As 2021 – and indeed, a tumultuous two years for the poker industry – comes to an end, there’s still been plenty of poker being played. PokerMedia Australia is proud to present the first edition of Calling the Clock, a five-minute round-up of all the latest happenings on and around the felt in Oz. Without further ado, let’s get right into it!
FLAMIN’ FLAVIN BEST OUT WEST
The Shark Poker Spring Championship series wrapped up last week in Perth, culminating in the $200 buy-in Main Event. After 69 players qualified through to Day 2, local legend Travis Endersby emerged as the overall chip leader going into the final table at the Swan River Hotel.
However, it was Kevin Flavin who took out the title after he and heads-up opponent Luke Heavey shook hands on a straight chop for $10K apiece. Darren Janitz came in third while Endersby finished in sixth.
It was yet another successful series for Shark Poker, who are already hard at work preparing for a potential influx of interstate invaders from across the Eastern seaboard once the hard border comes down in the New Year.
BAHRI & BROWN BAG THE BIG ONES
Over in South Australia, the second rendition of the Southern Poker Tour (SPT) Riverland Rumble series was run and won at the Berri Hotel; Bahri Ozbiricik topped the Main Event field of 177 runners, chopping with Scott Weir heads-up for $6,000 each before playing off for the remaining $1,100 and the trophy.
Meanwhile, Jerry Zhang capped off a great year on the local circuit with victory in the $2,000 buy-in High Roller to clinch his second consecutive SPT Player of the Series title after topping the leader board in Hahndorf back in August.
And earlier that same week, Jamie Brown dominated the final table of the Matchroom Poker Big Stack Series Main Event in Adelaide’s CBD, defeating WPTDeepStacks Main Event fifth-place finisher Joseph Sandaev heads-up to pocket $40,000 in prize money.
CITIZENS UP RISING FOR POKER NATION
Signs of life are beginning to show throughout the Victorian poker scene once again after the end of arguably the world’s longest lockdown during this pandemic.
Poker Nation has been amongst those to get back down to business early, kicking things off with the Alan Black Memorial Poker Event at the Epic Arena in Newport.
Poker power couple Zoe Charters and Chris Skinner went 1-2 in the $230 buy-in tournament to take home more than $4,000 in prize money between them.
It comes in time for Poker Nation’s inaugural $1,100 buy-in Toorak Poker Championship on November 14, before hopping over the northern border to Tocumwal Bowls for the second edition of the Poker Nation ‘On the Murray’ series from November 19-21.
MARCONI CHRISTMAS CAPERS
Now to NSW, where punters have been flocking to local venues in droves since lockdown restrictions ended last month. The team behind the Poker Palace have been extremely busy during their downtime, revamping their regular tournament schedule and adding in new events, including the 40/40 Event, running from November 18-21.
As the name implies, it’s a $440 buy-in with a 40K start bank and 40-minute blinds, featuring a $40,000 guaranteed prize pool. For a fully dealt two-day tournament that also offers a single re-entry per Day 1 flight, it’s great value for money!
But if you’re a Sydneysider looking for a big hit-out to cap off the year, look no further than the Marconi Christmas Cup, returning from December 5-20 and featuring an estimated $800,000 series prize pool. Jump over to pokerpalace.com.au for the full schedule and structures, or search for Poker Palace Australia on Facebook.
A CORNUCOPIA OF CARDS
Finally, we head back up to the Sunshine State, where the Check Raise Poker Championship is now officially in full swing and running through until this Sunday.
Following on from The Ville 600, there’ll also be another big poker event up in the Far North in the form of the official launch of Kings Poker Townsville on November 14, spearheaded by former Paralympian Asti Savage, who made headlines earlier this year after Mick Gatto gifted her a brand-new MG that he won at the ‘Poker with the Stars’ charity event in Melbourne.
In any case, both events are ideal for Queenslanders near and far to warm up for the much-anticipated Star Gold Coast Summer Series, which kicks off on November 26 and runs right through until December 6 before both the Season II of the APL Poker Tour at Southport Sharks and the APT Season V launch at Eatons Hill in January.
And if that wasn’t enough to whet your poker appetite, you can catch all the live stream broadcasts of the USD $10,000 buy-in WSOP Main Event on PokerGO from 5am tomorrow morning AEST. Head to PokerGO.com to subscribe today.
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