James Anderson Wins Skycity Auckland Poker Finals

James Anderson

James Anderson and Martin Cardno

James Anderson with his winning hand

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19 June 2006

James Anderson Wins Skycity Auckland’s World Series of Poker Finals

Confidence, luck and lots of practice proved to be a winning combination for Scottish-born Aucklander James Anderson, who walked away from SKYCITY Auckland’s World Series of Poker Satellite final yesterday with an amazing prize package worth nearly $40,000.

The prize includes automatic entry into the showpiece event of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in the United States, the $US10,000 entry No Limit Texas Hold’em Championship, held from July 28 until August 10, as well as accommodation and return airfares for two to Las Vegas and NZ$10,000 spending money.

The World Series of Poker is the biggest event on the world poker stage – it is universally considered the ultimate achievement in any poker player’s career to gain the coveted title of World Champion. It is anticipated that this year’s field will exceed 8000 players, with an overall prize pool of more than $US80 million.

Anderson was presented his prize yesterday by Auckland’s General Manager of Gaming, David Christian who wished Anderson all the best as he chases his ultimate poker dream in Las Vegas next month. “It will be one of the greatest experiences of his life, and I wish him all the best at the WSOP. We’ll certainly keep a close eye on his progress.”

Anderson’s final winning hand of an Ace and a Seven nudged out second place winner Martin Cardno’s Ace and Four when another Seven turned up in the community cards.

Cardno, who chose to wear dark sunglasses and a baseball cap for the finals, took away $6,000 cash. Andres Birt received $5,000 for his third place.

About poker:

Poker is a game of skill. The object of the game is to win the pot by forming the highest ranked five-card poker hand or have all the other players surrender the pot to you by folding to your bet.

There are two types of card:

1) “Community” cards are dealt face up in the middle of the table to be used by any player to make up their best hand.
2) “Hole” cards are a player’s concealed or exclusive cards.

Players can use the community cards with their hole cards to form their best possible five card poker hand.

Texas Holdem

There are a few variations on the game of poker. “Texas Holdem” – the most popular game internationally - is played with a full deck of 52 cards and players are dealt two cards each and may use any combination of the five community cards and their two ‘hole’ cards.

The Terminology – what you should know:

Five terms will help kick-start you in poker.

Play:

Means that the player elects to remain in the game by placing an additional wager after the cards have been dealt and he or she has had an opportunity to look at his or her hand.

Fold:

This means the cards are placed face down on the table to be collected by the dealer. This indicates a player no longer wishes to continue in that game.

Raise:

To make a bet increase during a betting round.

Pot:

The sum of all antes, blinds and bets wagered in a round.

Check:

When you want to abstain from betting, but wish to continue to stay in contention for the “pot” by retaining the right to call after all other players have either wagered or folded. A check may not be made should a wager have been made in the round.

ENDS