Karl Krautschneider with the money, the hand, the chips and the trophy

Melbourne-based Karl Krautschneider has taken the title for the inaugural PokerStars.net ANZPT event at the SKYCITY Casino in Adelaide. Karl rarely let the lead slip at any time on the final table, eliminating most of the other eight finalists himself. His reward for outlasting eight others on the day - and 214 others overall - was $170,215.

Overnight, after the finalists' chips were bagged up, the tallies looked like this:

Seat 1...... Bruno Portaro - 552,000
Seat 2...... Mike Stecker - 390,000
Seat 3...... Karl Krautschneider - 662,000
Seat 4...... James Broom - 443,000
Seat 5.......Julius Colman - 596,000
Seat 6.......Tony Dunst - 635,000
Seat 7.......Dean Nyberg - 439,000
Seat 8.......Daniel Noja - 304,000
Seat 9.......Celina Lin - 261,000

On the very first hand James Broom faced a decision to call a raise for all his chips when he held A-K. Hard hand to fold at that point, so James pushed forward his 443,000. It was Bruno Portaro's pocket 7s which had a slight lead against James pre-flop. The lead held all the way to the river and we could already find a little more room around the table for the remaining eight. James took home $11,740 for 9th place.

Play then settled down for over 90 minutes. The only significant hand was when Daniel Noja doubled up his last 230,000 in chips when his Q-J flopped two pair against Tony Dunst's 7-7.

Just after this hand it Bruno was again the all-in player holding the ubiquitous A-K hand. The money had all gone in on the flop of 9-K-3 and when Karl, holding the calling hand and a larger chip stack, tabled his cards. He was somewhat behind with Q-Q. A ten on the turn increased Karl's chances by four outs but he did it the hard way when he found a Q on the river for a set. Bruno Portaro had to be happy with 8th place and $17,610.

A 50-minute hiatus then occurred in the action, but it was just building pressure for a cascade of eliminations.

Celina Lin, the PokerStars sponsored player who had played very well from mid-way through day two, had once again become low on chips. After Dean Nyberg had made a standard raise, Celina move all of her chips into the centre. All others folded until we got back to Dean. He had A-K so I guessed he thought he could break the A-K hoodoo (the last two players to be eliminated holding this hand) and called.

Celina had gone with 6-6 so she did hold the lead until the flop of A-3-Q. No six on the turn or river and our last lady player will have to wait for a victory another day. Celina departing in 7th place for $23,475.

Celina Lin at the final table

Take a deep breath, let it out, and before you could take another the short-stacked Julius Colman stepped up to the plate. Julius just hadn't been in it today, so when he saw a J-4-5 flop he pushed with his Q-J. Tony Dunst had raised pre flop and it wasn't good news for Julius when Tony showed his J-J hand. A king on the turn leaves Julius no outs except for the door. Julius Colman left us in 6th place for $29,345.

Do the breathing thing again, except this time you don't even get to exhale before there is an all-in call. Local online player Dean Nyberg probably thought he was good in this one. Certainly he had very little choice but to lose all his stack here. A flop of Ah-Ad-8d caused all the problems. Dean was holding Qd-Jd, but his flop bet was called by Karl Krautschneider.

Dean check-raised the turn and Karl flat called. A 7h on the river and Dean pushed all-in and groaned loudly when Karl called and showed Kd-Td for the nut flush. Dean Nyberg's took 5th place and a slip to take to the cashier for $41,085.

Next it was the very low-stacked US player Mike Stecker who felt that he needed to make a stand. Helooked down at his hole cards and saw A-4, good enough for an all-in push for 230,000.

But that man Krautschneider had the cards to call - dominating with the A-Q. The flop was A-Q-3, only leaving Mike with running 4s or a 5, 2 finish to survive. Too much of an ask, and Mike Stecker finished 4th for $52,825.

