedented $1 million buy-in event eclipsed the previous record for the largest single payout in poker tournament history: Jamie Gold’s $12 million win at the 2006 WSOP Main Event.

The BIG ONE for ONE DROP was the 55th of 61 tournaments being held at the 2012 WSOP. Part of the All In for ONE DROP campaign that launched in November 2011, the BIG ONE for ONE DROP was designed to benefit efforts to raise awareness on water-related issues and encourage the poker community to take action and create a powerful ripple effect.

The tournament, a No-Limit Hold’em event, is the creation of ONE DROP Chair and Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté in collaboration with fellow Montreal resident and Caesars Interactive Entertainment CEO Mitch Garber.

Of each $1 million entry fee, $111,111 was donated to ONE DROP, generating a total charitable contribution of $5,333,328 million. The funds will be directed to ONE DROP projects around the world, where teams are hard at work addressing local water crises.

The tournament started with 48 players and after one day’s action, 37 survived. By the end of the second day, the tournament was down to just eight. This final table had just about everything any poker fan would want in a line-up of this monetary and historic proportion:

Eighth place ($1,237,333) – Richard Yong, 54-year-old poker player and businessman who spends much of his time in Malaysia, Macau, and China. He’s also a philanthropist who is one of the most revered gamblers in Asia.

Seventh place ($1,408,000) – Bobby “The Owl” Baldwin, the 1978 World Champion who owns four WSOP gold bracelets. He’s a member of the Poker Hall of Fame. Baldwin helped to build City Center, the most expensive development in Las Vegas history.

Sixth place ($1,621,333) – Brian Rast , the two-time WSOP gold bracelet winner APoker Players Championship.

Fifth place ($1,834,666) – Guy Laliberté, the self-made entertainment genius who created famed Cirque du Soleil, took a seat in the extraordinary event he inspired. There was something poignantly ironic when Laliberte took seat one at the Big One for One Drop.

Fourth place ($2,645,333) – Phil Hellmuth, the most storied poker player in WSOP history, who won his 12th gold bracelet earlier at this year’s WSOP. The 1989 World Champion holds virtually every record in the book. Hellmuth, at age 47, is a member of the Poker Hall of Fame. This was his biggest cash prize ever.

Third place ($4,352,000) – David Einhorn, the hedge-fund investor and financial mogul from Westchester County, NY, donated his entire prize to City Year, a non-profit organisation whose purpose is to keep kids in school and on track to graduate high school.

JULY/AUGUST 2012 23

Second place ($10,112,001) – Sam Trickett, the 26-year-old English poker pro, one of the highest-stakes gamblers in the world, was seeking his first WSOP gold bracelet, but had to instead settle for the biggest consolation prize in poker history.

First place ($18,346,673) – The Big One for One Drop champion, Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari! He’s endured a roller coaster of emotional and financial ups and downs since he burst upon the poker scene eight years ago, when he won his first WSOP gold bracelet in the Pot Limit Hold’em event, at the old Binion’s Horseshoe. Since 2004, Esfandiari has become just as popular for his legendary rock-star lifestyle as he has for his poker accomplishments.

When asked what may have been the personal tipping point that allowed him to rise above the most stunning collection of financial barons every assembled for a poker game, Esfandiari was quick to speak of his life coach – Robyn Williams, the founder and CEO of the Choice Center in Las Vegas.

Esfandiari also gave credit to his father, who was born in Iran and immigrated to the United States. For the first time, Bejan Esfandiari was there to proudly witness his son at his happiest moment. As soon as Esfandiari won the final pot of the tournament, he was overtaken with emotion as he embraced his father. Esfandiari’s brother Paul joined the richest hug in poker history.

Call it what you want – premonition, magic, luck or skill. Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari is the new $18 million man who will be remembered – at least for now – as the biggest winner in poker history.

A chat with the $18 million man

PMA: Antonio, you walked off the stage about a week and a half ago in a very disappointing third place. At that time, could you have possibly thought you’d get to this moment.

Antonio Esfandiari: Yes. I believed it. I declared it. I wanted to win even more since I took third and didn’t win that tournament. I got pretty unlucky when it was three-handed, and so I was determined to come back and win another one.

PMA: Talk about the last hand when you’re sweating the last two cards – the flush draw. How hard was your heart beating?

AE: It wasn’t beating that hard actually. I just went through the process and I was thinking: ‘Okay here we are. This is the moment. If you fade this flush draw, you win the biggest tournament in history of the world’. I was like please Jesus, this one time. And I’m pretty sure I used up all my one-times on this tournament, but I’m okay with that. I said earlier if I use my one-times for the next five years in this tournament, I’m happy with that. So, from now on, it’s one more time.

PMA: How does your approach change when you’re playing against people for who a million dollars isn’t a lot of money at all.

AE: Honestly, it didn’t change. It’s really just a poker tournament. You get two cards, your opponent gets two cards. So, you just have to play the chip stack, the position, and the player. And, you know, it really didn’t make a difference. I just wanted to win the tournament.

PMA: You gave your dad the bracelet. What did that mean to you? When did you decide you were going to do that?

AE: I said it last night, I told my little brother that “this one’s for dad.” And I’m giving him the bracelet. My dad has been my biggest supporter. The very first time I invited him to a casino to watch me play he sat behind me and he watched my cards, and before poker was ever popular he was like, “Son, I support you a 100 per cent.” He was totally cool with it, which was surprising. At first he wasn’t, but when he came down and watched me play, and I told him what people had he was like, “Okay, I get it.” And so he’s been my biggest supporter, I love him to death. He’s the greatest man on the planet. He gave up a lot to move us to this country, everything basically. To win this for him, and give him the bracelet, means the world to me. So, I’m going to wear this tonight, but after tonight, it’s my dad’s bracelet.

PMA: Is this more important than winning the Main Event for you?

AE: Well you know I had a conversation with somebody about that, and I don’t know. I think it’s like a history thing. This is unprecedented. If I could go and pick one tournament to win this year, this one or the Main Event, I’d almost pick this one. I don’t know what it feels like to win the Main Event. After I win it this year, I’ll let you know.



Hellmuth’s dazzling dozenPhil wins # 12, plus other headlines from the 2012 WSOP

There's a story in every bracelet event at the World Series of Poker - here's just a sample of the stories that caught our eye during the first five weeks of action at the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

IT will be one of those nights that will go down in WSOP folklore; the night Phil Hellmuth Jnr won his 12th gold bracelet. The victory came in the $2500 buy-in Seven-Card Razz tournament. He collected $182,793 in prize money – which was the last thing on his mind!

Hellmuth now holds a two-bracelet lead over his two closest rivals – poker legends Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan, who each have 10 wins. All of Hellmuth’s 11 previous gold bracelet wins had taken place in one form of Hold’em or another. Of those, his most memorable win was his initial triumph, which took place in the 1989 Main Event Championship.

On this night – five years to the very day when the great one had won gold bracelet number 11 – all that stood between Hellmuth and number 12 was a poker pro named Don Zewin. Coincidentally, he finished third in that 1989 Main Event won by Hellmuth 23 years ago.

Baker cooks up a storm

DAVID Baker topped one of the toughest final table line-up imaginable to win the $10,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. championship (Event #32), pocketing USD $451,779 in prize money. Six of the nine final table players were former gold bracelet winners with a combined 25 WSOP titles between them, making it the second-most stacked final table in history.Only the inaugural $50,000 buy-in Poker Players Championship played back in 2006 started with a finale

full of more glittering gold bracelet victories among its finalists. That finale included a combined 27 wins.Most notably was Phil Ivey, who rolled into his fourth

finale at this year’s series, along with Phil Hellmuth, John Monnette, Dan Kelly and Abe Mosseri. Baker was making his fifth career WSOP final table appearance. He enjoyed a breakthrough year in 2010, when he final tabled the $50,000 buy-in Poker Players Championship, finishing sixth. Baker followed up that performance with a win in the $10,000 buy-in Deuce-to-Seven Lowball event.

Mizrachi saddles up again

FROM the many thousands of participants who have attended the World Series of Poker in the past two years, the record of Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi stands alone with three gold bracelet victories, nine final table appearances, a deep run into the Main Event as one of the “November Nine,” and about $5 million in prize money earned within a two-year span.

And he again won one of the game’s most prestigious titles for the second time in three years. Mizrachi rose to yet another level when he triumphed in this year’s Poker Players Championship.

His final table included a tough line-up. Mizrachi overcame former gold bracelet winners Bill Chen and Andy Bloch. He also defeated the respected Chris Klodnicki in heads-up play. Perhaps just as remarkable was the manner in which the victory took place – in a lightning quick five hours.

JULY/AUGUST 2012 25

Sexton’s series to remember

MIKE Sexton, a former gold bracelet winner and inductee into the Poker Hall of Fame two years ago, entered Event #3 and Event #4, which began the same day. In fact, the two tournaments were very much at odds, since the overlap included three consecutive days.

Even though the Heads-Up format of Event #3 (which included mandatory down time) allowed Sexton more time to concentrate on the Eight-or-Better

competition, he nonetheless entered the record books.sSexton accomplished what is believed to be a first

in poker history. He entered both tournaments, and not only cashed in both but also managed to finish in the top 16 for both tournaments.

Two min-cashes would have been quite impressive but to think that Sexton ran deep in two overlapping events is phenomenal. Weeks later, Sexton filled the first spot in the money in the $1 million buy-in Big One for One Drop, cashing for just over $1.1 million.

Mirzikinian’s marathon

AUSSIE Warwick Mirzikinian has entered the WSOP record books – just not quite the way he’d hoped. When Aubin Cazals sat down with Mirzikinian, he had no idea he was taking the first step of what would turn out to be a record-breaking journey of nine hours and 25 minutes in the semi-finals of Event #6, the $5000 No Limit Hold’em Mixed Max.

For Mirzikinian, all those gruelling decisions, all that thinking and re-thinking, all that careful planning and contemplation wiped out in a futile session that would have had the exact same financial consequences had he busted out on the first hand, instead of the 350th – some nine hours earlier.

In a small consolation for Mirzikinian, Casals went

on to defeat former November Niner Joseph Cheong to pocket the first prize of USD $480,564.

Bloch’s drought breaker

ANDY Bloch breathed a colossal sigh of relief after finally winning his first World Series of Gold bracelet, following 18 years of hammering away in the world’s most prestigious tournaments and ultimately suffering the perennial heartache of disappointment after disappointment at each and every WSOP since 1995.Bloch won the $1500 buy-in Seven-Card Stud

tournament, which was played over the course of his 43rd birthday (June 1). The event, which began with 367 entrants, included a stellar final table line-up of rivals that made the victory all the more poignant.His comeback finale included former two gold bracelet winners playing the roles of extras in Bloch’s triumphant biopic – Barry Greenstein, who finished runner-up and David Williams (fourth). Bloch pocketed USD $126,363 for his win.

Rubie runs riot in four-handed

HE’S still listed in the official results as an Austrian, but Brendon Rubie is most certainly an Aussie – who outlasted all but one player in the first-ever Four-Handed No-Limit Hold’em event at the WSOP.Playing in just his second WSOP, Rubie brought a big chip lead to the final table but trailled eventual winner Timothy Adams by a 6:1 ratio when the heads-up match started.Two big double-ups for Rubie narrowed the gap considerably but the end came when the chips went in on a board of 8h-Qc-10d-5s, with Adams holding Ac-Qs and Rubie Ks-Qh. The river came As to send Rubie on his way to cage to collect USD $242,548 –

the biggest cash of his short but prolific career.Adams, a 26-year-old professional poker player from Burlington, Ontario, Canada, collected the lion’s share of a USD $1.7 million prizepool – USD $392,476, plus the most coveted prize in the game – the WSOP gold bracelet.

Borg’s memorable debut

PLAYING his first WSOP event, a $1500 No Limit

Hold’em tournament, Sydneysider David Borg emerged from the pack to stake a claim for Australia’s first bracelet for the series.The former NZ Poker Champs winner stormed into contention late on day three and found himself heads-up with the Czech Republic’s Tomas Junek. Holding the chip lead heading into final two, Junek weathered a storm of typically aggressive play from Borg to prevail, pocketing $661,022 for the win. However, Borg collected $410,517 for second, marking the third runner-up finish for Aussies at the 2012 WSOP.

Glazier goes close

JACKIE Glazier’s dream of a WSOP bracelet ended at the final hurdle after former New York police officer Greg Ostrander took out Event #41, the $3000 No Limit Hold’em tournament. Glazier was assured USD $458,996 for second-place having outlasted all but one of the 1394 starters. That payout is the biggest ever won by an Australian female in tournament poker.The heads-up contest started with Glazier leading Ostrander 7.495 million to 5.055 million in chips. After a short period, the duo elected to bag and tag their chips for the night with Glazier out to a more than 3:1 chip lead.On their return this morning, Glazier was quickly on the cusp of victory when she took down a big pot and held 10.7 million of the 12.5 million chips in play. But the momentum shifted back in favour of Ostrander – after eradicating Glazier’s chip lead, the American continued to dominate.

3Event 3: $3000 Heads-up No Limit Hold’em/Pot Limit Omaha (317 entries; 64 players paid; USD $865,410 prize pool)

Winner: Leif Force (Tallahassee, FL), aged 29, first prize $207,708Fast fact: Force is best known to many for his 11th-place finish in the 2006 Main Event Championship, when he won

$1,154,527 in his first WSOP event.

Feature

1Event 1: $500 Casino Employees No Limit Hold’em (732 entries; 81 players paid; USD $329,400 prize pool)

Winner: Chiab “Chip” Saechao (Visalia, CA), aged 35, first prize $245,871Fast fact: Ty Stewart, an executive with Caesars Interactive Entertainment, which oversees all WSOP operations, placed

19th, his second cash in this event after a deep run in 2010.

5 Event 5: $1500 Pot Limit Hold’em (639 entries; 72 players paid; USD $862,650 prize pool)

Winner: Nick Jivkov (Des Plaines, IL), aged 34, first prize $189,818Fast fact: After a horror WSOP in 2011, Jivkov entered a $235 Deep-Stack tournament and won about $14,000. The next

day he entered this event, and won that too!

