NPCVIII – The Eight Annual Newcastle Poker Championship
Congratulations to the newest member of the Newcastle Poker Championship Main Event winners list, Steve Holford (pictured below). After a long day of intense play of over 13 hours, Holford was able to triumph over the 75 starters that began the day.
In the final hand of heads-up play, both Garry Windle and Steve Holford limped in to see a flop of 4s7c10h. Both players checked, the turn falling 5h. Holford bet 100k with Windle calling to see the river card. When the 2s hit, Holford shoved holding a huge chip advantage of 176k. Windle eventually called tabling Q5 for a pair of fives, but Holford showed 9d7d to pair his sevens and win the crown.
Garry Windle finished in a well-deserved 2nd place and received $3,500.00 for his efforts. But it was Holford who truly deserved the win having built a significant chip lead with about 20 players left and had the skill to make that count. He knocked out several players throughout play, managing his dominance well. Along with the trophy and accolades Holford collected $7,800.00 for the win and it was certainly his shout at the bar!
The final places in the PokerMedia Main Event were:
1st – Steven Holford $7,800.00
2nd – Garry Windle $3,500.00
3rd – Shane Pearce $2000.00
4th – Bradd McGarrity $1500.00
5th – Mick Logan $1000.00
6th – Andrew Woodward $700.00
7th – Nick Pogonovski $500.00
8th – Jacob Briggs $400.00
9th – Ben Rice $200.00
Congratulations to all the staff for a great Main Event and for the coverage on the ground at Club Macquarie. Congratulations too to the players for a well-played and enjoyable tournament. Good luck to those in the remaining events on Sunday June 15.
Shane Pearce has been eliminated in 3rd place for $2000.00. Pearce shoved all-in for 100k with Ac5c and it was Steven Holford calling again to put the player at risk, tabling Ad10c. The board went 3cKcAhKs8c to send Pearce to the rail.
Bradd McGarrity has been the latest casualty being eliminated in 4th place for $1500.00. With some significant action, McGarrity shoved all-in for 120k, Steven Holford shoved all-in as well with his big stack, which saw Windle and Pearce fold. McGarrity showed Ah5h and Holford tabled pocket Queens. The board couldn’t help McGarrity though as it fell 2dKh2s8c6c to take proceedings to the final three players.
The latest list of eliminations at this NPCVIII final table include Mick Logan in 5th for $1000.00, whose KcQd couldn’t pair against Steve Holford’s sevens; once chip-leader Andrew Woodward in 6th for $700.00, after being crippled in the previous hand, finally shoving with As9d against Garry Windle’s sevens but not hitting on the board; Nick Pogonovski in 7th for $500.00 after also being crippled in an earlier hand, shoved with QcJd but ran up against Windle’s pocket aces that held strong this time; Jacob Briggs in 8th for $400.00, whose A4 stayed behind against the AK of Bradd McGarrity; and Ben Rice in 9th for $200.00 after calling Garry Windle’s all-in bet holding tens but Windle staying ahead with queens.
The bubble has burst and the poor player to be cast that honour is none-other-than Linda Wooster who has fallen in 10th place. In the hand, Garry Windle had shoved for 92k and Wooster called, just covered, so her Main Event life was on the line. Windle showed pocket Aces and Wooster a pair of eights. Given previous hands, eights were surely going to crack ‘em again, right? Wrong! The flop was cruel for Wooster falling Ad9s8s. The turn and river were no help so Wooster was sent to the rail, setting the final table for 2014.
As the final table and money bubble approaches, it was the two Nicks to go into battle next. Unfortunately for Nick Stojanovski he has been eliminated in 12th as his 8d6d were no match for Nick Pogonovski’s AcQs who ended with quads after the board went AhJh2hAdAs! After being crippled recently, Ryan Nichols has exited in 11th place at the hands of Jacob Briggs who tripled up through Nichols and Ben Rice.
Recent eliminations include Karel Brstak 15th whos AsJd was no match for Steven Holford’s pocket nines; Matt West 14th who shoved after the turn into Andrew Woodward who snap called with a made straight; and Stan Barker 13th who was drawing after the flop but couldn’t make up the cards against Nick Pogonovski’s flopped pair of twos! And with that final elimination, Michael Marzella becomes the NPCVIII Player of the Championships.
Dane Jerous has been sent to the rail at the hands of Andrew Woodward who took his opportunity to take out one of the short stacks. Woodward called the all-in pre-flop shove with only Qc9c and would have been concerned to see Jerous table Kings. However, miraculously the cards ran out Kh9hJs 5h 10h to give Woodward the straight and keep him moving up the leader board.
