There will be a new APPT Grand Final champion in 2008 after last year’s winner Grant Levy bowed out just before the dinner break. The PokerStars Sponsored player’s stack was under attack from the opening hand and he made his last stand with pocket sevens against K-J. A king in the window had Levy collecting his personals and heading for the door with wife Sharon.
But the heirs apparent are emerging from the pack. One of the region’s rising stars, Nathanael Seet, has been steadily moving up the chip count throughout the day.
The dominant player in the APPT Auckland main event before bowing out sixth, Seet is just one of the young band of Singaporean players tearing it up through Asia.
The graph of Jonathan Karamalikis’ chip stack looks like the Swiss Alps, but it’s heading up the side of the Matterhorn after a cliff-hanger of a hand.
With all the chips in the middle, Karamalikis’ eights were up against A-K, and he looked in strife when the flop came Ad-10s-Ac. One of his two outs, the 8s, landed on the turn, and the player known, colourfully, as xMONSTERxDONGx online, is up to 70,000.
But amid the pimply-faced horde, a wise old head is starting to make a move: Team PokerStars Pro Lee Nelson.
Fresh from a final table appearance in the APPT Manila main event, Nelson, who cashed in this event last year, finally broke through the chip average of 33,000 when doubled through Andrew Scarf with pocket queens against K-J. Lads, underestimate the wily veteran at your peril.
Back to TopLatest Articles