7 Event 7: $1500 Seven Card Stud (367 entries; 40 players paid; USD $495,450 prize pool)

Winner: Andy Bloch (Las Vegas, NV), aged 43, first prize $126,363Fast fact: The popular Bloch finally broke through after 28 WSOP cashes, one Circuit Series gold ring, eight WSOP final

tables and two runner-up finishes.

2Event 2: $1500 No Limit Hold’em (2101 entries; 216 players paid; USD $2,836,350 prize pool)

Winner: Brent Hanks (Las Vegas, NV), aged 29, first prize $517,725Fast fact: Hanks was down to a just a single small blind and ante just inside the money. He went on to win four of the next five hands and rebuilt his stack.

4Event 4: $1500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low 8 or Better (622 entries; 64 players paid; USD $839,700 prize pool)

Winner: Cory Zeidman (Coral Springs, FL), aged 51, first prize $201,559Fast fact: Poker Hall of Famer Mike Sexton entered this and the previous event, which were played simultaneously and cashed in the top 16 of both tournaments.

6Event 6: $5000 No Limit Hold’em Mixed Max (409 entries; 44 players paid; USD $1,922,300 prize pool)

Winner: Aubin Cazals (Slieme, Malta), aged 21, first prize $480,564Fast fact: The semi-final match between Cazals and Aussie Warwick Mirzikinian last nine hours and 25 minutes, the longest heads-up match in WSOP history.

2012 WSOP results events 1-14 (prize money is USD)


Feature

8Event 8: $1500 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better (967 entries; 117 players paid; USD $1,305,450 prize pool)

Winner: Herbert Tapscott (Hartselle, AL), aged 71, first prize $264,400Fast fact: This was the largest Omaha Hi-Low Split tournament ever played and marked the 71-year-old winner’s first

WSOP cash (after two Circuit Series cashes.

10Event 10: $5000 Seven Card Stud (145 entries; 16 players paid; USD $681,500 prize pool)

Winner: John Monnette (Palmdale, CA), aged 30, first prize $190,826Fast fact: The winner made it two bracelets in as many years with eight other bracelet winners (including Aussie Jeff

Lisandro) featuring in the list of 16 players who cashed.

12Event 12: $10,000 Heads-up No Limit Hold’em (152 entries; 32 players paid; USD $1,428,800 prize pool)

Winner: Brian Hastings (Fort Lauderdale, FL), aged 23, first prize $371,498Fast fact: A legend in the world of online poker and renowned heads-up specialist, Hastings has set-up base in Vancou-

ver, Canada to continue plying his trade.

14Event 14: $1500 Limit Hold’em Shootout (1138 entries; 120 players paid; USD $1,536,300 prize pool)

Winner: Brandon Schaefer (Evanston, IL), aged 23, first prize $311,174Fast fact: Just days after winning this event, Schaefer reported to a US Army base in Alabama where he is to train as a

helicopter pilot.

9Event 9: $1500 No Limit Hold’em Re-entry (3404 entries; 342 players paid; USD $4,595,400 prize pool)

Winner: Ashkan Razavi (Maple Ridge, BC, Canada), aged 30, first prize $781,398Fast fact: The winner was born in Iran and immigrated to Canada with his family as a 13-year-old; this was the biggest $1500 NLHE field in four years.

11Event 11: $1500 Pot Limit Omaha (970 entries; 117 players paid; USD $1,309,500 prize pool)

Winner: Vincent Van Der Fluit (Utrecht, Netherlands), aged 24, first prize $265,211Fast fact: Just the fourth Dutch-born player to win a WSOP gold bracelet, Van Der Fluit wrapped up the final table in less than four hours.

13Event 13: $1500 Limit Hold’em (730 entries; 81 players paid; USD $985,500 prize pool)

Winner: David “Doc” Arsht (Margate, NJ), aged 66, first prize $211,921Fast fact: In the biggest Limit Hold’em tournament played in four years, this semi-retired physician broke through for his first WSOP win after 23 cashes.

JULY/AUGUST 2012 27

17Event 17: $10,000 Pot Limit Hold’em (179 entries; 18 players paid; USD $1,682,600 prize pool)

Winner: Andy Frankenberger (New York, NY), aged 39, first prize $445,899Fast fact: This was Frankenberger’s second bracelet in successive years – he defeated Phil Ivey heads-up, denying the

poker superstar a ninth WSOP bracelet.

Feature

15Event 15: $5000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split-8 or Better (212 entries; 24 players paid; USD $996,400 prize pool)

Winner: Adam Friedman (Visalia, CA), aged 30, first prize $269,037Fast fact: Friedman is best remembered for the emotional outpouring he displayed with his family after being elimi-

nated from the 2005 WSOP Main Event in 43rd place.


Winner: Cliff Goldkind (Potomac, MD), aged 24, first prize $559,514Fast fact: While taking a recent break from his studies, Goldkind went to Israel, where he served in the Israeli Army. He

was honourably discharged in February.


Winner: Michael Gathy (Brussels, Belgium), aged 23, first prize $440,829Fast fact: Not only was this first ever WSOP cash, Gathy joined Davidi Katai ($2000 Pot-Limit Hold’em in 2008) as the

only bracelet winners from Belgium.

16Event 16: $1500 No Limit Hold’em/Six-Handed (1604 entries; 162 players paid; USD $2,165,400 prize pool)

Winner: Matt Matros (Brooklyn, NY), aged 35, first prize $454,835Fast fact: Matros, a celebrated poker author, joined a list of just six players to have won bracelets in three successive years having posted wins in 2010 and 2011.

18Event 18: $2500 Seven Card Razz (309 entries; 32 players paid; USD $702,975 prize pool)

Winner: Phil Hellmuth jnr (Palo Alto, CA), aged 47, first prize $182,793Fast fact: Five years to the day since his last WSOP win, Hellmuth claimed a record-breaking 12th bracelet in his 89th WSOP cash and 45th WSOP final table.

20Event 20: $5000 Limit Hold’em (166 entries; 18 players paid; USD $780,200 prize pool)Winner: Ben Scholl (Trappe, PA), aged 26, first prize $206,760

Fast fact: Scholl works in the same high power financial firm as two former gold bracelet winners, math gurus and authors Bill Chen and Jarred Ankenman.



Feature

22 Event 22: $2500 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball (228 entries; 24 players paid; USD $518,700 prize pool)

Winner: Randy Ohel (Las Vegas, NV), aged 26, first prize $145,247Fast fact: The chip lead changed 14 times in the heads-up match between Ohel and Benjamin Lazer. At one point, Ohel

was down by a 16 to 1 margin.

24Event 24: $5000 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better (256 entries; 27 players paid; USD $1,203,200 prize pool)

Winner: Joe Cassidy (Las Vegas, NV), first prize $294,777Fast fact: After scoring his first WSOP cash in 2004, Cassidy prevailed over Phil Ivey (third) and 1998 WSOP Main Event

winner Scotty Nguyen to collect the gold.

26Event 26: $3000 Pot Limit Omaha (589 entries; 63 players paid; USD $1,607,970 prize pool)

Winner: Austin “Gabe” Scott (Norman, OK), age 23, first prize $361,797Fast fact: Robert Williamson III finished 11th for his 11th WSOP cash in PLO events. Between 1999 and 2004, Williamson

bagged six PLO cashes and one victory.

28Event 28: $2500 No Limit Hold’em/Four-Handed (750 entries; 80 players paid; USD $1,706,250 prize pool)Winner: Timothy Adams (Burlington, ON, Canada), age 26, first prize $392,746

Fast fact: In just his second WSOP, Aussie Brendon Rubie brought a big chip lead to the final table before placing sec-ond for $242,548 – the biggest cash of his short career.

23Event 23: $3000 No Limit Hold’em/Six Handed (974 entries; 108 players paid; USD $2,522,520 prize pool)Winner: Simon Charette (Toronto, ON, Canada), aged 25, first prize $567,624

Fast fact: Redemption for the Canadian filmmaker after he outlasted all but one player in a $1500 NLHE event last year – this heads-up battle lasted just two hands.

25Event 25: $1500 Limit Hold’em Shootout (366 entries; 63 players paid; USD $494,100 prize pool)Winner: Brian Meinders (Jackson, NJ), first prize $116,118

Fast fact: Victor Ramdin (fourth) cashed for the 13th time since the start of last year’s WSOP, equal with Shawn Bu-chanan for most cashes over the past last two years.

27Event 27: $1500 H.O.R.S.E. (889 entries; 96 players paid; USD $1,200,150 prize pool)

Winner: Ylon Schwartz (Austin, TX), age 42, first prize $267,081Fast fact: Schwartz walked away with $3,774,974 for his fourth in the 2008 WSOP Main Event. His first prize here was less than 10 per cent of that score.

JULY/AUGUST 2012 29

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Book SpecialsOnly available at:

Advanced Strategies for No-Limit

Hold’em Poker Tournaments and Sit ‘n’Goes

Kill Everyone took the poker world by storm when it was fi rst released

in 2007. Its perfect blend of real-time experience, poker math, and

computational horsepower created new concepts and advanced

strategies never before seen in print for multi-table tournaments, sit ‘n’

goes and satellites.

In this revised and expanded second edition, Kill Everyone adds

more ammunition to a tournament poker player’s arsenal. In addition

to groundbreaking analysis of fear-and-fold equity and equilibrium, plus

the presentation of optimal strategies for the bubble, the end-game, and

heads-up play, this second edition adds 50 pages of incisive commentary

from the hottest tournament-poker player in the world, Bertrand ElkY

Grospellier, and a new chapter on short-stack cash games to go with

the original discussion of playing in

short-handed cash games.

With a foreword by 2005 World

Series of Poker champion Joe Hachem,

annotations by ElkY, and solid math-

based strategies from Lee Nelson,

Tysen Streib, Steve Heston, and

Mark Vos, Kill Everyone packs more

poker brainpower between two covers

than any book to come before it.

Mark Vos Lee Nelson

Bertrand ElkY Grospellier

Nelson

Streib

Heston

Revised and expanded edition, featuring

WPT & EPT champion Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier

Lee Nelson, Tysen Streib and Steve HestonAdvanced Strategies for No-Limit

Hold’em Poker Tournaments and Sit‘n’GoesAdvanced Strategies for No-Limit


Hold’em Poker Tournaments and Sit‘n’Goes

KE final cover Artwork Updated.indd 1

13/04/10 11:16 AM

PMA Book Specials.indd 1 29/02/12 12:02 PM


Winner: Carter Phillips (Richmond, VA), age 23, first prize $664,130Fast fact: Had runner-up Joe Cada been able to hang on for the win, he would have become the first Main Event cham-

pion since 2003 to win a follow-up bracelet.

Feature

29Event 29: $1000 Seniors No Limit Hold’em Championship (4128 entries; 423 players paid; USD $3,715,200 prize pool)

Winner: Allyn Jaffrey-Shulman (Las Vegas, NV), first prize $603,713Fast fact: Loads – largest WSOP Seniors field in history; biggest field in poker history with a female champion; first time

in history a husband-wife-son trio have made WSOP final table appearances in the same year.


Winner: Max Steinberg (Oakland, CA), age 23, first prize $440,238Fast fact: The final table comprised eight of nine players aged in their 20s while the first and second-place finishers had

both been runners-up in events played in 2010.

35Event 35: $2500 Limit/No Limit (Mixed) Hold’em (393 entries; 45 players paid; USD $894,075 prize pool)

Winner: Christopher Tryba (Las Vegas, NV), first prize $210,107Fast fact: Known for his uniform of white t-shirt and worn out trucker cap, Tryba hit a straight flush on the final hand to

defeat Erik Cajelais.

30Event 30: $1500 2-7 Draw No Limit Lowball (285 entries; 35 players paid; USD $384,750 prize pool)

Winner: Larry Wright (McQueeney, TX), first prize $101,975Fast fact: Wright, a retired businessman, announced that he would donate the majority of the money to a housing and construction projects he’s helped fund in Sudan.

32Event 32: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. (178 entries; 24 players paid; USD $1,673,200 prize pool)

Winner: David “Bakes” Baker (Las Vegas, NV), age 25, first prize $451,779Fast fact: Baker conquered a final table that included five other bracelet winners with a combined 25 WSOP titles – Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth, John Monnette, Dan Kelly and Abe Mosseri.

34Event 34: $5000 Pot-Limit Omaha/Six-Handed (419 entries; 42 players paid; USD $1,969,300 prize pool)

Winner: Naoya Kihara (Tokyo, Japan), age 30, first prize $512,029Fast fact: Kihara cashed in last year’s Main Event (placing 653rd) before returning this year to become the first Japanese bracelet winner in WSOP history.



Let’s Play PokerHas everything the intermediate players needs to improve their play in a No Limit Texas Hold ’em poker tournament including strategies for single-table Sit ‘n’ Go tournaments, how to win your way through multi-table tournaments, and the psychology of playing No Limit Texas Hold’em.


TOURNAMENT POKER


AGGRESSIVE GAMEFeaturing 2011 World Series





















GROSPELLIER

NELSON

STREIB

DUNST


6/10/11 9:37 AM

LATEST:

Kill Everyone: Revised and Expanded edition

Written to help readers understand advanced concepts of tournament play such as fold

equity, fear equity, prize pools and equities, bubble play, and optimal strategies when

short-stacked at various stages of the tournament, including heads-up play.

EXPERT SUGGESTION: Not a direct extension of KP, but helpful for a beginner to have read

KP prior to reading KE.

RRP: $44.95 ON SALE: $32.95

The Raiser’s EdgeBased on analysis of current trends in NLHE tournaments, RE covers topics not covered in KE and concentrates on the loose aggressive, and hyper-loose aggressive styles. ElkY (Bertrand Grospellier) is the lead author.

EXPERT SUGGESTION: Since different topics are covered, RE is more complex than KE. It would be better to have read KE and understood the concepts before reading RE.



against better players.

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: $27.95INCLUDES KILL PHIL STRATEGY CARDS

The fast track to success inNo Limit Hold’em poker tournaments

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Blair Rodman, Lee Nelson, Steven Heston foreword by Phil Hellmuth, Jr.

Rodman NelsonHeston

“‘All-in’, baby! � ose are the words no pro wants to hear from an unknown. � ey’re

going to be hearing them a lot more now.”

– Scotty Nguyen, 1998 World Series of Poker ChampionKeep Up With the Phils!