At this point, the chips were:

Karl Krautschneider, Aus, PokerStars qualifier, 2,240,000
Tony Dunst, USA, PokerStars player, 1,240,000
Daniel Noja, Aus, 400,000

Krautschneider held a commanding chip lead with Daniel Noja on the short stack.
Daniel was able to gain a lot of ground in the next half hour, winning chips from both Tony and Karl.

In fact, he pulled ahead of Tony when the following hand happened: he had made top pair against Tony's one over card and a flush draw. These two had played some big hands of late and this one was no exception - all the chips went in.

Daniel had paired his jack - and although another came on the turn it was also the card that completed Tony's flush. That left Daniel with only a few chips, and his final hand came shortly after when he got it in with Kc-Jc but Tony Dunst held Ac-Qc. Three clubs on the flop settled it. Daniel Noja finished third for $64,565.

Karl and Tony squared off on the table, Tony in his customary dark grey suit, Karl in a relaxing grey polo shirt. Karl won his way into this event playing a rebuy satellite on PokerStars. Tony had bought his way into the event via PokerStars.

Tony managed to close the chip gap significantly until Karl pulled away again after he made a runner, runner straight .

The two exchanged chips for a while more until a flush draw, so often a feature on the final two tables, settled the tournament. Just before 5pm, with the blinds at 12,000-24,000, Karl raised to 60,000. Called. After seeing a flop of 4-2-K with two clubs. Tony checked. Karl made the same bet of 60,000. Tony then raised another 140,000 and Karl took some time to contemplate his move - he had 8-9 of clubs, and decided to push.

Tony had been dealt the Kd-2d, so his two pair meant for an automatic call in a heads-up situation. The 3d hit the felt on the turn, and with the crowd stretching over the ropes to see the action, we witnessed the end of this main event when the 7c came on the river to complete Karl's flush.

Tony Dunst finished 2nd in the first ANZPT main event, winning $111,520

We were done. Karl Krautschneider, the player with all the chips, won the inaugural trophy of the PokerStars Australia and New Zealand Poker Tour - and a cool $170,215!

Congratulations, Karl!

The winning hand

Down to the final two

Karl Krautschneider has been eliminating most of the players from this final table and has therefore commanded the majority of the chips. Tony managed to close that gap slightly by busting Daniel. Here's where they stood at that point:

Karl Krautschneider, Aus, PokerStars qualifier, 2,454,000
Tony 'Bond18' Dunst, USA, PokerStars player, 1,824,000

Tony, always noted for his aggression in these situations, then got even closer to parity before Karl won a crucial hand, seeing his "nothing" become an up-and-down draw on the turn - and a straight on the river against Tony's two pair.

Now Karl had his lead back again.

The two exchanged chips for a while until a flush draw, so often a feature on the final two tables, settled the tournament.

Just before 5pm, with the blinds at 12,000-24,000, Karl raised to 60,000. Called. After seeing a flop of 4-2-K with two clubs. Tony checked, Karl made the same bet of 60,000. Tony then raised another 140,000 and Karl took some time to contemplate his move - he had 8-9 of clubs, and decided to push.

Tony had been dealt the Kd-2d, so his two pair meant for an automatic call in a heads-up situation.

The 3d hit the felt on the turn, and with the crowd stretching over the ropes to see the action, we witnessed the end of this main event when the 7c came on the river to complete Karl's flush.

Tony Dunst finishes 2nd in the first ANZPT main event, winning $111,520

3:30pm - Daniel builds, then...

Three-way action and Daniel comes out of the blocks racing. He makes some great hands against Tony and then takes chips from Karl. He passes Tony for the second in chips position. Then one of those classic match-up hands. Daniel has top pair on the flop and Tony has one over card and a flush draw with two cards to come.

All the chips went in at this point. Tony makes the flush on the turn but it is the Js which gives Daniel trips. No full house on the river, though, and Daniel has now lost the chips he had made up in the last 40 minutes.

