Monday, July 27, 2009
Chevalier crowned king after first ANZPT Queenstown event

ANZPT Queenstown champion Danny Chevalier

Danny Chevalier out lasted 134 poker hopefuls to become the PokerStars.net Australia New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT) Queenstown champion winning an impressive NZD $87,435NZD at SKYCITY Casino in Queenstown.

The SKYCITY Alpine Adventure was the first time a poker event of this size has been held in Queenstown and the event was the largest on the South Island of New Zealand this year. The tournament started on Monday with four day ones.

This allowed players to enjoy some of Queenstown’s famous tourist attractions. There were groups going up to the mountains around Queenstown to enjoy the skiing and snowboarding, trips to the beautiful Milford Sound, bungy jumping, heli-rafting and jet boating.

Team PokerStars PRO Australia player Tony Hachem has cashed in all four ANZPT events a fabulous performance proving his consistency as a player. He has taken over the lead in the point race in the tour with only one event left in the first season. Tony is on track to take down the title of ANZPT overall points champion.

Players are looking forward to the next and final event of the tour due to be held in Queensland at both Conrad’s Treasury Casino and Conrad’s Jupiters Casino from August 5-9.

Searching for the next local Poker Star, the ANZPT has been travelling to Australia and New Zealand’s leading casinos, with stops thus far in Adelaide’s SKYCITY, Sydney’s Star City, Melbourne’s Crown poker room and now at Queenstown SKYCITY casino. The tour is league based which means there is a point system awarding players for every event they enter as well as for the position they finish in each tournament.

“I want to thank everyone involved in this wonderful tournament. While I lived here this casino was like a second home so being able to win this amongst good friends makes very special indeed,” Danny said, choking back his emotions before he headed off to celebrate his victory with his entourage of supporters.

The tournament moved quickly with 18 players sitting down today, Danny Chevalier and Andrew Hinrichsen were heads up after eight hours of play. Chevalier had edged out to a handy chip lead and claimed the title when he called Hinrichsen's all-in with Ah-7h  on a flop of Qh-4h-7h, making him the nut flush. Andrew’s Qc-10c was no match. The turn 8s and river As was no help to Andrew and Danny Chevalier was crowned champion.

The tournament started with 134 players generating a total prize pool of NZD $301,500. Some of Australia and New Zealand’s most accomplished poker players participated in the event, including PokerStars Team PRO Australia players; Lee Nelson, Emad Tahtouh, Eric Assadourian, Grant Levy, Tony Hachem and Celina Lin.

Michelle Baillie, Executive Manager for SKYCITY Queenstown, said: “We’re delighted we were able to have such a talented field of local and international players compete in the inaugural NZPT Queenstown – SKYCITY Alpine Adventure poker tournament. It was great to see those professional players as well as other local talent in action. The other Kiwis who made it to the final table – John Pye, John Guthrie, Steve Smith, Mark Walker and Glenn Maiden – are also to be congratulated for their efforts.

“Having such a remarkable tournament in Queenstown has put Queenstown on the world map for poker tournaments. The event held at the SKYCITY Queenstown Casino is the biggest tournament based on numbers in the South Island for 2009. We look forward to building on the success of the SKYCITY Alpine Adventure with an even bigger prize pool and greater number of players next year.”


The final standings and monies earned in New Zealand dollars were

1 Danny Chevalier (Melbourne) NZD $87,435 (65 ANZPT points)
2 Andrew Hinrichsen (Melbourne) NZD $57,285 (79.5 ANZPT points)
3 Glen Maiden (Queenstown, NZ) NZD $33,165 (55.1 ANZPT points)
4 Mark Walker (Cambridge, NZ) NZD $27,135 (51.8 ANZPT points)
5 Steve Smith (Auckland, NZ) NZD $21,105 (49.6 ANZPT points)
6 John Guthrie (Queenstown, NZ) NZD $15,075 (48.5 ANZPT points)
7 John Pye (Auckland, NZ) NZD $12,060 (47.4 ANZPT points)
8 Will Mauga (Brisbane) NZD $9045 (46.3 ANZPT points)
9 David Bradford (Wellington, NZ) NZD $6030 (55.2 ANZPT points)