� anks to television, the Internet, and the incredible popularity of the World

Series of Poker in Las Vegas, when Kill Phil was � rst published in 2006,

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aggressive play.At its core, though, Kill Phil remains what it’s been from the start – the

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Price: $29.95

Price: $34.95

Book SpecialsOnly available at:


Hold’em Poker Tournaments and Sit ‘n’Goes

Kill Everyone took the poker world by storm when it was fi rst released

in 2007. Its perfect blend of real-time experience, poker math, and

computational horsepower created new concepts and advanced

strategies never before seen in print for multi-table tournaments, sit ‘n’

goes and satellites.

In this revised and expanded second edition, Kill Everyone adds

more ammunition to a tournament poker player’s arsenal. In addition

to groundbreaking analysis of fear-and-fold equity and equilibrium, plus

the presentation of optimal strategies for the bubble, the end-game, and

heads-up play, this second edition adds 50 pages of incisive commentary

from the hottest tournament-poker player in the world, Bertrand ElkY

Grospellier, and a new chapter on short-stack cash games to go with

the original discussion of playing in

short-handed cash games.

With a foreword by 2005 World

Series of Poker champion Joe Hachem,

annotations by ElkY, and solid math-

based strategies from Lee Nelson,

Tysen Streib, Steve Heston, and

Mark Vos, Kill Everyone packs more

poker brainpower between two covers

than any book to come before it.

Mark Vos Lee Nelson

Bertrand ElkY Grospellier

Nelson

Streib

Heston

Revised and expanded edition, featuring

WPT & EPT champion Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier

Lee Nelson, Tysen Streib and Steve HestonAdvanced Strategies for No-Limit

Hold’em Poker Tournaments and Sit‘n’GoesAdvanced Strategies for No-Limit


Hold’em Poker Tournaments and Sit‘n’Goes

KE final cover Artwork Updated.indd 1

13/04/10 11:16 AM

PMA Book Specials.indd 1 29/02/12 12:02 PM

Feature

36Event 36: $3000 No Limit Hold’em Shootout (587 entries; 60 players paid; USD $1,602,510 prize pool)

Winner: Craig McCorkell (West Sussex, UK), age 26, first prize $368,593Fast fact: At one point late when play was down to three-handed, former gold bracelet winner Antonio Esfandiari held

about 80 per cent of the chips in play.


Winner: Dung “Gomer” Nguyen (Wichita, KS), age 37, first prize $607,200Fast fact: Nguyen had no plans to play this tournament but agreed to split the entry fee (and winnings) with a friend –

not a bad return on investment!

40 Event 40: $2500 Limit Hold’em/Six-Handed (302 entries; 36 players paid; USD $687,050 prize pool)

Winner: Ronnie Bardah (Brockton, MA), age 29, first prize $182,088Fast fact: Bardah finished 24th in the 2010 Main Event after suffering a mysterious series of seizures that sent him to a

nearby hospital during the event.

42Event 42: $2500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Low 8 or Better (393 entries; 40 players paid; USD $894,075 prize pool)

Winner: Oleksii Kovalchuk (Kiev, Ukraine), age 22, first prize $228,014Fast fact: Kovalchuk became the first Ukrainian player to win two gold bracelets; Jeff Lisandro entered the final day

with the chip lead but finished in 10th place.

37Event 37: $2500 Eight Game Mix (477 entries; 48 players paid; USD $1,085,175 prize pool)

Winner: David Baker (Katy, TX), age 26, first prize $271,312Fast fact: Baker is known as “Original David Baker” or “ODB” to differentiate him from fellow poker pro and gold brace-let winner David “Bakes” Baker.

39Event 39: $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha (293 entries; 36 players paid; USD $2,754,200 prize pool)

Winner: Jan-Peter Jachtmann (Hamburg, Germany), age 44, first prize $661,000Fast fact: Jachtmann operates the largest German-language poker publication in the world, POKERBLATT; of the 36 players who cashed, 16 were former gold bracelet winners.


Winner: Greg Ostrander (Webster, NY), age 40, first prize $742,072Fast fact: Jackie Glazier, who led at the start of the heads-up match, finished second for USD $458,996 – the biggest tournament cash for an Australian female player.


JULY/AUGUST 2012 33


4 ISSUESONLY$29.95

SUBSCRIBETODAY !

Available exclusively at:

WWW.POKERMEDIA.COM.AU

AustrAliA’s Premier Poker And sPorts mAgAzine

Issue #1

December 2011/January 2012

Inside• New look & New tourNameNt series for the star

• we preview the first kfC t20 BiG Bash leaGue• liviN’ oN the raiser’s eDGe with elkY & lee NelsoN

aNDrew hiNriChseN joiNs list of aussie wsop BraCelet wiNNers

CaNNes

welCome to australia’s Newestpoker, sport & lifestYle maGaziNe

LAUNCH EDITION

Can the

WHAT’S IN STORE AT THE 2012 AUSSIE MILLIONS

Casino EditionANDY LEE WINS STAR POKER SUMMER SERIES MAIN EVENT

Issue #2

Speidel crushes

final table to win

2012 Main Event

OLIVER’S TWIST

Inside

• PUB POKER’S COMING OF

AGE AT THE MAIN EVENT

• PLANNING THE ULTIMATE

EURO SPORTING SUMMER

• WE PREVIEW THE 2012

AFL & NRL SEASONS


February/March 2012

IVEY’S STUNNING RETURN,

PLUS ALL THE NEWS & RESULTS

FROM THE AUSSIE MILLIONS


PMA Poker Room

THEREALDEAL

Revealed – the story of Australia’s first WSOP bracelet winnerIn the final days of our previous incarnation as PokerNews Australasia and Pacific, we received a contribution from Larrikin. And after watching Australia's own Jackie Glazier go within one spot of winning a gold bracelet at the 2012 WSOP, we thought it timely to re-tell the story of Australia's first gold bracelet winner. And what a story it is.

ON May 8, 1984, Sandy Stupak, wife of the legendary Bob Stupak entered and won event No. 8 of the World Series of Poker – the No Limit Hold’em, Casino Employees event. First prize was $14,000. How Sandra, a born and bred Aussie, from Warragul in Victoria, ever came to be in the event is a story just as extraordinary as the win.

Sandra Joy Wilkinson, the daughter of Pat and Frank, a butcher in Warragul, attended

the local high school and later worked in a pharmacy as a shop assistant. A stunningly attractive blond, Sandra had plenty of admirers in her hometown.

In 1971, when aged 26, she met and eventually married a visiting American, Bob Stupak. Bob was hustling a living in Sydney at that stage. It was at about this time that Bob had worn out his welcome in Australia and was asked to leave the Country. Bob, together with his new wife, Sandra, now Sandy, went

to live in Las Vegas where Bob had ambitions of opening a casino.

Sandy and Bob were together from 1971 until 1985 and had two children, Nevada and Summer. It was during this period that Bob opened first “Bob Stupak’s World Famous Historic Gambling Museum” and later, after that burnt down, his famous “Vegas World”.

Bob was one of the great promoters of his time and having a beautiful young Aussie wife provided opportunities aplenty. In 1983, in one famous promotion, Sandy and Bob “challenged the world for up to $1 million” in a winner-take-all No Limit Hold’em freeze out.

As casino proprietors, Bob and Sandy were highly involved in the swinging Las Vegas scene of the 80s. Bob was also well known as a high stakes poker player, which led to many of the types of promotions involving his wife as a poker player. Sandy’s 1984 win, of course, gave further scope for Bob’s promotional flair.

In 1985, Bob produced a commemorative medallion for Sandy’s 40th birthday on which she was promoted as “The Lady Maverick”. Bob presented the medallion at a huge birthday bash and Sandy often jokingly says that the reason they got divorced was because Bob revealed her age to everybody at the party (with the production of the medallion).

Years later, Sandy related the story of her WSOP win: “Bob and I were at the WSOP having a drink with some friends when the employees’ event was announced,” she said.

“We had Vegas World at that stage and Bob had the bright idea of entering me for the event. He instantly produced the $1000 entry fee and next I know I was battling away in a No Limit Hold’em freeze out. Whilst I had a good knowledge of the game, I was certainly not a champion, but low and behold I ended up

winning. I think it was the only WSOP event in which I ever played.”

1984 was the year in which the first Casino employees’ event was held. It was dropped from the WSOP itinerary after that year and resurrected again in 2000. It is now one of the most popular events on the itinerary and was again the very first event held at this year’s WSOP.

In 1985, Bob and Sandy were divorced

but remained good friends and had business interests together for many years. Sandy still lives in Las Vegas and in 2002 opened Its Paradise Boutique – an upscale consignment boutique located off of the famous Las Vegas Strip. This venture stocking everything from the classic couture (Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Escada, Versace, etc) to contemporary fashions but has since closed due to the general business downturn in Las Vegas. Sandra is no longer active in poker circles.

JULY/AUGUST 2012 35

Bob Stupak, the Polish MaverickBOB Stupak was the quintessential Las Vegas icon. A gambler, hustler and larger than life casino owner and operator, he was never short of an idea and played a key role in moulding Sin City into the fantastic hub that it is today. In fact, the Las Vegas Review listed him among the 100 people to have shaped Southern Nevada.

The son of a Pittsburgh gambling king (which no doubt rendered his future endeavours inevitable), Stupak first moved to Vegas in 1964 at the age of 22 where he sold two-for-one coupons for local restaurants.

Soon afterwards, he relocated to Australia where he continued his coupon business and set up a successful telemarketing firm. It was here that he met and married his first wife, Annette Suna.

Stupak’s first marriage didn’t last long and he was divorced within a year or so. He later met and married another Aussie, Sandra Wilkinson, but the couple was forced to move back to the United States after Bob was kicked out of the country for questionable business practices in 1971.

It was upon his return to Las Vegas that Stupak began to leave his indelible mark on the Nevada landscape. With around $300,000 saved up from his Australian ventures (which in those days was a small fortune), he purchased a 1.5-acre lot on Los Angeles Boulevard South and in 1974 opened

Bob Stupak’s World Famous Historic Gambling Museum on the Strip.

It was an outlandish name and Stupak later quipped ‘The name was about 10 feet longer than the casino’. He was also derided as crazy for daring to build in a part of town that was far from desirable. Nevertheless, his new casino briefly earned plenty of notoriety with one of his quarter slot machines offering a massive $250,000 jackpot. Unfortunately the entire building burnt down two months later when an air-conditioning unit caught fire.

Undeterred, Stupak rebuilt and in 1979 he opened his next venture, Vegas World, a 20-story space-themed casino that separated itself from the crowd by offering any number of crazy variations on traditional casino games.

At its peak, Vegas World raked in around $100 million annually and laid the way for his next eccentric idea,

Stratosphere, an 1149-foot tall tower inspired by Sydney Tower and billed as the world’s tallest sign. Originally planned to stand as high as 1800 feet, Stupak had no choice but to compromise when the Federal Aviation Authority informed him it would interfere with air traffic. Stratosphere opened in 1996 but proved a financial disaster and was later sold to another company at a fraction of the cost of construction.

Still, Stupak had never been afraid to gamble. According to his closest

friends at the time, he would wager on pretty much anything and in 1989 he famously won a $1 million bet after local bookie Lem Banker convinced him to take Cincinnati +6.5 against San Francisco in the 1989 Super Bowl. He was also a regular at the High Stakes poker tables, won a WSOP bracelet in 2-7 Lowball in 1989 and reached a WPT final table in its first season.

Forever the self-promoter, Stupak unsuccessfully ran for mayor on two separate occasions and backed similar efforts by two of his children, Nicole and Nevada, to run for public office.

Perhaps his greatest achievement, however, was surviving a horrific motorcycle crash in 1995 in which he broke every bone in his face and was placed in a coma. Doctors gave him little chance of surviving but he defied the odds to make a remarkable recovery. Sadly, he shied away from his once giant personality in his later years and passed away quietly in 2009 after a lengthy battle with leukaemia at the age of 69.

PMA Poker Room

APT Philippines was my first official outing as an APT ambassador with AsianLogic. And I must say I was impressed by the professionalism of everyone involved. They ran a really good show under the direction of Jeff Mann, who runs a tight ship. Everything ran smoothly and on time.

The tournament was held at Resorts World Manila and most of the players stayed at Maxims Hotel, which is part of the resort. I didn’t actually leave the hotel for the whole stay. It had a swimming pool and gymnasium, rooms were good and the food was surprisingly good too.

APT has built up a loyal fan base thanks to the quality of the experience provided. They enjoy playing APT events as they are treated with respect.

APT feels a lot like family to me. As everyone knows every chance I get I talk about family, so I’m really happy to be part of this family. We’ve spoke about establishing an APT event in Australia which I’m going to push really hard as I’d love to have one here. Hopefully this can come to fruition; sooner than later.

The first event I played was the Manila Millions, which at a buy-in of HKD $1 million was the biggest buy-in tournament ever played in Asia. It was a hyper-turbo event but there was plenty of value as one of the big gaming companies brought along 18 of their whales to fill up the seats. They happily put up the HKD $1m to play. And they loved it!

The tournament drew a field of 31 players and the whole event was done in about 10 hours. I couldn’t manufacture anything though. It was

Hachem hits the road for Asian

Poker Tour debut

Dressedfor

success

In his latest exclusive column for The Real Deal, Joe Hachem discusses his official "debut" as an AsianLogic ambassador

while despairing at the lack of professionalism displayed in the ranks of

poker professionals.

THEREALDEAL


one of those tournaments where if you aren’t able to accumulate chips at some point you couldn’t afford to lose a big pot because it meant that you’d be short stacked. I didn’t lose a big pot, just lost a few smaller ones and never got off the ground.

Allan Le (Nam Le’s brother) went on to win and he pocketed USD $1.6 million – not bad for 10 hours’ work! Value-wise, it’s obviously a lot of money but still it was a great tournament. The Chinese guys were so excited about the event that they’re planning another one very soon in Macau, which will probably have an even bigger field. HKD $1 million is like pocket money for these guys!

Not surprisingly, the cash games were also very juicy. We got some PLO going and played some astronomical stakes – the equivalent of USD $250/500/1000 so I had my best poker face on! I hadn’t really played these sort of stakes but I took a shot at that level as a couple of guys from Hong Kong and China were just happy to play and enjoy the game. I turned a nice little profit so that was a pretty good game!

