MELBOURNE, Australia – The final table of the inaugural 2011 PokerStars.net APPT Melbourne Main Event is set. Day 3 began at ten past noon local time on a sunny Sunday in Melbourne with 37 players still in the hunt for a coveted APPT title. Nine hours and 28 eliminations later, just nine players remained.
Phillip Willcocks from New Zealand is the overnight chip leader for the second consecutive day, bagging a staggering 2,317,000 in chips — almost double that of his next-closest opponent, Leo “The Mechanic” Boxell (1,170,000). Boxell’s final table berth is especially notable as it hoisted him to the top of the Australia New Zealand Player of the Year leaderboard.
Two PokerStars qualifiers managed to reach the final table in Eddie Mascardi and Jackson Zheng.
Team PokerStars Online member Keiran Harris was the lone PokerStars pro to finish in the money. The young Aussie finished in 24th place, collecting AUD $9,800 in prize money.
Other notables to finish in the money on Day 3 include Koray Turker (28th – $8,600), Ricky Kroesen (23rd – $9,800), Mitch Carle (20th – $12,200), Michael Guzzardi (15th – $15,300) and James Obst (11th – $18,300).
Two-time Australia New Zealand player of the year Tony Hachem finished just outside the money in 30th place.
Here they are, your 2011 APPT Melbourne Main Event finalists:
Seat 1: Eddie Mascardi, PokerStars Qualifier – 335,000
Seat 2: Van Marcus – 346,000
Seat 3: Will Jones – 730,000
Seat 4: Phil Willcocks – 2,317,000
Seat 5: Michael Frydman – 741,000
Seat 6: Steve Bouya – 910,000
Seat 7: Julius Colman – 513,000
Seat 8: Leo Boxell – 1,170,000
Seat 9: Jackson Zheng, PokerStars Qualifier – 640,000
Seat 1: Eddie Mascardi, Australia – 335,000
Eddie Mascadri lives in Brisbane, Australia and has been playing poker for about four years. Mascadri is a hobby player with just one live result on his tournament resume: a 17th place finish at the 2010 APPT Auckland Main Event (NZD $7,200). The 42-year-old works as a courier in Brisbane and enjoys soccer and Aussie Rules football in his spare time. Mascadri is a regular at his local pub poker game and hopes to return home to Brisbane later this week with a $330,000 story to tell. He’ll have his work cut out for him at the final table, however, starting the day as the short-stack with 335,000 in chips.
Seat 2: Van Marcus, Australia – 346,000
Van Marcus is a 28-year-old professional poker player from Melbourne, Australia. Perhaps the player at the final table with the most global notoriety, Marcus has been playing poker for 10 years. In 2008, Marcus won the PokerStars.net APPT Manila Main Event, collecting just over USD $160,000 in prize money. Marcus has three WSOP final tables under his belt, and career tournament earnings of more than $1.2 million. Marcus considers himself an online pro and noted that Tom Dwan and Phil Galfond have influenced his approach to the game. The APPT Melbourne Main Event final table will be a family affair for Van, as his great uncle Steve Bouya will be sitting across the table in the six seat. When Van’s not playing cards, he enjoys traveling, watching movies and partying. Marcus will begin the final table with the second-shortest stack.
Seat 3: Will Jones, Australia – 730,000
Will Jones is a 22-year-old professional poker player hailing from Hobart in Tasmania. Unlike many of the world’s new generation poker players, Jones prefers to hone his skills in live cash games rather than on the virtual felt and has spent much of his time successfully grinding high stakes cash games in both Las Vegas and Macau. While this is guaranteed to be Jones’ largest tournament score to date, he was part of the Tasmanian team that won the State of Origin event at Crown Casino earlier in the week. A quiet persona disguises Jones’ aggressive style and with 730,000 in chips to start the final table, he’ll be a genuine contender for the title.
Seat 4: Phillip Willcocks, New Zealand – 2,317,000
Phillip Willcocks, a 28-year-old professional poker player from Auckland, New Zealand, first made some noise on the local circuit in 2009 after finishing runner-up in the inaugural ANZPT Queensland Main Event for AUD $112,000. Since then, he’s registered an eighth-place finish in the 2009 APPT Cebu Main Event and now finds himself in prime position to earn his first major title, entering the final table with 2,317,000 in chips. Willcocks noted he’d like to get heads-up against the only other New Zealander at the table, Jackson Zheng.
Seat 5: Michael Frydman, Australia – 741,000
Michael Frydman, a 56-year-old company director from Sydney, first took an interest in poker 40 years ago after watching his parents play with their friends on weekends. He’s since turned that passion into six final table berths and more than AUD $60,000 in tournament cashes since 2001, including a third-place finish in the 2006 Victorian Poker Championships. Frydman enters Monday’s final table fourth in chips with 741,000.
Seat 6: Steve Bouya, Australia – 910,000
Melbourne native Steve Bouya has been playing poker as a hobby for the past 10 years. Bouya is 51-years-young and has a little more than $60,000 in prize money to his name; the bulk of which he earned for a third place finish in a $1,000 buy-in side event at the 2009 Aussie Millions. Bouya credits nephew Van Marcus (also at the APPT Melbourne Main Event final table) for getting him started in poker and noted that he’d like to go heads up with Van over any other player at the table. Bouya enjoys fishing in his spare time. Should he finish fifth or higher, Bouya will have set a personal best for the most money won in a single tournament. Bouya enters the final table third in chips.
Seat 8: Leo Boxell, Australia – 1,170,000
One of Australia’s all-time greats, Leo “The Mechanic” Boxell is one of the most popular players on the regional tour and a true gentleman of the game. With results dating back to 1998 including five APPT/ANZPT cashes, one WSOP cash, multiple New Zealand and Australian/Aussie Millions championships, and over USD $750,000 in career earnings, Boxell is ranked in the Australian top 20 for all-time tournament earnings. An APPT title would almost certainly put a rubber stamp on Boxell’s inevitable ticket to the Australian Poker Hall of Fame. He’ll enter the final table second in chips with 1,170,000.
Seat 9: Jackson Zheng, New Zealand – 640,000
Jackson Zheng is one of two New Zealanders at the APPT Melbourne Main Event final table. The 22-year-old is a professional poker with four years of experience under his belt. Zheng has amassed a little more than $170,000 in career live tournament earnings in his short time on the live circuit. Zheng made his first trip to Las Vegas last summer for the WSOP and cashed in a $1,500 no limit hold’em event. Most notably, Zheng won back-to-back titles at the New Zealand Poker Open from 2010-11. When he’s not playing cards, Zheng enjoys computer games and snow sports. The Auckland native enters the final table sixth in chips with 640,000.