It was down to Tony again to collect the last of Daniel's chips. Daniel went all-in with Kc-Jc, and Tony called with Ac-Qc. Both ended up making a flush, but Tony's ace won the day.

Daniel Noja finishes 3rd, winning prize $64,565

3:03pm - One short stack left

USA player Mike Stecker hadn't had too many opportunities during the final table. His 390,000 stack had been reduced to 230,000 in chips, and when he was dealt A-4 (blinds 10,000-20,000) he saw the chance to double up before his stack was eroded compelety. Karl once again obliged and showed A-Q to dominate Mike's hand.

After the board came A-Q-3 Mike's chances were down to runner runner 4s or a 5 and a 2. No such event happened and Karl moves further ahead as we go three-way.

At this point, the chips were:

Karl Krautschneider, Aus, PokerStars qualifier, 2,240,000

Tony Dunst, USA, PokerStars player, 1,240,000

Daniel Noja, Aus, 400,000

Mike Stecker eliminated in fourth place for $52,825.

3:00pm - Pandemonium 3

Julius wasn't fully out of his seat before Dean Nyberg, first to speak, ups the pot by 40,000. Karl Krautschneider, who can't see the table over all his chips, decides to invest.
The flop comes Ah-Ad-8d, Dean holding the Qd-Jd bets 60,000 and Karl flat calls. The 6d appears on the turn and this time Dean checks his flush. Karl obliges with an 80,000 bet , which Daniel promptly raise to 225,000. Again Karl calls. The hole in his chip stack means he can see the table now. A nothing 7h rivers and Dean ships all the rest of his stack - about 500,000 more - into the middle. I doubt that Karl was ever going to fold this one, even given the threat of the paird board, as he holds the Kd-Td for the nut flush.

Dean Nyberg, local Adelaide boy, will have to be content with 5th place this year

Dean Nyberg finishes 5th for $41,085

2:55pm - Pandemonium 2

The dust is just settling on Celina's departure when Julius Colman sees the need to get more chips. Julius hasn't had much good fortune on this final table so when he sees a flop of J-4-5, holding Q-J, he decided it is time to put it on the line. Tony Dunst had raised pre-flop, and in this case I suspect Tony with his hand would have called any flop bet. Dean Nyberg had called pre-flop but got out of the way when Tony called the all-in. Tony flipped over two Jacks for top set, and Julius started to pack his bags. A king on the turn finished Julius' day at this final table

Julius Colman eliminated in sixth, winning $29,345

2:50pm - Pandemonium

I am sure it is a mathematical thing, but it always seems that when there is a period of inactivity it follows that a high action period will occur.

Celina Lin, one of the short stacks, goes all-in in response to Daniel Noja's original raise under the gun. She gets five folds which is probably what she is looking for as she has 6-6. Daniel Noja makes the call, though, with the hand which has featured in all the eliminations today - A-K. Celina has no luck on the flop when it includes an ace, flop A-3-Q. A four on the turn only leaves her with two outs, neither of which appear.

We lose Celina Lin from the final table in 7th place today. As I mentioned previously a great result given here position early on Day 2.

Celina Lin finishes 7th for $23,475

2:00pm - The action slows

After the loss of James the table has settled down somewhat. Bruno is still making the small action. A big hand sees Daniel doubling his remaining 230,000 in chips, catching two pair on the flop with his Q-J against Tony's 7-7.

Some 90 minutes after the loss of James, it is Bruno Potaro again getting his chips all-in again Karl Krautschneider. Bruno had bet 100,000 on a flop of 9-K-3, Karl was testing the waters with a min raise to 200,000. Bruno, not one to back down in these situuations, especially as he had A-K, raised all-in. Karl probably expecting that his Q-Q was good called. A 10 on the turn gave Karl four more outs and he did it the hard way when one of the two remaing queens hit on the river. Karl to over 1.5 million in chips

Bruno Potaro finishes eighth for $17,610.