Next up was the Main Event, which was a repechage (if you busted on day 1A you could buy back in day 1B). I got off to a really good start but just got into horrible situations where I just couldn’t get traction after the first couple of levels and found myself exiting the tournament right after the dinner break – both times I finished just before the end of the day which frustrated me a little bit, but that’s poker.

Before I left, I had the opportunity to check out the AsianLogic offices, which was great. It was good to see the operation and how big these guys are, how serious they are, which is always reassuring.

***

I have something I want to discuss is something very close to my heart. I’ve been harping on about this for several years and no-one wanted to listen.

In recent weeks, both Alec Torrelli and Mike Sexton have written blogs talking about the lack of professionalism in poker. And this is something I’ve been talking about for a long time. I so strongly agree with these guys.

Poker players want the world to come to them yet they’re not prepared to do the right thing to become professional. It’s as simple as actually showing up to the poker table showered, shaved, with a clean shirt – how about we start with that!

Showing up to a final table not looking like you’ve just rolled out of bed! How do you people want corporate sponsors to look at us seriously if we don’t even take ourselves seriously? It really gets up my nose.

Poker players are so selfish – they never think about the bigger picture – what can I do to help poker grow? NOT what can I do to load my pockets – what’s my edge, what’s my EV, what’s my margin – instead of what can I do to help my profession to become a better profession to be more widely accepted.

It doesn’t have to cost me any money, may cost me a little bit of effort, but it can mean more corporates will want to be involved which will mean more money into the pool for everybody and more recognition.

But instead they show up to final tables in shorts, scruffy T-shirts with hair all over the place, they want to wear hoodies and sunglasses at the final table and stuff like that – c’mon guys!

People want to interview them and they can’t even bother to speak, fans stop them for an autograph or to say hi and they think they’re top shit, they make no time for their fans.

Don’t be selfish – let’s all try to think about what’s the best move for the profession, not what the best move for me is personally. Reading those two blogs really ignited my passion again for that fight because I genuinely believe, until we have enough poker players with the same mindset poker will always be stuck in the back room. It really hurts me to think that because I love the game so much.

Until next time, Pass the Sugar.

JH

A new online home for HachemOne of the biggest stories in poker mysteriously slipped under the radar so we’re only too happy to announce on our website PokerMedia Australia (PMA) that Joe Hachem had a new online home: Asian facing online poker site PokerAce.Back in January, Joe Hachem announced a new strategic partnership with gaming giant AsianLogic. The next step of this alliance was confirmed recently when Hachem confirmed he had joined a new online poker site, PokerAce, along with fellow poker superstars J.C. Tran and Nam Le.

Speaking exclusively to PMA, Hachem said the site was designed primarily for the Asian market at this stage and would not take real money Australian customers until legislative changes.

“We’re not accepting Australian or US players at the moment. I don’t think we’re going after the US market anyway but the Aussie market is obviously one that I’m very keen to help grow. I think we’re going to wait to ensure we don’t breach any laws,” Hachem said.

But that’s not to say that PokerAce doesn’t have features that local players will enjoy: “Australian players can access pokerace.tv for all sorts of information and educational material,” Hachem said.

“On top of that we’re working on another couple of things for Australia and definitely looking at a free-to-play platform, which I can hopefully provide more information about soon.”

In the meantime, Asian players can enjoy NLHE and 13-card Chinese Poker games at PokerAce, plus daily freerolls, satellites to major international tournaments, a great first deposit bonus and cash rewards through the AceClub.

“The site is flash-based and does not use any downloadable software as many Asian players tend to play in Internet cafes so they want to be able to access the site promptly,” Hachem said.

“As time permits we’ll grow the site to offer other games and accept players from other markets when the timing is right. As mentioned, I’m very keen to develop growth in Australia but it’ll have to wait until the time is right.”

JULY/AUGUST 2012 37

Huntly scores popular win at ANZPT Sydney

GREAT SCOTGordon Huntly is well known on the regional poker circuit with his name regularly featuring among lists of Chinese players from results in Macau. For the first time in his major tournament poker career, Huntly's name is the first on the list of payouts after securing a famous victory in the ANZPT Sydney Main Event at The Star.

AFTER an epic final table battle that lasted a little over seven hours, Scotsman Gordon Huntly overcame a roller-coaster of fortunes and emotions, a current Aussie Millions champion and the relentless aggression of his much younger heads-up opponent to take down the ANZPT Sydney title and its AUD $226,812 top prize – the second biggest offered on the ANZ Poker Tour.

It was Huntly’s biggest career cash, surpassing the USD $166,800 he collected as runner-up to Binh Nguyen in the 2010 APPT Manila Main Event.

Nobody could deny Huntly his victory. Starting the day with 380,500 in chips (ninth overall) and the daunting task of having to outlast the other 26 contenders from the huge starting field of 461, he quietly went about the business of building his stack.

Huntly was mid-pack when the final table started with young gun Liam O’Rourke holding a big lead ahead of Anthony Aston – the only two players with more than one million in chips:

Seat 1: Anthony Aston 1,700,000Seat 2: Oliver Speidel 700,000Seat 3: Liam O’Rourke 3,000,000Seat 4: Jason O’Brien 850,000

Seat 5: Martin Rowe 400,000Seat 6: Stewart Ballard 320,000Seat 7: Craig Blight 440,000Seat 8: Brad Lancken 350,000Seat 9: Gordon Huntly 650,000

Huntly made his move six-handed after acquiring a slab of Aston’s stack and with four players remaining he suddenly found himself in the chip lead. And while he entered heads-up play facing a slight chip deficit against O’Rourke, it wasn’t long before he had taken back the lead and soon enough the title.

On the final hand of the night, O’Rourke continued his aggressive line by shoving over the top of Huntly’s raise holding K-9 but ran smack bang into pocket Js. And by the time the dealer had dealt the final card on the 4-3-Q-7-4 board, Huntly was pumping his fist as he celebrated a memorable win.

From start to finish, it took 12 hours to decide the champion, including a marathon seven-hour final table. Among those to fall short were Sam Capra, Peco Stojanovski, Jason Pritchard and Alec Smith while both 2008 APPT Sydney champion Martin Rowe and 2012 Aussie Millions winner Oliver Speidel made the final table but fell short of their ultimate goal.

PMA Poker Room

THEREALDEAL

EVENT ANZPT Sydney Main Event results (461 players; 54 players paid; prizepool AUD $922,000)

1 Gordon Huntly $226,812

2 Liam O’Rourke $144,754

3 Anthony Aston $80,214

4 Stewart Ballard $62,696

5 Jason O’Brien $48,405

6 Oliver Speidel $39,185

7 Craig Blight $29,965

8 Bradley Lancken $23,511

9 Martin Rowe $17,518

10 Alec Smith $11,525

ANZPT SYDNEY RESULTS

EVENT 1: $330 Opening Event No Limit Hold’em (726 players; 72 players paid; total prizepool $217,800)– winner: Naji Hassoun $51,836

EVENT 2: $1100 PokerMedia Australia No Limit Hold’em Special Event (98 players; 10 players paid; total prizepool $98,000)– winner: Blaze Scott-Hutchinson $29,400


2012 SYDNEY CHAMPS SCHEDULEAugust 1 (6.15pm) Event 1: $330 No Limit Hold’em Opening Event day 1 flight 1

August 2 (6.15pm) Event 1: $330 No Limit Hold’em Opening Event (repechage) day 1 flight 2

August 3 (12.30pm) Event 1: $330 No Limit Hold’em Opening Event (repechage) day 1 flight 3

August 4 (12.30pm) Event 1: $330 No Limit Hold’em Opening Event (repechage) day 2

August 5 (12.30pm) Event 2: $1100 PokerMedia Australia No Limit Hold’em SpecialAugust 5 (4pm) Event 1: $330 No Limit Hold’em Opening Event final tableAugust 5 (6.15pm) $300 Sydney Champs Mega Satellite

August 6 (12.30pm) Event 3: $550 No Limit Hold’em Bounty EventAugust 6 (4pm) Event 2: $1100 PokerMedia Australia No Limit Hold’em Special final tableAugust 6 (6.15pm) $300 Sydney Champs Mega Satellite

August 7 (12.30pm) Event 4: $550 No Limit Hold’em Six-handedAugust 7 (6.15pm) Event 5: $440 No Limit Hold’em Teams event

August 8 (12.30pm) Event 6: $440 Pot Limit OmahaAugust 8 (4pm) Event 4: $550 No Limit Hold’em Six-handed final tableAugust 8 (6.15pm) $300 Sydney Champs Mega Satellite

August 9 (12.30pm) $300 Sydney Champs Last Chance Mega SatelliteAugust 9 (6.15pm) Event 7: $1650 Sydney Champs Main Event No Limit Hold’em day 1 flight 1

August 10 (12.30pm) Event 7: $1650 Sydney Champs Main Event No Limit Hold’em day 1 flight 2

August 11 (12.30pm) Event 7: $1650 Sydney Champs Main Event No Limit Hold’em day 2August 11 (4pm) $550 $5K Challenge No Limit Hold’em SatelliteAugust 11 (9.30pm) Event 8: $500 Late Night Poker No Limit Hold’em

August 12 (12.30pm) Event 9: $220 No Limit Hold’em/Pot Limit OmahaAugust 12 (2pm) Event 7: $1650 Sydney Champs Main Event No Limit Hold’em day 3/final tableAugust 12 (4pm): Event 10: $5000 No Limit Hold’em Challenge

Last year, Errolyn Strang joined one of the most select clubs in Aussie poker when she emerged victorious over a field of 315 rivals to earn a first prize just shy of $120,000.

The $1650 buy-in Main Event will again be the highlight of the 12-day Sydney Champs which kicks-off at The Star on August 1. The series starts with the ever-popular $330 NLHE Opening Event – an extra evening flight has been added to cater to the huge demand for seats.

PokerMedia Australia is honoured to again have our name attached to the $1100 No Limit Hold’em Special Event, which will be held on August 5-6. Other features of the 2012 Sydney Champs schedule include a $550 NLHE Bounty Event, $550 NLHE Six-handed, $440 NLHE Teams, a unique $500 NLHE ‘Late Night’ event, $5K Challenge and $440 Pot Limit Omaha.

Continuing our proud association with The Star, PMA will be reporting live throughout the 2012 Sydney Poker Championship.

EVENT 3: $440 No Limit Hold’em Semi-Shootout (78 players; six players paid; total prizepool $31,200)– winner: Rabii Maatouk $11,544

EVENT 4: $440 $550 No Limit Hold’em Six-Handed (126 players; 15 players paid; total prizepool $63,000)– winner: Timo Pfutzenreuter $16,380

EVENT 5: $440 No Limit Hold’em Teams Event (65 teams; eight teams paid; total prizepool $26,000)– winners: Alex Antonios & Nabil Edgtton $8450

EVENT 6: $440 Pot Limit Omaha (89 players; 10 players paid; total prizepool $35,600) – winner: Dennis Huntly $10,680

EVENT 8: $220 No Limit Hold’em Turbo (117 players; 12 players paid; total prizepool $23,400)– winner: Peter Aristidou $6435

EVENT 9: $5000 No Limit Hold’em Challenge (23 players; three players paid; total prizepool $109,250)– winner: Grant Levy $54,625

• • •

New stars set to shine in Sydney ChampsAS recently as 2008, Sydney was home to just one major tournament series each year. That all changed the next year with the addition of the Sydney Poker Championship, which quickly became one of the most sought after titles on the national tournament scene.

The inaugural version of the Sydney Champs paid tribute to some of the biggest names in NSW poker with events named in honour of Grant Levy, Eric Assadourian and “Toothpick Tony”. A huge field of 324 players contested the first Main Event, with Jarred Graham saluting the judge to claim the first prize of more than $120,000.

Andrew Capelin ensured the Sydney Champs Main Event title returned home in 2010 when he captured the biggest win of his career while Milan Gurung placed runner-up after finishing third to Graham in 2009.

JULY/AUGUST 2012 39

EvEnt rEporting

www.pokermedia.com.au

Were you there, reporting the action at the 2006 Aussie Millions Main Event,

when Phil Ivey made an all-in bluff at a board of Jd-2d-2h-Ad-Kd with Qs-7h only for defending

champion Jamil Dia to make an amazing call with no diamond, just Ah-Kc for top two-pair?

We Were !

PMA Event Reporting.indd 1 18/11/11 4:02 PM


PMA Poker Room

THEREALDEAL

EVERYBODY has to start somewhere. Whether it’s a pro motocross rider getting his start in BMX as a kid, or a politician watching his first clown act and thinking, “I wanna be that guy”! Poker is no exception.

Before the poker boom, you’d generally start playing cards with your parents or grandparents and if the game took some kind of hold on them as they grew older, they would organise a regular home game with their friends or venture out to a casino to make their riches.

But these days the options for budding poker players to learn their craft are numerous. One of the options open to new and old players alike is pub poker. It’s the new karaoke. Unlike karaoke where the whole bar, bistro, drive thru and surrounding neighbours know that you’re not really good at it, poker allows your lack of skill at the task and your bad performance to only be known for the select few at your table (at least until a break!).

It’s also a great place for people that have just discovered the game to get their hands dirty learning the fundamentals. The beauty of it is you can learn the basics of the game without losing your shirt, like you could either online or in a bricks and mortar card room. In fact all it’s going to cost you is a couple of quiet shandies and a Parma with your mates. And who can fault that?

Pub poker is often dismissed by professional players and regular cash game grinders in the casino card rooms. A few of those noses have been put out of late as the big pub events start to pop up in our biggest casinos. Their regular tournies are being postponed or delayed slightly to make way for the “donkeys” to play their pub games. But when they see the types of cash up for grabs for these events, their attitudes change … slightly.

It doesn’t help that with these “donkeys” a whole new way to play the game comes with

Pub poker comes of age

The Real Deal welcomes Daryl "Swanky" Westley to our team of contributors, and the co-host of popular poker podcast The Rail has wasted little time coming off the long run with a message for all the pros who frown on their pub poker brethren.

