Amid the fanfare of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas, Chris Levick was making waves thousands of miles west in the PokerStars-backed Australia New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT), winning the series’ Melbourne leg for AUD $158,000.
A total of 218 players took to the felts of the Crown Casino in Melbourne, the site of the annual Aussie Millions. Among them was Levick, one of 61 players to satellite their way in through PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker site. Levick recorded a top 15 finish in the inaugural ANZPT Sydney event and has also found success on the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT). Heads-up, he defeated Poker Network contributor Heath Chick. On the final hand, Chick was all-in pre-flop holding a pair of queens, a favorite over Levick’s A-J of hearts. However, the flop came ace-high, propelling Levick in the lead for good and sealing Chick’s second place finish and corresponding AUD $103,000 payday.
Levick eliminated six players at the final table and entered with a 5:1 chip lead. He busted fellow Aussie Greg Shillig in third place when Shillig shoved with K-9, but ran into Levick’s Q-10 of diamonds. Levick flopped trip queens and never looked back, sending Shillig home AUD $59,000 richer for his efforts. Levick now moves to the top of the leader board for the ANZPT’s first season with 129.2 points; Tony Hachem is in a close second with 124.8. The two have a sizable lead over the third place tally of Xin Zhao, an Australian who has accrued 92.4 points. The winner will take home a sponsorship to Season 4 of the APPT and 2010 Aussie Millions.
The top nine in ANZPT Melbourne were as follows. All winnings shown are given in Australian Dollars:
1st Place: Chris Levick – $158,050
2nd Place: Heath Chick – $103,550
3rd Place: Greg Shillig – $59,950
4th Place: Peter Aristidou -$49,050
5th Place: Sam Khouiss – $38,150
6th Place: Jie Gao – $27,250
7th Place: Kristian Lunardi – $21,800
8th Place: Ben Savage – $16,350
9th Place: Rodney Burles – $10,900
The final table was made up of all Australian players. However, the tournament series now travels to New Zealand for the ANZPT Queenstown at the Skycity Casino. The action will not occur until the conclusion of the WSOP festivities in Las Vegas, as the opening day of play is scheduled for July 21st. The tournament will crown a champion four days later. ANZPT Queenstown has a buy-in of NZD $2,500 and the field is capped at 150 players. Here is the schedule of events:
Tuesday, July 21st at 12:30pm: Main Event Day 1, Flight 1
Wednesday, July 22nd at 12:30pm: Main Event Day 1, Flight 2
Thursday, July 23rd at 12:30pm: Main Event Day 1, Flight 3
Friday, July 24th at 12:30pm: Main Event Day 2
Saturday, July 25th at 12:30pm: Main Event Day 3
Hachem is a member of Team PokerStars Pro Australia. He finished 552nd in the 2007 WSOP Main Event, banking $20,000 in the process. He made the final table and finished fifth in an AUD $2,000 buy-in event during the APPT Sydney festivities last December for AUD $17,000 and was the runner up in the 2008 New Zealand Poker Championship for NZ $54,000. He is the brother of 2005 WSOP Main Event Champion Joe Hachem, who repeatedly belted “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie” during his legendary run four years ago.
Previous ANZPT events this season were held in Adelaide and Sydney. In addition to the ANZPT and APPT, PokerStars also sponsors the European Poker Tour (EPT), Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT), Russian Poker Tour (RPT), and the newly-announced Italian Poker Tour (IPT), which gets underway on Monday in Sanremo.