Sit down, shake hands, get introduced by David the poker room manager, high card for the button, first hand, let Bruno Potaro raise the blinds, check your hand, see A-K, raise yourself, see Bruno contemplate then go all-in with 7-7, call, see the board come 3-J-J-8-T.

Shake hands again, get up, go to collect $11,740 for 9th place.

That was James Broom's short final table story today.

James Broom finishes ninth and collects $11,740

The final table will begin shortly here at the PokerStars ANZPT event in Adelaide.

Blinds will be wound back one level to 6,000-12,000

Here are the triumphant nine hoping to take the $170,000 first prize:

Seat 1: Bruno Potaro, Melbourne, Australia, 552,000
This is the great survival story of the ANZPT Adelaide event, and once again demonstrates the old adage of 'a chip and chair'. Bruno spent most of his day 1 short stacked, even getting down to as little as 2,000 chips. Bruno is a business owner living in Melbourne, who devotes himself to poker and fishing. His best result to date was in the $200 Masters No Limit Hold'em event at the 2006 Melbourne Championships.

Bruno Potaro

Seat 2: Mike Stecker, USA, 390,000
Mike is a part-time tennis instructor in California, and played both tennis and golf at an elite level. He has been playing poker for the last four years and has played in Ireland, Australia and Macau. This is his first final table, but his play throughout the tournament proves he is equal to the task ahead. He had been the short stack at his table as the final table approached, but managed to see his aces hold up against eights to double up and put him in a position to make a charge at the title.

Mike Stecker

Seat 3: Karl Krautshneider, Australia, PokerStars qualifier, 662,000
Karl, who has been playing for four years, won a $33 satellite on PokerStars to get into this event. He lives in Melbourne where he plays regularly at Crown Casino and online. Karl is a drug and alcohol clinician, helping people dealing with addiction. His daughter has been following his progress keenly through the blog while back home in Melbourne. Karl goes to the final table as chip leader - in part because late in the day he was able to double up through fellow final table combatant James Broom.

Karl Krautschneider

Seat 4: James Broom, Australia, 443,000
One of the young guns of Australian poker, James has been achieving some great results over the last 12 months. James, or Jabba as he is affectionately known, has grown up in Melbourne and is well known in Crown Casino. He also plays regularly online at PokerStars, where he has had some cashes in the Sunday Million tournaments. His best result in this period was winning the 2008 Melbourne Championships. He followed this up with a ninth place at the 2008 PokerNews Cup. James came into day 2 second in chips and has maintained his momentum.

James Broom

Seat 5: Julius Colman, Australia, 596,000
One of Australia's better known poker players, Julius can often be found in his hometown casino, Crown, in Melbourne. His most notable result was finishing fourth in the 2007 Aussie Millions. He has also cashed in APPT and WSOP events. Julius was the chip leader at the start of play today.

Julius Colman

Seat 6: Tony Dunst, USA, PokerStars player, 635,000
Born in the USA, Tony 'Bond18' Dunst has made Melbourne his home. He won his way to the event via a satellite on PokerStars. One of Australia's best online players, Tony also has an impressive resume when it comes to live tournaments. His most notable was winning last year's $3,000 No Limit Hold'em Bellagio Cup IV. Tony is a great supporter of events in this region having played almost every APPT tournament.

Tony Dunst

Seat 7: Dean Nyberg, Australia, 438,000
The only local in the field, Dean is from Woodcroft in the southern part of Adelaide. He will have the crowd to cheer him on as he is a regular at the casino. The week has been very successful for Dean as he also won one of the side events leading up to ANZPT Adelaide. Dean is also a very successful online player and 'dinhjo' can often be found in the money at the Sunday Million.

Dean Nyberg

Seat 8: Daniel Noja, Australia, 304,000
A business owner from Canberra, Daniel has been playing poker for 15 years. He has come into a rich vein of form recently - getting three consecutive top five finishes in side events at the recent Aussie Millions.