Revenge of the donkeys

them. The casinos holding these big events are suddenly invaded with people who not only come to get their hands on their share of hundreds of thousands of dollars, but they’ve come with the plan of doing it having a good time. Sorry, having a GREAT time. This can result in the card rooms being slightly more noisy than usual, disrupting the room with something with which the regular player doesn’t appear to be familiar: fun.

The serious side to all this, is that regardless of what the pros or the regular cash game players may think, the pub players are learning some pretty handy skills. And just like their Internet counterparts before them, while you may be laughing at them and calling them donkeys, it’s really time to sit up and take notice.

Because just like the Internet kids, the people that the brick and mortar players

didn’t take too seriously, the pub players are graduating to the big game, and they are doing it with honours. There are quite a few pub players taking down the big pub games and are now making runs at the biggest of games. Only this year a regular pub player who has had great success at the pub games, made a deep run in to the cash at the Aussie Millions.

So make no mistake, the pub players are serious, and they are coming to take your cash! And if you’re getting cold dead cards, why not change your game up a tad, and slip down to your local for a couple of pints, a Parma and a damn good time!

Until next time, remember, Aggressive Poker is Winning Poker!

Swanky

"At the age of six I wanted to be a cook. At seven I wanted to be Napoleon. And my ambition has been growing steadily ever since."- Salvador Dali

EvEnt rEporting

www.pokermedia.com.au

Were you there, reporting the action at the 2006 Aussie Millions Main Event,

when Phil Ivey made an all-in bluff at a board of Jd-2d-2h-Ad-Kd with Qs-7h only for defending

champion Jamil Dia to make an amazing call with no diamond, just Ah-Kc for top two-pair?

We Were !

PMA Event Reporting.indd 1 18/11/11 4:02 PM

THEREALDEALUpgrade

AFTER living in the USA for the first 50 years of his life, Lee Nelson, a retired doctor, moved to New Zealand. He’d never been a serious player until he took up tournament poker in 1998. In the past decade, he has compiled the best record of any Australasian player.

The man coined “Final Table” claimed the World Open in 2005 and triumphed in the Speed Poker event at the 2005 Aussie Millions. He also took out the 2006 Aussie Millions main event, having outlasted a field of 418 players to pocket the $1.3 million first prize.

He led the NZ team to second-place in the 2009 World Cup of Poker and holds a swag of Aussie Millions records for most titles, cashes and final tables. As recently as earlier this year, he placed ninth in the Aussie Millions Main Event while he took out the ANZPT Melbourne Main Event title in 2011.

Nelson is also an accomplished author, having written a book on prostate cancer (after surviving a bout of the disease), while Kill Phil and Kill Everyone are ranked among the best poker books of recent years. He was also the onscreen poker talent for TV show Celebrity Joker Poker and worked along side Joe Hachem on reality show The Poker Star.

His wife Pen is a highly qualified

chef who has incorporated the philosophies of ultimate health into her gourmet cooking, with a range of mouth-watering dishes that feature in their new, highly anticipated cookbook.

The Retreat’s gourmet menu is individually drawn up for guests to take into account any dislikes and favourites, as well as dietary requirements, but is then designed to deliver optimal health benefits in a series of fresh, delicious, gourmet dishes. While you treat your tastebuds, relax in the knowledge that as well as doing your body a favour, it’s odds on you’ll be leaving lighter than you arrive.

There’s also every opportunity at the Retreat to relax and pamper yourself with pristine surrounds, a saltwater pool on the deck, a spa and sauna, private access to beaches, massage, Pilates, personal trainer, acupuncture, meditation guidance and other stress reduction therapies.

Close by is some of the best bushwalking in New Zealand, as well as secluded beaches, sea-kayaking and a helicopter service for drop-off at even more isolated spots.

Split Apple Retreat emphasises understated Japanese-style quiet elegance and attention to detail. Using the natural materials of wood, stone, and granite and featuring all original

REPLENISH YOUR CORENelsons’ deliver winning hand with Split Apple Retreat


New Zealand's Split Apple Retreat is unlike anything you've ever visited before. A quiet, luxurious hideaway built high into a cliff-face right on the ocean, a few minutes away from the South Island's stunning Abel Tasman National Park, it offers both every indulgence as well as the additional promise of exceptional good health. It's also the brainchild of Australian Poker Hall of Fame member Lee "Final Table" Nelson and his wife Pen.

antiques and works of art, the Retreat is the ideal place to de-stress, relax and rejuvenate in absolute luxury and exclusivity.

Swim in the saltwater infinity pool, enjoy the Japanese onsen-style spa, steam room, or infrared sauna. A gentle path leads to a secluded beach at the bottom of the property and water taxis will pick you up from Split Apple Rock Beach for lovely walks in different parts of the breathtaking Abel Tasman National Park located on our doorstep. Wellness counselling with Lee or cooking lessons with Pen can be readily arranged.

The Abel Tasman National Park is world-famous for beautiful walking tracks past a series of secluded golden beaches and along the top of towering granite cliffs. Renowned too for its mild year-round climate, it offers a host of activities, including walking, kayaking, fishing, horseback riding, sky-diving, sailing, swimming with the seals and dolphin-spotting. A helicopter can be arranged to drop you at remote spots for walking or private picnics at otherwise inaccessible beaches.

There is no noise pollution at Split Apple Retreat – only the sounds of the birds and the sea. When combined with the gourmet thoughtful food with every ingredient imparting a benefit to health, you have the perfect environment for peace and rejuvenation in the most luxurious environment.

PUTTING SOME THOUGHT INTO YOUR COOKINGForeword from the Split Apple Thoughtful Food Cookbook by Lee and Anne Pen Lee

WE’ve all been brought up to believe that there’s no gain where there’s no pain, and food was never any different. To eat healthily was about going without; denying ourselves the foods we love and replacing them with tiny portions of the tasteless, the unappetising and the dull.

But with a growing interest around the world in the link between food and well-being, and with epidemics of obesity, diabetes and general ill-health, the good news is that food can be both healthful and delicious.

Finally, here is a cookbook that proves it. Here we present dozens of recipes that are tasty, filling and also nutritious; the kind of food you’ll choose because you’ll love it, not just because it’s doing you good.

Fabulous food can contribute to good health, fight ageing, guarantee weight loss, combat stress, crank up energy levels and promote longevity, if thoughtfully selected and prepared. And the proof, as they say, is in the pudding (and the rest of the meal).

So what is healthy food? And does what you eat really make that much difference to your health?

Consider this: The USA’s National Cancer Institute attributes more than one third of all cancers to dietary factors. One third! That’s an incredible statistic. So in the light of that, are you ready to take what you put on your plate seriously? Let us make it easy for you.

The Thoughtful Food Cookbook is a collection of enticing and easy-to-cook dishes that we’ve refined over the years at our beautiful Split Apple Health

Retreat in New Zealand. They look great, taste delicious and will leave you feeling the best you ever have.

They range from long-time family favourites – with a healthy twist – to exciting, new dishes that will inspire you to step out of your kitchen comfort zone and into a new world of flavoursome food that’s doing you good.

This is about food that’s going to make you better equipped to cope with what the world, your age and what your genes throw at you.

To make it easier, we divide food into three categories: Good, Bad and Indifferent. Bad food might taste good but actively does you harm. Indifferent food won’t do you much harm but it won’t do you much good either and it stops you eating the stuff that is good for you. And then there’s the good food – the superfoods – that actively promote health and wellness and taste great too.

All those ideas about eating well – both in terms of health and sheer pleasure – have been brought together here, between the pages of this book. It’s about “wellness” – and to us, that’s all about being in the best physical shape you can be, while eating and drinking thoughtful food that’s a true pleasure rather than a chore.

JULY/AUGUST 2012 43

Dining

THEREALDEALUpgrade

IN 1997 I was diagnosed with a

moderately aggressive form of prostate

cancer. As a physician, I went to the

medical literature and thoroughly

researched the disease, studying more

than 2000 medical papers.

From my research it became

clear that the optimal treatment path

was to combine both traditional and

complementary medical approaches. I

was surprised, however, by the wealth

of medical studies that had been done

on food and supplements, and included

many of these as part of my overall

treatment plan.

Now, 14 years later, I am free from

cancer but my interest in nutraceuticals

(foods that help promote wellness and

longevity) has not waned, and I keep

up with the medical literature on new

developments. I wrote a book called

Prostate Cancer Prevention and Cure

to help non-medical men get through

the maze of treatment options as well

as complementary therapies for dealing

with prostate cancer.

I founded and run, with my wife

Anne Pen Lee, Split Apple Retreat,

a boutique hotel dedicated to good

health, relaxation and indulgent luxury,

just outside Nelson, New Zealand.

Pen is the chef at the Split Apple

Retreat, and incorporates the latest

developments in food science into

new, mouth-watering dishes that are

featured at the retreat. It is our absolute

pleasure to share these with you in our

cookbook.

Sometimes it seems like half the

world is starving while the other half is

eating itself to death, literally, with so

many people in developed countries

suffering from health issues associated

with obesity, diabetes, cancers and

a range of other ailments, much of it

either caused, or contributed to, by

poor food choices.

The answer, you’ll be glad to hear,

isn’t doleful bowlfuls of bland, inedible

mush. The Thoughtful Food Cookbook,

takes real food – tasty food – and looks

at the science of what it does to our

bodies to promote health and longevity.

For a start, most of our recipes

use low glycemic index (GI) foods

that stabilise blood sugar levels and

reduce cravings (more on that later).

Also, foods that are known to decrease

inflammation, a common factor in

virtually all degenerative diseases such

as cancers, are to the fore.

When those two basic principles

are understood – embracing low-GI and

anti-inflammatory food – it becomes

easy to create mouth-watering dishes

promote health, control weight, reduce

cravings, increase energy levels and

possess powerful anti-aging properties.

Each day the human body is

confronted with environmental stress.

This comes from both internally and

externally produced toxins, oxidative

stress (which causes cell damage) and

foods that result in hormonal changes,

increasing weight and promoting

SPLIT APPLE THOUGHTFUL FOOD COOKBOOKFast, fuss-free food that will keep you forever young


Lee Nelson discusses the philosophy behind his latest venture in this exclusive excerpt from the Split Apple Thoughtful Food Cookbook by Lee and Anne Pen Lee.

Dining

JULY/AUGUST 2012 45

Strawberry and Prawn Saled

Ingredients:15 prawns peeled, tails left intact and deveined10 stems Chinese broccoli peeled and cut into 2cm lengths (or asparagus)1½ cups organic strawberries

topped and cut in halves

Salad dressing:

2 tsp garlic crushed

¼ cup shallots thinly sliced

2 stalks of young celery with leaves

chopped

2 tbsp light soy sauce + 1 tbsp fish

sauce (optional)

1 tbsp xylitol

4 hot fresh chillies chopped

(optional if you like it hot)

1 tbsp lemon juice

Spring onion and mint leaves to

garnish

Method:Bring water to the boil in a pot and blanche the prawns until they just turn pink.Remove from pot and place into a bowl of iced water. Allow to cool, drain and put on the side. Blanche broccoli in a pot of fresh boiling water; remove and place in an additional bowl of iced water. Allow to cool then drain. Combine prawns, broccoli and strawberries together.Combine all salad dressing ingredients and toss with prawn mixture. it should taste spicy and sour. Serve garnished with spring onion and mint leaves.

Wild Mushroom Risotto

Ingredients:1 cup risotto rice or black rice (preferable)1 cup mix dried wild mushrooms, washed and soaked in 6 cups of warm water (minimum of 1 hour or

overnight)Alternatively 6 cups of vegetable stockOlive oil to cook3 garlic cloves, crushed1 onion chopped1/2 cup dry white wine1 carrot finely diced1 tsp lemon zest10 stems asparagus cut into 1 cm length and blanched1/2 cup Parmesan gratedSalt and pepper1 tbsp parsley finely chopped

Method:Rinse the rice with water and set to one side. Bring mushrooms and water to the boil in a saucepan. Reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes, drain the mushrooms from the water and keep the water in a separate pot on a low heat.

Or if using vegetable stock: drain water from mushrooms and set the mushrooms to one side, discard the water. Bring vegetable stock to the boil then reduce to a low heat.

Add 1 tbsp olive oil to an additional pan and sauté garlic until brown on medium heat then add onions, cook until slightly brown. Add rice into the pan and stir well with the onion and garlic. Pour in wine and continue to simmer for 2 minutes.

Add 1 cup of the simmering stock or retained water to the rice and allow to reduce, keep adding 1 cup at a time until all the stock is added – be careful not to reduce so much that the rice gets dry. Keep stirring to ensure the rice does not stick to the bottom. At this point the rice should have swelled, this should take approximately 30-40 minutes (if using brown rice add 10 minutes).

Add carrots, mushrooms, lemon zest and asparagus and allow to cook for 5-7 minutes. Season well, stir in Parmesan cheese, and serve immediately. Garnish with parsley.

inflammation throughout the body.

Our meals provide nutrients

that reduce or even reverse these

destructive processes, help control

weight – much more on that later –

reduce sick days and make you more

alert, focussed and productive when

you are at work.

As you’ll discover, all the science

of healthy eating is interconnected,

and even if we know what we should

eat, for instance, low-GI foods, many

of us don’t really know why or, indeed,

what they are. And what we also don’t

realise is that an imbalance caused by

one problem can trigger a whole other

set of health issues.

• To purchase your copy of the Split Apple Thoughtful Food Cookbook, go to www.monarchbooks.com.au

THE A-listers were out in force to help launch Sydney’s newest nightlife venue – Marquee – The Star, Sydney, a joint partnership between Echo Entertainment and Tao Group.

A host of other superstars joined more than 1000 party-goers to toast the new venue as they partied to electrifying performances by Dutch DJ Afrojack and Redfoo from electro pop duo LMFAO.

The opening saw many local and international celebrities walking the red carpet at The Star’s new harbour-side entry, including Paris Hilton, will.i.am, Slash, Ashlee Simpson, Joe Jonas, Kellan Lutz and Sharni Vinson, Nick and Vanessa Lachey, Wilmer Valderrama,

Minka Kelly, Isabel Lucas, Abbie Cornish, Jodie Gordon, Jermaine Dupri, Afrojack, Ricki Lee Coulter and Redfoo of LMFAO.