The table redraw for the final 16 players is as follows and as play recommences, blinds will be 3k/6k/600:
Table 1
Seat 1 Matt West 85k
Seat 2 Shane Pearce 49k
Seat 3 Andrew Woodward 170k
Seat 4 Nick Pogonovski 151k
Seat 5 Dane Jerous 54k
Seat 6 Nick Stojanovski 135k
Seat 7 Stan Barker 92k
Seat 8 Linda Wooster 53k
Table 2
Seat 1 Benjamin Rice 136k
Seat 2 Karel Brstak 73k
Seat 3 Garry Windle 149k
Seat 4 Mick Logan 84k
Seat 5 Steven Holford 300k
Seat 6 Ryan Nichols 89k
Seat 7 Jacob Briggs 65k
Seat 8 Bradd McGarrity 137k
The busts have continued thick and fast and play has been halted to redraw for the final 16 players that now remain. Steven Holford still tops the list as chip leader with 300k and has continued to dominate. One of the two tables actually holds 70% of chips although along with the big stacks there are several players who are short that will be looking for their moment to shove and hope for a double up or two. Defending champ Nathan Bevan has fallen recently so it’s up to the remaining 16 players to battle it out to create NPC history.
Ryan Nichols and Nick Pogonovski have been involved in a potentially tournament changing hand when around 30k made its way into the pot pre-flop. After the flop came 7sQd9h Nichols bet 25k, Pogonovski raised all-in for 85k and was then called by Nichols who held pocket Aces. Pogonovski tabled KdQc and would need some help from the following cards. The turn saw the 8d and a K then hit on the river. What?! Yep, Aces were unfortunately (for Nichols) cracked again to give Pogonovski the double up and a healthy stack of over 200k in chips.
Oh how quickly things can change. Steven Holford is the new chip leader after aggressively taking down a number of pots. Holford sits on 250k while previous chipleader Andrew Woodward has slipped to 140k. Defending champion Nathan Bevan remains in the event although he is short stacked and will need to double soon if he is to feature at the pointy end of proceedings tonight.
The official payouts have been released. Nine players are going to get paid and the winner will walk away with a very handy $7800!
1st $7,800.00
2nd $3,500.00
3rd $2,000.00
4th $1,500.00
5th $1,000.00
6th $700.00
7th $500.00
8th $400.00
9th $200.00
Barry Parton, NPCVIII Turbo Lifeline winner earlier this week and the 2013 Player of the Championships, has been eliminated. Parton went all-in for 17.2k pre-flop and giant crusher and huge stack, Andrew Woodward, called. Parton, having waited for his spot to push, tabled AdQd but Woodward had pocket tens. The board was no help to Parton as it fell 5h8cKh8sJd and sent him to the rail. 24 players now remain and final three tables.
Players in the NPCVIII PokerMedia Main Event are now back from their dinner break having enjoyed the wonderful hospitality that Club Macquarie provides. Blind have reached 1.5k/3k/300 and 26 players remain. Andrew Woodward continues to lead the pack with over 200k in chips.
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Play has started to become more intense as the busts come thick and fast. 28 players remain of the 75 that started earlier this afternoon. Ken Curry, Glen Sheppard, Daniel Skelton, Sharleen Boudan, Michael Marzella and Brenton Nichols have all hit the rail. And it was Andrew Woodward (pictured below) who continues to be responsible for some of the carnage. Woodward raised pre-flop to 5.5k when blinds were 800/1600/200. Marzella went all-in for just over 4k and then Brenton Nichols also shoved over the top for 26.2k. Woodward called and tabled Jacks, Marzella had pocket sevens and Nichols a pair of tens. The board remained kind to the leading player Woodward, falling Kx6x9xAxKx, to give him the double elimination. Woodward remains the chip leader and has cracked the 200k mark.
Andrew Woodward is now holding 120k in chips after a hand involving Cale McLean. On a flop of 4d3c4h, McLean bet 23k and Woodward responded with an all-in raise for approximately 100k. Mclean eventually folded after a session in the tank, adding to Woodward’s big stack.
