All In Aussie Battle Ensues After ‘Final Table’ Falls
Melbourne-based professional poker player Eric Assadourian is the New Zealand Pot Limit Omaha poker champion after
taking down his Australian counterpart Leo Boxell in an all-in Omaha head-to-head showdown last night.
The battle at the final table was tight, and as the field reduced so to did the candid banter and unreserved smiles.
With well over $13,000 on the line for first place, these guys meant business.
After sending Lee ‘Final Table’ Nelson out of the game in fourth place, eventual champion Eric Assadourian says he had
Lee in his sights from the minute they joined each other in the top eight.
“My first goal was to make the final table. My second was to take down Lee Nelson. He is a great player and I knew once
he was gone I could use my experience and strengths to take control of the table,” says Eric Assadourian.
Eric can add the New Zealand Pot Limit Omaha title to his impressive victory in the 2006 Melbourne Texas Holdem
Championships – an event that netted him over $80,000.
Eric says he has high hope for the main event – the $500,000* 2007 New Zealand Poker Championships.
“I aim to make the final table. I’ve got a lot of experience in those situations so I back myself to do well. There are
some strong players entered again this year though. The likes of Gary Benson and Lee Nelson will be tough to take down,”
says Eric Assadourian.
Christchurch Casino Poker Operations Manager Mick Ryan says it was great to see two excellent poker players going
head-to-head at the end.
“Eric and Leo are both very strong players. Eric has done well in some big Australian tournaments and Leo is a former
New Zealand Poker Champion. In the end it came down to some aggressive moves by Eric. He is definitely a player to watch
in the main event,” says Mick Ryan.
Today (Thursday April 19) the poker action intensifies with the start of the 2007 New Zealand Poker Championships at
Christchurch Casino where some of the world’s best poker players will battle it out for poker supremacy and with it, a
share of what will be a share of New Zealand’s largest ever poker prize pool.
*Based on a full field of 140.
Final standings for the 2007 New Zealand Pot Limit Omaha Champs
1st Eric Assadourian 6th Gerald Jurie
2nd Leo Boxell 7th Graeme Freeman
3rd Jenny Sheward 8th Shane Brecken
4th Lee Nelson 9th Andrew Dimmock
5th He Yao Sen 10th Jason Estock
78 Players - $550 buy in $39,000 in Prize Money
ENDS