In what is a first for Australia, Marquee – The Star, Sydney has been designed like no other nightlife venue; with nearly 20,000 square feet of floor space, it features three distinct rooms within the one nightclub which allows it to cater for different music tastes and moods.

The nightclub, the latest component of The Star’s $870 million redevelopment, is located on the entire top tier of The Star’s new Pirrama Road harbourside entrance and has expansive views of Sydney Harbour and the city skyline.

With a capacity of more than 1200 people, patrons can transition between three lavish rooms and various music experiences. The Main Room has a 40-foot LED DJ booth and projection stage and a large dance floor. In contrast, a stylish library-style room offers an intimate lounge experience, complete with a working fireplace.

Club-goers will also come across the Boom Box VIP Room, with a separate DJ and state-of-the-art sound system. There is also a chill-out area with unparalleled views of the Sydney skyline. Furnished with luxurious interiors, the venue will have an exclusive VIP entrance for quick entry from street level.

MARQUEE PERFORMANCESydney’s newest nightclub is now open

THEREALDEALUpgrade



THEREALDEALUpgrade

Poker players are very familiar with the concept of risk versus reward but that rational approach to the game we love doesn't necessarily translate to everyday life. Fancy yourself as a reasonably level-headed individual, capable of making rational decisions. So how do you feel about that spider that has just crawled off the floor on to your shoe?!?! Relax, he's not dangerous.... welcome to the Perception Gap.

Every spare second of my summers as a kid was spent on the beach - in the water; on the water; under the water and rarely out of it. That all changed when I was invited to an eighth birthday party at the local drive-in to see Jaws. For the first-time in our young lives, it was safe to say we were shocked into silence. From that day until this, the thought of a giant shark turning me into a tasty entrée has never left my mind. Even on a trip diving with thresher sharks in the Philippines, I was more worried about what was happening in the depths than the sharks swimming over the benign reef.The fear of shark attack, according to statistics, is "irrational". In the past 50 years, there have been 53 confirmed fatalities due to shark attack in Australia. That's an average of 1.06 per year.

IN the intervening years, I’ve been fortunate enough to travel to many different parts of the world, including a number of countries to the south of the Sahara Desert in Africa. This region is home to the most dangerous animal on the planet: the mosquito. According to the World Health Organisation, a staggering 780,000 people die every year from mosquito-born disease. The majority of these deaths are children living in sub-Saharan Africa.

Was I concerned? Not really, as I’d been immunised for malaria before the trip. But there were plenty of other diseases I could have contracted. The sharks swimming in the waters along the stunning reefs of the Red Sea coast were way more of a concern.

The sharks were also a consideration when David Ropeik, the author of the book How Risky Is It, Really?, instructor at the Harvard University School of Continuing Education, and a risk-communication consultant posed this question.

“Presuming you have to die tomorrow, would

you rather die being eaten alive by a shark, or from heart disease? Most people vote for heart disease. A few vote for death by shark. “Quicker,” they say. Burning to death or heart disease? Nobody ever votes for burning. Cancer or heart disease? Overwhelmingly people vote for heart disease,” he said.

“All three questions are the same. They compare two ways of dying, and the first choice involves more pain and suffering. If you voted for heart disease over any of the other three you were “irrational”. Heart disease

When rational thought goes flying out the window …

RISKYBUSINESS

is more likely to kill you (approximately 45,000 deaths in 2006 in Australia, compared with 39,000 from cancer.) You should be most worried about what is most likely to get you, right? Nope. That’s not how risk perception works.”

Mr Ropeik said much to the chagrin of economists and policy makers, risk is actually a subjective concept but the subjective way we perceive risk has some predictable patterns. Most of us are afraid of similar things, for similar reasons.

“It comes down to how much pain and suffering is involved. The greater the pain and suffering, the more afraid we are likely to be, no matter how likely or unlikely the threat may be,” he said.

So why are we such irrational creatures? That’s the way we’re hardwired: “Say you’re in an area frequented by snakes and you think you catch sight of something out of the corner of your eye moving through the grass. Before you are even consciously aware of that visual information, it has sped to a part of the brain called the amygdala that is the home of your survival radar, constantly scanning for information that might mean danger. As soon as it senses any threat, the amygdala triggers a Fight or Flight or Freeze response,” Mr Ropeik said.

“And that occurs before the information has reached the part of your brain where you do your cognitive, conscious reasoning. It takes 20-30 precious milliseconds for the same information that has already arrived at the amygdala to travel out to the thinking cortex. So when it comes to first perceiving a possible threat, the human brain is hard wired to “feel” first, and think second.”

Mr Ropeik’s research, along with that from many diverse fields, and countless examples from the real world, have established that our perceptions of risk are an inextricable blend of fact and feeling, reason and gut reaction, cognition and intuition.

“While this system has done a good job getting us this far along evolution’s winding road, it also gets us into trouble because sometimes,

no matter how right our perceptions feel, we get risk wrong. We worry about some things more than the evidence warrants (vaccines, nuclear radiation, genetically modified food), and less about some threats than the evidence warns (skin cancer, obesity, using our mobile phones when we drive). That produces what I call The Perception Gap, the gap between our fears and the facts, which is a huge risk in and of itself.

“The Perception Gap produces dangerous personal choices that hurt us and those around us (declining vaccination rates are fuelling the resurgence of nearly eradicated diseases). It causes the profound health harms of chronic stress (for those who worry more than necessary). And it produces social policies that protect us more from what we’re afraid of than from what in fact threatens us the most (we spend more to protect ourselves from terrorism than heart disease) which in effect raises our overall risk.”

Mum’s not always right

CHILDHOOD is fraught with dangers, both real and imagined. One of the greatest bogeymen needlessly inflicted upon countless youngsters is the unshakable belief that if they go swimming too soon after eating, they will be seized by cramps and drown. Unless that hour passes, they will surely sink like stones, leaving barely a ripple on the surface.

To be fair, caution is a good thing when it comes to youngsters and water. But in this case, the caution was far from warranted. Muscle cramps in the calves, feet, and hands while swimming are not unknown, they are certainly not life threatening provided the swimmer does not panic. Even if the cramp is left untreated, it will not cause the swimmer to slip beneath the waves. One can simply float until help arrives.

Whether oxygen-deprivation

stomach cramps are real or not is

open to debate, as is whether eating right before engaging in strenuous activity can bring them on. What’s not in doubt, however, are the lack of deaths associated with swimming right after eating – there hasn’t been so much as one drowning attributed to this, not even a near drowning.

Did you know?

AUSTRALIAN petrol stations all carry warnings about the use of mobile phone while you’re filling the car. It’s pure bollocks. Amazingly, it started as an Internet hoax in 1999 (it was an Indonesian man who allegedly lit up like a Roman candle) but was somehow adopted as gospel by paranoid mobile phone companies. The static electricity created when you step out of the car is more likely to spark a fire in which not even your dental records will help authorities identify your ashes.

JULY/AUGUST 2012 49

Taking risks

THEREALDEAL

EASY to navigate, and just 90 minutes drive from Melbourne, the best of the Mornington Peninsula can be tasted in a single day or savoured over a week. Known primarily for its pinot noir and chardonnay, the peninsula is also gaining recognition for other varietals including Shiraz, Pinot Gris, Pinot Grigio, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. All of theses wines and more can be sampled at 50 cellar doors dotted across the region.

Grapes aren’t the only thing flourishing on the peninsula and high-profile chefs are make the most of the region’s signature produce, including seafood, cheese, olives, apples, cherries, blueberries and quinces. The results can be tasted in style at modern fine dining venues with jaw-dropping views or more simply at rustic country pubs.

Keeping it in the familyA taste of history is the best start to a peninsula adventure. Elgee Park(www.elgeeparkwines.com.au) is the region’s oldest vineyard. While the Merricks North property is rarely open to the public, it has a cellar door at Merricks General Store (www.mgwinestore.com.au) where Elgee Park, Baillieu and Quealy wines can be sampled and bought daily.

Baillieu ‘Bails’ Meyer planted the first Elgee Park vines in 1972 and he still oversees the harvest each year. Bails’ love of art, in particular sculpture is also represented at Elgee Park with up to 50 pieces dotted around the five-hectare property.

RICH MAN,POUR MANMornington Peninsula becomes hot spot for a cool dropWell-to-do Melburnians have been taking their beach breaks on the Mornington Peninsula since the 1870s. But those "beach bums" are now in danger of being muscled aside by wine snobs and foodies drawn to the region's cool climate wines, gourmet offerings and luxurious lodgings, as Lucy Callander discovered.

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Modern luxuryIN complete contrast to the old world charm of Elgee Park is Port Phillip Estate (www.portphillipestate.com.au). Home to Kooyong and Port Phillip Estate Wines the Red Hill winery is dramatic landmark made from rammed-earth. When owner Girogio Gjergia decided to bring the two vineyards together at one cellar door he instructed Wood Marsh Architecture to build the most exciting new winery in Victoria.

The result – opened in 2009 – includes a large cellar door and tasting room, restaurant, outdoor deck, state-of-the-art winemaking facilities and six luxury accommodation suites. Make a weekend of it with packages including lunch or dinner to choose from or visit the cellar for tastings and shared plates.

Vines and vistasRED Hill Estate (www.redhillestate.com.au) was the first peninsula winery to open a restaurant and the award-winning Max’s (www.maxsrestaurant.com.au) is still setting the example with its modern Australian menu. The restaurant is glass walled on three sides for optimal views of Westernport Bay and Phillip Island from every table. Max’s Retreat B&B style accommodation is also a good base for further explorations of the southern peninsula.

A taste of TuscanyEUROPEAN influences with an Australian twist

best describe T’Gallant wines (www.tgallant.com.au). The Italian flavour is carried into the Main Ridge winery’s two eateries from Roman style pizza served at the Sputino Bar to the rustic romance of La Baracca Trattoria.

Serious foodies can indulge in Tre Gusti cooking classes and wine snobs can deepen their knowledge of viticulture at one of the cellar door education events – Raw Wine.

New drop brewingMORE recently, artisanal brewers have started to take advantage of the region’s growing conditions and the surge in popularity of small-batch hand-crafted beers. Leading the way are Mornington Peninsula Brewery (www.mpbrew.com.au) and Red Hill Brewery (www.redhillbrewery.com.au).

The Mornington brewery was set up in 2008 and produces an American-style pale ale, Belgian influenced wheat beer and very English porter and brown ale. Special short run batches inspired by the season are also available.

The rustic bushland setting of the Red Hill Brewery showcases the growing of the hops and the brewers in action. Opened in 2004 by David and Karen Golden the brewery produces three main styles – Golden Ale, Wheat Beer and Scotch Ale. Beer-friendly dishes with a northern European feel are served in the café.

Soak away the dayIF the premium wine, gourmet food and craft beer aren’t enough to untie the knots of the working week book a visit to one of the peninsula’s day spas. Slide into a mineral rich bath at the award winning Peninsula Hot Springs at Fingal (www.peninsulahotsprings.com).

The venue’s Bath House offers more than 20 hot spring experiences including a hilltop pool, cave pool, Turkish steam room, and reflexology walk. The Spa Dreaming Centre provides a more personalised and private treatment with packages including lunch or dinner available.

Getting thereMORNINGTON Peninsula is a relaxing 75-minute drive from Melbourne. Dodge the traffic lights and take the Monash Freeway (M1) to Eastlink before connecting to the Mornington Peninsula Freeway (11).

Parts of this route are tolled and you will need to arrange a day pass prior to travelling or up to three days after the first trip from CityLink (www.citylink.com.au) or Eastlink (www.breeze.com.au).

To avoid paying tolls take the more scenic but slightly longer route along the Nepean Highway (3) along the Port Phillip Bay coastline via Point Nepean Rd (B110). For more information, check out www.visitmorningtonpeninsula.org. Pics provided by Victorian Wine Industry Association.

Wineries

JULY/AUGUST 2012 51

Gary Ablett Jnr kicking goals on the Gold Coast

SUN OFA GUN

2012 NRL preview

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THEREALDEAL

The move of Gary Ablett Jnr from Geelong to the fledgling Gold Coast Suns had been rumoured for months, but it was still a shock to the football world. Already recognised as one of the game's greats, it's staggering to believe that Ablett enhanced his reputation as the first captain of the Suns in 2011. Arriving from Geelong with two premierships and a Brownlow Medal, Ablett thrived despite little experienced help around him, averaging more than 30 disposals a game.

Just as impressive was his leadership of the young Suns, a quality not many had seen before. He was named All-Australian captain and a runaway winner of Gold Coast's inaugural best and fairest.

In the first of an ongoing series, PMA's own dual ANZPT Player of the Year Tony Hachem spoke with his good mate about life on the Gold Coast.

GARY ABLETT Jnr is one of the game’s gen-uine stars and arguably one of the best midfielders the game has seen. The son of Geelong legend Gary Ablett Snr – one of the game’s greatest players – Ablett joined the Gold Coast Suns after nine seasons, 192 games and two AFL Premierships with the Cats.

Initially drafted to Geelong under the father-son rule in 2001, Ablett showed flashes of promise as a small forward during 12 senior games in his first season. He spent subsequent seasons slowly but surely improving his craft, but it wasn’t

until 2005 that he began to consistently stamp his brilliance on the competition with his rare combination of speed, agility, strength, deft touch and almost freakish goal sense. Ablett’s breakout season was 2007, one that coincided with a fulltime move to the Cats’ much vaunted midfield. He averaged 26 possessions a game over a stellar season and collected 20 Brownlow Medal votes on his way to helping Gee-long ultimately crush Port Adelaide by 119 points in the 2007 Grand Final, the Cats’ first flag in 44 years.


Summer sport

Since then, Ablett form has been nothing short of sublime. He was a two-time Best and Fairest winner at Geelong – in 2007 and 2009 – and was awarded the Brown-low Medal as AFL’s Fairest and Best player in 2009. Since 2008, he has not finished lower than third in the Brownlow count.He is a five-time All Australian player (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011), won the Leigh Matthews Trophy as the AFLPA’s Most Valuable Player for three consecutive years between 2007 and 2009, in 2007 was judged Player of the Year by both the Herald Sun and The Age, and tied with Carlton’s Marc Murphy in The Age Player of the Year award in 2011.

Tony Hachem: Thanks for your time champion. So just how tough was the decision to leave Geelong for the Gold Coast? Any regrets?