Daniel Noja

Seat 9: Celina Lin, Australia, PokerStars sponsored, 260,000
This 25-year-old Melbourne University student and Melbourne local was born in Shanghai and speaks Cantonese. She spent a lot of time recently playing in Macau. Celina's best result occurred when she won her way to Macau via a satellite on PokerStars and finished 23rd in APPT Macau Season 1. She has also had cashes in the PokerStars Macau Red Dragon events. Celina is a PokerStars sponsored player and is currently working toward a goal of becoming a Supernova Elite.

Celina Lin

We're down to the final table of the ANZPT Adelaide event - and the nine players will be back tomorrow to slug it out for the bumper $170,215 that comes with first place.

Spare a thought for Tian Shou, the day's early chip leader, who went out in tenth, one short of the final after being outdrawn. With blinds at 8,000-16,000, he moved his remaining 150,000 chips into the middle with 8-8. Bruno Portaro, having already raised to 50,000, made the call showing Q-9.

A queen fell on the flop, and that was enough to send Shou spinning to the rail, albeit with $8,805 to help dull the pain.

After official chip counting and bagging up, as well as a redraw, tomorrow's final table will look like this:

Seat 1: Bruno Portaro, Aus, 552,000
Seat 2: Mike Stecker, USA, 390,000
Seat 3: Karl Krautschneider, Aus, PokerStars qualifier, 662,000
Seat 4: James Broom, Aus, 443,000
Seat 5: Julius Colman, Aus, 596,000
Seat 6: Tony Dunst, USA, PokerStars qualifier, 635,000
Seat 7: Dean Nyberg, Aus, 438,000
Seat 8: Daniel Noja, Aus, 304,000
Seat 9: Celina Lin, Aus, PokerStars sponsored, 260,000

All credit to Celina Lin today, who at one stage was last out of the remaining 25 players. Also noteworthy was Bruno Potaro's comeback after he had less than 3,000 at one point on Day 1.

The final table begins at 12:30pm on Saturday, Adelaide time.

Into level 17 and the bubble boy has just been eliminated - step forward Emad Tahtouh, the PokerStars sponsored player who finished 19th and just one play out from the money.

The remaining players are guaranteed to get $5,870, which is the payout for all those finishing from 14th to 18th. For a full list of prizes, visit the prize page.

To see the chip counts as they draw for new seats on the final two tables click here.

The dreaded bubble approaches! We've got 21 players left, and only 18 of them will get paid. You do the math: it means three of them will go home empty-handed.

None of that should concern Bruno Potaro, who has moved into the lead with 430,000 in chips. James Broom has found his second wind, and currently lying second with 395,000, just ahead of Tian Shou, a PokerStars Supernova Elite, with 390,000.

Tian Shou is either astounded at all his chips or trying to get the attention of a waitress

At the other end of the chip table sits PokerStars sponsored Celina Lin and qualifier Mon Kapp, the only ladies left in the event.

Another player finding himself a little short is PokerStars-sponsored Tony Hachem, who is at least talking up his chances and entertaining his table.

Just in front of where we sit is Table 1, one of two tables that will not be broken today. Even now, at this early stage, the chips there make it look like a final table:

Seat 1 Tian Shou 383,000
Seat 3 Nobbi Tanaka 140,000
Seat 5 Julius Colman 210,000
Seat 6 Derren Bullock 200,000
Seat 7 James Obst 190,000
Seat 8 Elliot Smith 210,000
Seat 9 Mike Stecker 120,000

Shou had won two big pots both against Obst by showing 10-10 to make a full house, and A-Q to make Aces up with a queen kicker. Shou had managed to get all-in on the river both times.

The average chip stack at this stage was near 140,000, so this table was certainly the place to be if your wanted to put yourself in contention for the $170,215 top prize - the combined total at the table is about 1.45 million, that's one third of all the chips in play.