Friday, 29th March 2024 09:35
Home / Uncategorized / APPT Melbourne Day 4: Levels 19 & 20 (blinds 8,000-16,000, ante 2,000)

3:45pm: Play resumes, blinds 10,000-20,000 (ante 2,000)

Our coverage will continue on a new page.

3:35pm: 10-minute break

Here are the updated chip counts at the break:

Steve Bouya (Australia) 1,900,000
Phil Willcocks (New Zealand) 1,500,000
Leo Boxell (Australia) 1,200,000
Will Jones (Australia) 1,150,000
Van Marcus (Australia) 883,000
Michael Frydman (Australia) 615,000
Eddie Mascardi (Australia) PokerStars Qualifier 575,000
Jackson Zheng (New Zealand) PokerStars Qualifier 225,000

3:30pm: Willcocks gets trigger-happy

With only minutes to go until the break, Phil Willcocks has appeared to have changed gears and is playing a lot of pots at this final table, but has come off a little worse for wear, now down to 1.2 million in chips.

The action folded to Willcocks who raised to 35,000 from the cutoff before the flop; Steve Bouya re-raised to 76,000 from the small blind and Willcocks called before both players checked the flop of K♦ 5♣ 10♣ and the turn of the 2♣ .

Bouya then fired out 105,000 after the river of the 7♥ , but Willcocks let his hand go. Soon after, he called Will Jones’ raise of 33,000 before the flop, then called after Jones led out for 42,000 before opening for 75,000 after Jones checked his option on the turn of the 2♦ . Jones folded his hand.

Then in one of the last hands before the break, Willcocks raised to 32,000 from early position, only to see Bouya three-bet it to 132,000 total. Willcocks called, but then both players checked all the way down the board of J♥ 10♣ A♣ 10♦ A♥ before Bouya showed K♥ K♣ for two pair. Willcocks mucked and Bouya is now holding a stack worth just over two million!

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Steve Bouya is all smiles at this final table after taking the chip lead off Phil Willcocks

3:20pm: Bouya takes the chip lead



Jackson Zheng’s start to the final table has been nothing short of horrific, with the New Zealand PokerStars Qualifier slipping to just 250,000 after losing out to Steve Bouya, who now has overtaken Phil Willcocks as the chip leader!

Earlier, Leo Boxell came in with a raise worth 35,000 from middle position before the flop before Jones called from the big blind, only to check-fold after Boxell bet another 35,000 after the flop of A♠ 7♥ 6♣ . Just to make sure that Jones knew, Boxell flashed the A♥ before picking up the pot.

Bouya and Zheng then each stole a set of blinds and antes each before Zheng got things going with a preflop raise of 32,000 from middle position. Bouya was the only caller from the big blind and both players checked the flop of 5♥ 4♣ K♠ before Bouya led out for 32,000 on the turn of the 2♦ .

Zheng called and then led out for 101,000 after Bouya checked to him on the river of the 8♣ . Bouya called and Zheng showed K♣ J♥ for top pair, but Bouya had him out-kicked with his K♦ Q♠ and is now on top of the counts with 1.7 million in chips!

3:10pm: Big moves from the Melbourne boys

There’s been plenty of raising and re-raising here at this final table, with chips being traded across the table at lightning speed, but in the most recent action, future Australian Poker Hall of Famer Leo “The Mechanic” Boxell has taken it to New Zealand’s Phil Willcocks to pad his stack up to 1.1 million.

The action folded around to Willcocks who raised to 35,000 from the cutoff before the flop; Boxell flat-called from the big blind, then both players checked the flop of 10♣ J♣ 3♥ before Boxell led out for 30,000 on the turn of the 8♣ . Willcocks called, but released his hand after Boxell fired out another 30,000 on the river of the 2♦ .

Soon after, fellow Melburnian Van Marcus called Steve Bouya’s raise of 38,000 from the big blind to go head-up to the flop of 10â™  5â™  9♥ . Marcus led out for 45,000, but after Bouya raised to 150,000, Marcus open-folded J♥ J♦ . Bouya smiled, tapped the table and flashed Q♥ Q♣ before the dealer pushed the pot.

3:00pm: Updated chip counts

Phil Willcocks (New Zealand) 1,500,000

Will Jones (Australia) 1,350,000

Steve Bouya (Australia) 1,300,000

Leo Boxell (Australia) 1,100,000

Van Marcus (Australia) 780,000

Michael Frydman (Australia) 655,000

Eddie Mascardi (Australia) PokerStars Qualifier 650,000

Jackson Zheng (New Zealand) PokerStars Qualifier 340,000

2:50pm: Willcocks waning as Mascardi doubles

Having started the final table of the APPT Melbourne Main Event as the short stack, Australian PokerStars Qualifier Eddie Mascardi has just scored a crucial double-up against New Zealand’s Phil Willcocks, who has had his stack reduced to 1.6 million.

Earlier, both Willcocks and fellow Kiwi Jackson Zheng picked up two sets of blinds and antes each, but then the action folded around to Mascardi who open-shoved for 310,000 from the hijack position before Willcocks iso-shoved from the small blind, forcing Michael Frydman out of the way from the big blind before going to showdown:

Willcocks: 8♠ 8♥
Mascardi: A♠ J♥

Mascardi picked up some much-needed outs after the flop of 10♠ 5♠ 6♠ and increased his chances even further when the Q♥ spiked on the turn. Needing any ace, king, jack or spade, the 7♠ on the river was just what the doctor ordered, doubling his stack to around 650,000.