Gary Ablett: No regrets at all Hach. I’d given it a lot of thought and it was a really tough decision. Money was a big part of why I’ve moved, but at the same time it wasn’t the only reason. Eventually, after weighing up my playing and professional future and all the things I still wanted to achieve in the game, I came to the conclusion that it was time for a fresh new challenge.It was still hard to leave behind the club where I’d spent nine years, and where my father also played. You’re never going to lose those close friendships and bonds that have been built up over the years. I was honoured to have achieved an enor-mous amount at the club and alongside some terrific blokes.I left the club with memories that most footballers will never share. I gave my all for Geelong and will be forever grateful for the support of the Geelong Football Club and its many great fans for being such a huge part of my life.

TH: How are you enjoying life on the Gold Coast?

GA: I’m really loving it – of course there’s the weather and the beaches but it’s also great to meet new people and create new friendships. It’s been great to move out of my comfort zone although I miss friends and family at home. Family is a very impor-tant part of my life.

TH: Do you enjoy a degree of anonymity compared to Mel-bourne?

GA: Yes I do – AFL is an all encompassing part of life in Melbourne so moving to the Gold Coast has given me some head space to allow me to focus on my football and what life has to offer me.

TH: What do you miss about Melbourne?

GA: Obviously family and friends, but also the restaurants, cafes and city lifestyle – Melbourne has biggest and best sporting events and venues anywhere in the world and it’s a great place to live.

TH: Do you think the move to the Gold Coast may have ex-tended your playing career?

GA: Yes I do, for several reasons. I can bring my experience from Geelong to a new generation of players. The weather also plays a big part – the cold puts a lot of pressure on joints. Living on the Gold Coast makes getting out of bed a lot easier and helps in recovery.

TH: What was it like walk-ing into a new club on day one? What were your initial thoughts?

GA: I was really nervous. After a decade at one club I was really outside my comfort zone with so many new people to meet but it quickly settled down after a few

weeks. It was all about the challenge of joining a new team and a new and unique opportunity to be part of something spe-cial in football.

TH: What have been the major changes for you as a player?

GA: Obviously not winning as much! And I want to win and to be competitive and to take responsibility. But there’s more to the role here as I want to help ensure our younger players develop as good people as well as sharing my football knowledge.My responsibilities have changed – the younger players look up to me, and my role as captain means I also work closely with our coaches on player development. The most important thing is creating the

right culture at the club – whether it is respect, discipline, time management or career management.

TH: Has your on-field role work-ing with the younger players made you think about a coach-ing career down the track?

GA: At Geelong I spent a couple of years in the leadership group, which greatly assisted in my development as a player. Do I want to coach? It’s very satisfying to see the boys grow through my life experienc-es, but I haven’t thought about it seriously as I’m still focussed on playing.Coaching is not an easy job, and we often see that great players don’t turn out to be great coaches but I believe my work ethic and the experience and knowledge that I’ve gained over the years may indulge me

JULY/AUGUST 2012 53

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RUN GOOD TOO?

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to go down that road.When I was younger, playing at Geelong, they had the same issues down there. A young side; inexperience around the club. We’re learning as a football club, we’re a new club and we’ve got a young group. At the same time that can’t be used as an excuse. We’ve just got to keep moving forward. These boys have got 20-30 games under their belt. We’ve got to keep work-ing on the positives and make sure we’re fixing the areas we’re not doing too well.

TH: And I have to ask – we’ve seen you play in several char-

ity events and the Aussie Mil-lions – do you still get much of a chance to play a few hands of poker?

GA: Not as much as when I was in Mel-bourne but I’ll try to play events like the EJ Whitten Charity Tournament, which are great to support. Campbell Brown is definitely the best poker player on out list, but a lot of the younger guys enjoy the game as well.

ProfileName: Gary Ablett JnrAge: 28Club: Gold Coast SunsHeight: 182cmWeight: 85kgBrownlow Medal: 2011 votes 23; career votes 135Previous AFL club: Geelong (2002-10: 192 games, 262 goals)

Draft history: 2001 National AFL Draft 3rd round father-son selection (Geelong) No. 40 overall; 2010 uncontracted player selec-tion (Gold Coast)

Player honours: Brownlow Medal 2009; 2nd Brownlow Medal 2010; 3rd Brownlow Medal 2008 (equal); Geelong best and fairest 2007, 2009 (equal); Gold Coast Suns best and fairest 2011; Geelong 2nd best and fairest 2008, 2010; Geelong 3rd best and fairest 2005, 2006; All-Australian 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 (captain); AFLPA MVP 2007, 2008, 2009; AFLCA Player of the Year 2007, 2008, 2009; Geelong leading goalkicker 2006; Geelong premiership sides 2007, 2009; Geelong pre-season premiership sides 2006, 2009


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Serious knowledge for the serious player

Authored by respected poker champions Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Lee Nelson and Tony Dunst, along with maths whiz Tysen Streib, the

Raiser’s Edge shows you how to adapt to the current state of all stages of tournament play, analysing how and why the LAG and hyper

-LAG styles work, and instructing on how to apply – and defend – against them.



TOURNAMENT POKER


AGGRESSIVE GAME






















GROSPELLIER

NELSON

STREIB

DUNST


6/10/11 9:37 AM



THEREALDEAL

For those who like a punt but consider sports betting a bit "low brow", prediction markets might tick both boxes. Stock exchanges find the price of stocks, and futures markets find the price of commodities. Prediction markets, like Intrade, find the probability of something happening - a predefined, uncertain future event. Warning, they can be very addictive.

INTRADE is a platform where you make predictions by buying and selling shares on the outcome of real-world events. These events are always defined on Intrade as a YES/NO proposition. For example – Barack Obama to be re-elected President in 2012 or the United States or Israel to bomb Iran before the end of 2013.

There are two possible outcomes to each of these events - yes, the event will happen as described, or no, it will not happen. This allows you take a clear position on each event – you can either predict the event will happen, or it won’t happen. You then back up your prediction by buying or selling shares in the market.

If you predict the market event will happen then you BUY shares; if you predict the market event will not happen then you SELL shares. As Intrade is an exchange, you buy shares from another member of Intrade. And when you sell shares, another member of the exchange is buying them from you. As Intrade is a market, you may not always be able to get what you want. If you are looking to buy some shares, but nobody is selling, then you can’t buy the shares that you want.

When the outcome of an event is known, the market is settled. The market will always be settled at either $0.00 or $10.00 according to the actual outcome. If the market event has happened, the market will be settled at $10.00. If the market event has not happened, the market will be settled at $0.00.

Because a market will always settle at either $0.00 or $10.00, all shares are bought or sold at prices somewhere in between. The price at which you buy or sell shares will determine how much you can win, and how much you can lose.

In terms of fees, Intrade charges a flat rate of $5 a month to maintain your account, but takes nothing on trades. It also takes a small fee to cover funding of your account.

Tip for using Intrade

Sportsbook

SHORT-TERM BETSWhen you’re starting out, stick to shorter time bets. If you’re like me, you’ll get bored with the longer term ones and will want to exit early, thus getting hit by the spread. It will also ensure that your bankroll isn’t tied up waiting for the result of long-term predictions. While you’re learning, stick to the shorter ones while you get used to the system and learn the ropes.

WATCHOUT FOR THE SPREADAs for most trading/spread betting, you have to watchout for the Buy/Sell spread, as this can eat into your earnings significantly! Basically, this is the difference between the current “buy” and “sell” price, so if you bought into a position and immediately exited it, what would it cost you? Spreads are wider on static markets like those on foreign politics or long-term contracts, and shorter on liquid ones.

Sports betting

Punting on predictions

VARIATIONWhile fundamentally, a m

odel such as this is a fantastic

way to poll the population, setting up a profi

t motive for

people to provide a representation of what th

ey think,

Intrade does suffer from irrational optimism and

huge

variations. For example, markets sway can w

ildly when

issues are being discussed in the media.

Intrade offers unique bent on betting


Serious knowledge for the serious player

Authored by respected poker champions Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Lee Nelson and Tony Dunst, along with maths whiz Tysen Streib, the

Raiser’s Edge shows you how to adapt to the current state of all stages of tournament play, analysing how and why the LAG and hyper

-LAG styles work, and instructing on how to apply – and defend – against them.



TOURNAMENT POKER


AGGRESSIVE GAME






















GROSPELLIER

NELSON

STREIB

DUNST


6/10/11 9:37 AM




As a casual follower of all codes of racing, I was quickly taken by the tale of Come On Frank. With a heart-breaking back story and a larger-than-life profile thanks his Facebook page, the story of this four-year-old gelding and the

Billinger family is slowly attracting the attention it deserves. Compiled by Sean Callander.

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THEREALDEAL

On April 30, 2011, the Billinger family faced the moment no parent or sibling should ever have to encounter when Darren and wife Julie’s eldest daughter and Jodie’s sister Kelly was killed in a motor vehicle accident in Melbourne’s outskirts.The loss of Kelly was a devastating blow to the close knit and popular Billinger family, who run harness racing stables out of Globe Derby in Adelaide.

Despite the family’s connection with the equine industry, Kelly never cared much for racing but there was one horse with which she shared an affinity more than any other in the stable: Come On Frank.

A slow-maturing two-year-old and family favourite, Come On Frank was showing promise at the time of Kelly’s

death and the family elected to keep him on track for the 2011 Tattsbet.com Southern Cross 3YO Colts and Geldings Final.

What unfolded at Globe Derby last winter was seemingly scripted from above. The pacer overcame a horror barrier to win the $50,000 feature and left everyone on track fighting back tears after one of the most emotional wins in memory.

With a first half of 64.0 seconds set by leader On The Buzzer (David Harding) the feat to win from so far back seemed impossible but as commentator Jim Jacques perfectly described when crossing the line “a victory sent from heaven”, Come On Frank flew down the home straight to win by 2.1m over fast finishing Global

View (Michael Norman) while Inexchange (Dean Girardi) was further 3m away in third position.

With a 29.2 third split and a last quarter of 29.6 the performance of Come On Frank was made even more impressive as he gave the leader a good 15m at the bell. A mile rate of 2.01.4 over the 2230m journey was only a result of the leisurely first half but the last half of Come On Frank would have been freakish.

“Since he was a foal we used to dream of him winning the Southern Cross, so to win that race three months to the day that Kelly died was the most emotional night of my life – it was all for her,” Billinger said.

Already intrinsically linked with the family, Frank began to take on a life of his own via his own Facebook page, with details of his roadtrips becoming famed

Heaven sent

Click if you ‘like’ Come On Frank

JULY/AUGUST 2012 59

Beyond the Back Page

for the gelding’s endless commentary of every minute detail – everything from flat tyres to arranged meetings with fans along the route. And all Frank’s updates end with his now famous sign-off: “Go Meeeee!!!!!!!!”

In addition to his burgeoning media profile, the Billingers also realised they had a very handy type on their hands. Come On Frank did it again on SA harness racing’s biggest night – stepping up against seasoned open-class performers for a dominating win in the Dudley Justice Plate on SA Cup night in January.

The plan to sit behind and let his rivals work was thrown out window en route to Globe Derby and Come On Frank roared around the field early, racing in the breeze before scoring a huge win in front of his legion of staunch supporters.

He added the Mount Gambier Pacing Cup from a 20m handicap to his impressive resume in late January before he claimed the biggest win of his progressive career then further underlined his ability to lift when it counts with win at Melton in Melbourne, upstaging some big-name Victorian rivals on harness racing’s centre stage in Melbourne.

The tears of emotion and elation were hard to hold back for the harness racing connections of Adelaide visitor Come On Frank, when he scored his biggest career success - the $100,000 (Group 1) Empire Stallions Vicbred Super Series Final for Four Year Old Entires & Geldings over 2240 metres at Tabcorp

Park Melton on Friday, May 18).Frank began better than ever from

gate two, tackling the polemarker Ronald George to assume control heading into the back straight on the first occasion, but not before using plenty of gas.

Not wanting to get into another war with the favourite Jadahson (gate three) going forward three wide, Billinger relented to allow Jadahson to stride clear which ended up a great move as Jadahson was subject to plenty of pressure throughout the event by Cut For An Ace.

Using the sprint lane, Come On Frank raced clear in the shadows of the post to score by 3.2 metres in a rate of 1-58.6 (last half 56.2 – quarter 28.3) from Jadahson, with Keayang Cullen coming from last at the bell to finish a further 3.8 metres away in third place.

“It was the fastest he’s ever come out of the gate. I kept saying to myself around the bend, ‘don’t hit a wheel, Darren, don’t hit a peg, don’t pull the rein too hard’. I knew the horse was the winner,” Billinger, a former bank manager, said.

So what’s next for the horse with a staggering 2100 Facebook fans (at last count), who last posted at he was “sitting back in my continental quilt with a full bucket of molasses and Foxtel set up”.

Darren Billinger admits that finding races is going to be more and more difficult in Adelaide, so it appears more roadtrips will be in order. And more updates on Facebook.

Profile:Name: Come On Frank (4YO gelding)Breeding: Blissful Hall – WhatacorkaRaced by: Ian Goddard, Julie Billinger, Jodie BillingerStarts: 46Wins: 25Prizemoney: $174, 391Major wins: Group 1 Southern Cross Final, Dudley Justice Plate, Mount Gambier Cup, Group 1 Vicbred Final

• Additional reporting, pics with thanks to The Advertiser & Harness Racing Victoria

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THEREALDEAL

Is that meant to be here?When the animal and sporting worlds collide

Thousands of screaming sports fans, bright lights, nowhere to hide ' you'd think sports stadiums and arenas would be the last place that humans and fauna would interact. It happens more often than you

think the time - sometimes by accident and sometimes by design.

PigIt was round 18 of the 1993 AFL season when a piglet with “Plugger” painted on its flank was released onto the SCG to taunt the player of the same nickname – champion full forward Tony Lockett (who was sidelined for the game with injury). Next time the two teams met, Lockett booted 11 of St Kilda’s 16 goals in a one-point win. He also copped a seven-match suspension for almost decapitating Sydney defender Peter Caven.