We can announce that 75 players have officially entered the 2014 NPCVIII PokerMedia Main Event this year. Congratulations to the organisers on a great turnout. Those that have departed include Joe Mujic, Adam Mujic, Mitchell Farrell, Scott Kerr, Dennis Baker, Steve Cockerill and Scott Bruhn. Chip leader is Daniel Davies with 112k. Other notables include:
Nick Pogonovski 100k
Brad McGarrity 100k
Cale Mclean 100k
Jacob Briggs 80k
Brenton Nichols 65k
Ryan Nichols 60k
Ken Curry 45k
Reporting provided with many thanks to Aussie Hold’em Poker.
2014 APT Sydney runner-up Brenton Nichols (pictured below) has clashed with Andrew Woodward and Matt Murphy. Murphy made it 700 to go and both Nichols and Woodward called to see the flop 2h3d6s. With three checks the turn saw an As. Murphy bet 4k, Nichols shoved all-in for 9.4k, Woodward called and Murphy folded. Nichols tabled 5s4s for flush and straight draws and Woodward showed top two pair with Ah6h. The river blanked for Woodward so Nichols has survived and now sits on a much healthier stack.
Bradd McGarrity (pictured below) is a man on the move. Having built a decent stack in the early going, he’s added further chips after his Queens held against Dany Konjarski and Mitchell Farrell.
He then continued onwards and upwards to knock out Scott Kerr and Konjarski and attain over 80k in chips.
The chip leaders at the first break of the day include the following:
Stan Barker 53k
Bradd McGarrity 50k
Andrew Woodward 50k
Calan Wright 45k
Ben Guinery 45k
Rhys Edwards 40k
Dennis Baker 40k
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The two big stacks in the room are currently Cale McLean on 42k and Stan Barker on 35k. McLean had doubled in the very first hand of play and has steadily built his stack while Barker continues to benefit from his NPC experience as the 2012 player of the championships.
6-max specialist Ryan Nichols (pictured below) has joined the field looking to take down the 2014 Main Event.
NPCVIII Event #2 NLH Bounty winner Aaron Bolton is holding on here in the Main Event by doubling through Mitch Woolley to stay alive. Short-stacked, Bolton was all-in pre-flop and was called by Woolley and Shane Fitzsimmons. The flop came 7c9s6s, Woolley made it a further 2k causing Fitzsimmons to fold. Bolton tabled As10s for the nut flush draw as Woolley showed 7x6x for two pair. The turn of 5s completed Bolton’s flush and with the river card an 8c, Bolton achieved the double.
Nine tables are now in play so the number of players and prize pool is steadily growing. Late rego is open until 2.20pm.
There have been a number of big hands popping up in the early stages of this NPCVIII Main Event. Aces versus Kings are becoming commonplace, which may prove valuable to the final prize pool with re-entries on the cards. Leah Barnett held Kings and played well to lose only the minimum against Graham Gillespie’s Aces. Aaron Bolton and Blake Glennie were involved in a big pot of around 8.5k when Bolton moved all-in for around 15.8k on a board of 5h10d4hQc6s. Glennie was in the tank for a few minutes before giving it up to Bolton, who gave nothing away by handing his cards back face down.
Reporting provided with many thanks to Aussie Hold’em Poker.
Although Scott Kerr had his aces cracked on the very first hand, he has backed himself and re-entered. Let’s hope he gets Aces a few more times throughout the day and they hold up!
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The first hand of the day didn’t disappoint with action aplenty, seeing the first bust out of the day! Fortunately for Cale McLean he was able to end Scott Kerr’s event prematurely. After several raises, all the chips were committed and the race began – with Aces (Kerr) versus Kings (McLean). You guessed it, Aces were cracked as the board ran out Kd5s2s4hQh to catapult McLean to immediate chip leader.
The Main Event is underway at Club Macquarie thanks to Aussie Hold’em Poker. There’s been a big build up to the event and expectations are high for a terrific day and event. As expected, there are plenty of notibles in the field including past champions Steve Cockerill (2007), Ken Curry (2010) (pictured below), Mick Gallen (2012) and defending champion Nathan Bevan (2013). Other notibles include Rod Cooper, Bill Delaney, David Haas, Ben Kostrzewski, Stan Barker, and Mitchell Farrell.
The 2014 Newcastle Poker Championships Event #9 ‘Poker Media’ Main Event will begin at 12noon. Registration from 11am.
Buy-in to the Main Event is $220. An optional re-entry is available for $210.00. Late rego open until 2.20pm.
Players will start with 20k in chips with blinds starting at 25/50.
Event details will be posted throughout the day here and via Facebook thanks to Aussie Hold’em Poker and The Inside Word.
Good luck players.
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