2:40pm: Zheng on life support

New Zealand PokerStars Qualifier Jackson Zheng has just surrendered most of his chips to Steve Bouya and as a result is down to 360,000 as the action continues here in the APPT Melbourne Main Event final table.

Bouya got the action going with a raise to 35,000 from the button before Zheng flat-called from the big blind before checking his option after the 3♦ Qâ™  9â™  flop. Bouya opened with a bet of 51,000, but Zheng check-raised, making it 134,000 to go. Bouya called, then shoved all-in after Zheng’s bet of 161,000 on the turn of the 8â™  .

Zheng thought better of it and sent his hand into the muck. With that, Bouya’s now up to 1.25 million in chips.

2:30pm: No need to make this any faster …

As soon as the blinds went up, Van Marcus came out with this one-liner, sending a ripple of laughter around the table.


”Let’s make this a turbo – ten-minute levels!” he exclaimed. Steady on buddy, it’s pretty quick as it is!

There’s certainly been no shortage of action though, with Will Jones and Steve Bouya stealing some chips with three-bets, as well as an open-shove from Australian PokerStars Qualifier Eddie Mascardi, but we’ve just witnessed our first full hand here on this final table.

The action folded around to Jones who raised to 33,000 from the hijack before Phil Willcocks called from the cutoff, as well as Leo Boxell from the big blind to make it three-handed to a flop of 8♣ K♣ J♥ . Boxell checked to Jones who led out for 51,000, but Willcocks was the only caller, so off they went heads-up to the turn of the 3♠ .

From there, Jones check-called Willcocks’ bet of 100,000 after the turn, and the action repeated after Willcocks opened for 230,000 on the river of the 4♥ . Willcocks tabled 10♥ 9♥ for only busted straight and flush draws, but Jones’s Aâ™  A♦ was best to take it down.

Jones moved up to 1.4 million in chips, while Willcocks slipped to 1.8 million.

2:20pm: Level up, blinds 8,000-16,000 (ante 2,000)



2:15pm: Julius Colman eliminated in 9th place (AU$27,500)

No sooner than play had begun here at the final table of the PokerStars.net APPT Melbourne Main Event, Julius Colman found himself at the wrong end of two coolers to bow out in ninth place.

With the button starting on Julius Colman in the very first hand, the action folded around to him and he raised to 27,000 before New Zealand PokerStars Qualifier Jackson Zheng re-raised to 75,000 from the big blind. After a couple of minutes of deliberation, Colman let his hand go and Zheng flashed Q♥ Q♣ before raking in the pot.

Van Marcus then came in with a raise to 31,000 from under the gun and picked up the blinds and antes, before Phil Willcocks raised to 30,000 from the UTG +1 position in the very next hand. The action folded to Colman who re-raised to 80,000 from the hijack, but then Marcus shoved over the top for 370,000 from the big blind.

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Julius Colman is the first to depart the APPT Melbourne final table in ninth place (AU$27,500)

Willcocks folded and Colman snap-called, tabling Q♦ Q♣ but found himself in a world of hurt against Marcus’ A♥ A♦ .

The dealer spread the board of Jâ™  2♦ 9♥ 7♦ Jâ™  , leaving Colman with around 115,000 in chips, which he shipped into the middle in the very next hand holding 9â™  9♥ after a raise from Steve Bouya in middle position. However, Will Jones shoved over the top from the big blind, forcing Bouya out of the way before Jones revealed Kâ™  K♣ !

The flop of 6♣ 8♣ A♣ put Jones further ahead, leaving Colman with just the 9♦ to stay alive, but instead, the turn and river ran out 4♥ , 5♠ and just like that, we are now down to eight players!

2:05pm: No mucking about – let’s get it on!

After the players were introduced to the rail by APPT President Danny McDonagh, the order was given to get the cards in the air. The 2011 PokerStars.net APPT Melbourne Main Event final table is officially underway!

With the action having been so quick over the last three days, there was no need to wind the clock back, so we’ve begun play with just under 12 minutes remaining in Level 19 (blinds 6,000-12,000, ante 2,000) before continuing with 75-minute levels until we crown a winner.

2011 PokerStars.net APPT Melbourne Main Event – Final Table Seating & Chip Counts

Seat 1: Eddie Mascardi (Australia) PokerStars Qualifier 335,000

Seat 2: Van Marcus (Australia) 346,000

Seat 3: Will Jones (Australia) 730,000

Seat 4: Phil Willcocks (New Zealand) 2,317,000

Seat 5: Michael Frydman (Australia) 741,000

Seat 6: Steve Bouya (Australia) 910,000

Seat 7: Julius Colman (Australia) 513,000

Seat 8: Leo Boxell (Australia) 1,170,000

Seat 9: Jackson Zheng (New Zealand) PokerStars Qualifier 640,000

In the meantime, check out our final table preview video with PokerStars.tv’s hostess with the mostest, Nicki Pickering:


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