BugsThe 2007 American League playoff game between the New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians on October 5, 2007 will go down as one of the weirdest ever after a plague of gnats (tiny insects) descended upon Jacobs Field in Cleveland late in the game. Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain needed the Mortein as his wayward pitching resulted in the tying run. The Indians won 2-1, and took out the series 3-1.

SeagullThe 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass in Florida is one of the most famous in golf due to its island green. That proved a problem for Steve Lowery in the 1998 Players’ Championship when a seagull swooped down and pinched his ball off the green and tried to fly away with it. But the ball fell out of the bird’s beak into the water. Luckily, Lowery was able to replace the ball without penalty.

SkunkStill in the world of baseball we head to a Frontier League game between the Lake Erie Crushers and Southern Illinois Miners in 2009. You would have thought a rattlesnake had slithered onto the field as players beat a hasty retreat, but it was nothing but an inquisitive skunk. The little guy had the run of the ballpark until he made his way to the exit.


Top 10

DogBrock the Terrier showed a decent turn of pace when he joined the action during an International Rules match between Australia and Ireland at Croke Park in Dublin in 2004. How the canine actually made it to the stadium from his Ballyfermot home more than 10 kilometres away remains a mystery as his owners didn’t realise he was missing until they spotted him on television. It took almost 10 minutes to coax the little guy from the field.

BatIt was early in the 2009-10 NBA season when the Sacramento Kings met their Western Conference foes the Spurs at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. Late in the first period a bat swooped into the arena and descended onto the court. Players scattered and officials stopped play. That’s when Manu Ginobili performed his Halloween trick, swatting the bat out of the air with a bare hand. He then carried the creature off the court to thunderous cheers.

DeerSadly, clashes between sportspeople and wildlife don’t always end happily. On August 3, 2006, IndyCar driver Cristiano Da Matta was testing at the Road America circuit in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin when he struck a deer. The Brazilian suffered serious injuries after the animal bounced off the front tyre and struck his head. He spent six weeks in hospital and two years rehabilitating until resuming his motor racing career but he would never race an IndyCar again.

BearDuring the US Senior Open in 2008 at Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, veterans Bernhard Langer and Tom Watson were lining up their shots onto the 13th fairway when a black bear made its entrance to the astonishment of the crowd. Watson heard somebody shout “bear!” while he was in the middle of a backswing. The bear crossed several fairways on the back nine before wandering off to watch something way more interesting.

AlligatorDuring the first round of the RBC Heritage PGA event in Hilton Head, South Carolina, Brian Gay suffered an unusual interruption when an alligator appeared adjacent to the 15th green at Harbour Town Golf Links. Not too keen to take his fourth shot while the creature lurked next to his ball, caddie Kip Henley showed more bravery and pushed the alligator back into the water with a bunker rake.

SharkFrom land to sea, animals still can’t help themselves. Late last year in the RipCurl Pro Search near San Francisco, Hawaii’s Dusty Payne was surfing against South Africa’s Jordy Smith off Ocean Beach when he saw “the biggest fin I’ve ever seen in my life coming at me.” Just days earlier a surfer had been attacked at nearby Monterey, suffering nasty wounds to go with a 50cm bite mark on his board.

JULY/AUGUST 2012 61

Sportsbook

THE DEALREAL

Where: It’s one of few events that has been contested at every edition of the Olympic Games and, after four years of preparation for competitors, it ends quicker than any other Olympic event. However, we should issue a disclaimer – almost one million people who applied for tickets to the 100m final in London were unsuccessful in the first round of allocations. It has now emerged that the only way to guarantee a place for the 100m final is to buy a corporate hospitality package. The cheapest price to ensure a seat for the men’s 100m is now £27,000 per person – the equivalent of £2700 for each second of the race! Worse still, the minimum order for such bookings is 10 people, meaning buyers face a total bill of £270,000 to see the event live in the stadium.

When: The heats of the 100m will be held on Saturday, August 4 with the semi-finals and final on the evening of Sunday, August 5.

Why: It’s a pretty impressive title – the fastest man in the world! Regardless of the result, the victor joins one of the most select clubs in world sport. It’s also a race at the London Olympics that is almost certain to provide one of the genuine highlights of the Games as 2008 gold medallist Usain Bolt edges ever closer to the almost unthinkable mark of 9.5 seconds.

Event: Men’s 100m final, Olympic GamesHonour roll: In the 26 times that the 100m final has been contested, just one athlete has managed to win it twice, the remarkable Carl Lewis in 1984 and 1988, although he was denied the chance to cross the finish line in first place for his second title by drug cheat Ben Johnson. Americans won 13 of the first 16 100m gold medals before Ukrainian Valeriy Borzov, competing for the USSR, became the first non-black athlete to win the event in 1972. Americans Eddie Hart and Rey Robinson missed the quarter-finals due to confusion over the starting time having both run far superior times to Borzov in the heats.

It's over in little more than a blink of an eyelid, but the winner of the 100m men's final at the Olympic Games is assured a special place in sporting folklore. Bring on the 2012 edition!

The 100m final 10 seconds that defines a sporting generation


Highs & lows:• The Berlin Olympics were intended by Adolf Hitler to prove his theories about the superiority of the Aryan race. Jesse Owens, the black grandson of Alabaman slaves, ruined it for him. Owen won four gold medals, the 100m and 200m, the long jump and 4 x 100m relay. The story that Hitler refused to present his gold after the 100m is a myth. Indeed, the snub to Owens came from US president F.D. Roosevelt, who never sent a letter of congratulations or invited him to the White House.

• Carl Lewis, Alabama-born like Jesse Owens, equalled Owens’ four gold medals in Los Angeles but surpassed him in terms of performance. His winning 100m in 9.99sec was the first sub-10 run at a sea-level Olympics, his margin of victory the greatest in Olympic history. He set an Olympic record of 19.80sec in the 200m, won his 37th straight long jump competition and ran a relay anchor leg in the 4 x 100m of 8.94sec to set the only world record in athletics at the Games.

• Ben Johnson showed us the stars, and then the abyss. All compact muscle, the Canadian destroyed the great Carl Lewis with a run of 9.79sec, and that achieved with his right index finger pointing into the air over the last couple of strides. It was four 100ths better than his old record. Then, in the early hours of a Seoul morning, news broke that Johnson had been busted for drugs. As recently as last month on Australian TV, he continues to deny his use of performance-enhancing substances.

• Australians don’t feature prominently in the history of this event at the Olympics, but two of our athletes have etched their place in the record books. At the 1900 Paris Olympics, Stan Rowley (competing for Great Britain) claimed bronze medals in the 60m, 100m and 200m and was part of the gold medal-winning combo in the 5000m team race. Hector Hogan, who at one point equalled the world record in the 100m, also captured a bronze medal in the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games behind US duo Bobby Morrow and Thane Baker.

• Back to Usian Bolt, the anti-Ben Johnson, the man who reflects what the Olympics should represent - higher, faster, stronger - in its purest and most exalted form. The sight of him reducing his competitors to victim status in Beijing by sprinting flat-out for just 34 strides before spreading his arms wide in premature celebration is burned into the mind of every Games aficionado around the world. Amazingly, in the cynical world of Olympic sports where sprint sensations are treated with suspicion before celebration, he appears to be the real deal.

JULY/AUGUST 2012 63


The 2012 WSOP is almost done and, for the first time since we first started covering the series seven years ago, the Main Event has had to share the spotlight with another event on the schedule, as PMA's Sean Callander discusses.

THE Big One for One Drop and its mind-blowing USD $1

million buy-in may have had its critics leading up to the first

hand, but the “feel good” aspect of Guy Laliberte’s One

Drop charity – to fight poverty by supporting access to clean

drinking water – seemed to permeate all aspects of the

event.

No matter your thoughts leading up to the event, just

about everyone we’ve spoken to found something that

piqued their interest. Whether it was the quality of play, the

ESPN TV and online coverage, the staggering sums of money

involved, the amount raised for charity, or just the eventual

winner – it was hard not to like the event.

We were surprised to see the name of Antonio Esfandiari

on the entry list let and he was far from our favourite to

prevail over the world-class line-up of poker pros mixed with

billionaire champions of business.

That said, it’s likely that the organisers of this tournament

are more than happy for Esfandiari to carry the mantle as the

winner of the biggest prize in tournament poker history –

$18,346,673. A fan favourite, Esfandiari is both entertaining

to watch as a player and engaging on either side of the

microphone. And the addition of $18+ million to his record

shot Esfandiari to the top of the list of all-time tournament

winnings.

That wasn’t the only headline – Phil Hellmuth pocketed

the biggest prize of his tournament career ($2,645,333

for fourth) while Brit Sam Trickett cashed for a staggering

$10,112,001 – not bad for second! More importantly,

$5,333,328 was raised for the One Drop charity. In addition

to that, David Einhorn pledged to donate his $4,352,000

winnings to a children’s charity.

This event was only ever supposed to happen once, but

with a seemingly positive response, is there room in the

poker schedule to make this an annual event, and do we

want a Second Drop?

The $32,725,340 won by the four professional players at

the official final table will no doubt have been spread much

further afield within the poker community. It is rumoured

that some of the poker pros held as little as 15 per cent of

themselves.

This is not a bad thing for the poker economy of course,

in fact the wider spread the better, but as a casual spectator

it does take some of the shine off the event as the culture

of selling shares is not well understood beyond the poker

industry.

The real question is can the poker economy sustain an

event like this every year? I was surprised it went ahead at all

in the current poker climate, let alone that it sold out. But the

event was indeed a sell out, which suggests there is demand

for another One Drop event next year.

If they are going to do it again, they will want to better it,

and the most logical way to do that would be to remove the

cap of 48 players. Increasing the buy-in wouldn’t be a great

idea.

I suspect the One Drop team they will stick to this being

a once in a lifetime event. There is clearly demand for ultra

high-stakes events like this, and the WSOP is an appropriate

arena for tournaments of this size and stature. Perhaps

another charity could fill the space next year – the PMA

pension fund could sure use some extra coin!

“A fan favourite, Esfandiari is both entertaining to watch as a player and engaging on either side of the microphone.”

Is there room for a Second Drop

THEREALDEAL

Schedule

Upcoming events

May 24-July 15 Deep Stack Extravaganza III (The Palazzo, Las Vegas, NV, USA)

May 25-July 15 Caesars Palace Mega Stack Series (Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, NV,

USA)

May 27-July 16 World Series of Poker (Rio Convention Center, Las Vegas, USA)

May 28-June 4 New Zealand Poker Open (SKYCITY Auckland, NZ)

June 2-July 4 Grand Poker Series (Golden Nugget Las Vegas, NV, USA)

June 4-July 6 Wynn Summer Classic (Wynn Las Vegas, NV, USA)

June 6-10 WPPT Uruguay Open (Mantra Resort Spa & Casino, Punta Del Este,

Uruguay)

June 9-11 Winter Poker Tournament (Casino Canberra, ACT)

June 9-18 Macau Poker Cup: Red Dragon (Grand Waldo Entertainment

Complex. Macau)

July 3-18 Bellagio Cup VIII (Bellagio, Las Vegas, NV, USA)

July 12-15 Brisbane Poker Championship (Treasury Casino and Hotel, Brisbane,

Qld)

July 19-Aug 6 World Poker Open (Gold Strike Hotel Casino, Robinsonville, MS, USA)

July 28-August 6 Macau Poker Cup: Red Dragon (Grand Waldo Entertainment

Complex. Macau)

July 24-29 ANZPT Queenstown (SKYCITY Queenstown, NZ)

July 25-31 APT Macau (StarWorld Hotel & Casino, Macau)

August 1-12 Sydney Poker Championships (The Star, Sydney, NSW)

August 4-9 WPT Merit Cyprus Classic (Merit Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino,

Alsancak Mevkii Kyrenia, Cyprus)

August 10-15 WPT Parx Open Poker Classic (Parx Casino, Bensalem, PA)

August 15-25 EPT Barcelona (venue TBC)

August 18-26 New Zealand Poker Championships (Christchurch Casino,

Christchurch, NZ)

Aug 23-Sept 3 Gulf Coast Poker Championship (Beau Rivage Resort & Casino, Biloxi,

MS, USA)

August 24-29 Legends of Poker (The Bicycle Casino, Bell Gardens, CA)

August 25-26 NPL500 III (The Star, Sydney, NSW)

August 31-September 3 APPT Melbourne (Crown Casino, Melbourne, Vic)

September 3-9 Partouche Poker Tour (Palm Beach Casino, Cannes, France)

September 5-9 APL/888PL MAIN EVENT (Crown Casino, Melbourne, Vic)

September 7-16 Macau Poker Cup: Championship (Grand Waldo Entertainment

Complex. Macau)

September 10-15 WPT Grand Prix de Paris (Aviation Club de France, Paris, France)

September 16-20 WPT Malta (Casino at Portomaso, St. Julian’s, Malta)

September 16-21 Borgata Poker Open (Borgata, Atlantic City, NJ)

September 19-25 APT Asian Series Manila (Resorts World Manila, Pasay, Philippines)

Sept 21-Oct 4 WSOP Europe (Hôtel Majestic Barrière/Le Croisette Casino Barrière,

Cannes, France)

IT’S a year of celebrations at Casino Canberra. On November 14, the casino will celebrate 20 years since opening. This year also marks a decade since Canberra hosted the final edition of the National Poker Championships.

So it’s only appropriate that poker plays a prominent role in the birthday celebrations with two big events scheduled for 2012 including the return of the National Poker Championship.

After a seven-year hiatus, major tournament poker returned to Canberra in 2010 as part of the ANZPT but after just two years the event was disappointingly axed.

However, that minor setback won’t stop Casino Canberra celebrating its milestone birthday in style, with the National Poker Championship returning from October 5-7. It will be an $1100 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament with two day one flights. Both flights will be capped at 80 players (plus alternates).

Casino Canberra has also again scheduled a major event for the Queen’s Birthday long weekend. The $1100 buy-in Winter Poker Tournament will be played on June 9-11, with day one flights on the first two scheduled dates. Both flights will be capped at 80 players (plus alternates).

For more details of both events and information relating to Casino Canberra’s weekly Thursday night tournament, check out the websitewww.casinocanberra.com.au

Poker partyplanned for

Casino Canberra’s20th birthday

JULY/AUGUST 2012 65

A U S T R A L I A

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The Real Deal - Issue 3

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