APPT Auckland: Home Win For New Zealand
The New Zealander Daniel Craker won the PokerStars Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Auckland ahead of the Australian Matthew Konnecke. His prize money amounted to $153,399.
The first stop of the APPT in New Zealand was regarded as a big success from everybody involved. 306 players provided for a full house in the Skycity
Casino. The Team PokerStars Pro was present with 3 players, namely Joe Hachem, Lee Nelson and Greg Raymer. Furthermore, the sponsored players Eric Assadourian and Grant Levy could be found at the tables.
Britons and Canadians
Period of time:
09.10. - 12.10.
Casino:
Skycity Casino
Buy-in:
$2,400*
Participants:
306
Prize pool:
$517,000*
Paid ranks:
32
That the APPT has also become an international event was shown by participants of various countries. Great Britain was represented amongst others by Matthew Guilbert and Mark Deacon, both PS qualifiers. Canada had even more PS qualifiers at the start, including Jeffrey Dunbar and Tyler Gray.
Kiwis dominate the Field of Participants
However, the dominating force were the New Zealanders, who made up more than half of the field of participants with over 150 players, and thus grabbed quite a share of the prize money. In the 32 money ranks, no less than 15 Kiwis could be found. The mathematical spread was at least correct already.
Heads-up between New Zealand and Australia
Now, a home win had to be secured, but the Australian Matthew Konnecke posed quite a challenge. However, the cheering was deafening when Daniel Craker could finally decide the heads-up for himself. With 
he pushed all-in pre-flop and was called with 
for a classic coin flip. The board came with 
, thus didn't change anything and the title remained in the country.
In about a month, the Tour continues. From November 13th to 16th, the APPT has its next stop in Manila on the Philippines.
| APPT Auckland 2008 No-Limit Hold'em |
|||
| Rank | Name | Country | Prize money* |
| 1 | Daniel Craker | New Zealand | $153,399 |
| 2 | Matthew Konnecke | Australia | $97,153 |
| 3 | Wang Che Jung | New Zealand | $51,133 |
| 4 | Dan Sing | New Zealand | $35,793 |
| 5 | Luke Stanford | New Zealand | $27,612 |
| 6 | Nathanael Seet | Singapore | $20,453 |
| 7 | Jani Karke | Finland | $15,340 |
| 8 | Michael Mariakis | Australia | $11,761 |
| 9 | Wai Kwan Yuen | UK | $8,693 |
