MEDIA RELEASE
29 July 2012
David Allan From Australia Is The New Pokerstars.Net Nzpt Queenstown – Skycity Snowfest Champion

David Allan from Australia became the fourth NZPT Queenstown Champion, outplaying 148 rivals to take home the 2012 PokerStars.net NZPT Queenstown - SKYCITY Snowfest Championship trophy and the highest prize yet for a NZPT Queenstown event of NZD $110,600.

The Final Table began with nine players left from a record field of 149 people from 17 different countries, battling for a record total prize pool for Queenstown poker of NZD $402,300.

David took the Championship title from Ken Demlakian from Australia after two hours of playing heads up. Ken takes home NZD $70,400 for second place and Jordan Westmorland, an American living in Thailand, won NZD $41,200 for placing third.

In a field dominated by Australians, the highest placed New Zealander was Chiu Yeung Lee in tenth place taking home NZD $9,060 and the highest ranked woman, also a New Zealander, was Tatjana Zizic in fifteenth place winning $7,050. Local business man Fergus Spary was the highest placing Queenstown player, coming in twenty fifth.

Team PokerStars.net PRO Bryan Huang from Singapore who has been the face of the tournament this week placed seventh, taking home $19,100. Although Bryan was hoping to take out the title, he has enjoyed his time in Queenstown with his wife Summer and says Queenstown is one of his favourite poker destinations.

More than just great action on the felts, players this year have enjoyed the beauty of Queenstown and the variety of outdoor activities including poker in the snow hosted by NZSki and the inaugural PokerStars.net Frisbee Golf Championship, won by Queenstown local Glenn Maiden. Final table player David Zhao who placed fifth winning $28,200 said he loved Queenstown and commented that the great food and friendly people were a highlight of his trip.

Part of two international poker tours, the Pokerstars.net NZPT Queenstown – SKYCITY Snowfest is continuing to grow in popularity and this year it attracted some of the sport’s finest talent including Team PokerStars.net Online Rohit Bhasin from Australia, Australian Poker Hall of Fame members Leo Boxall and Billy ‘the Croc’ Argyros, reigning ANZ Player of the Year and 2009 NZPT Queenstown Champion, Danny Chevalier, a WSOPE bracelet winner, Andrew Hinrichsen, reigning Asian Player of the Year champion Hung-Sheng (Shaq) Lin from Taiwan, and Queenstown business man and last year’s runner up Matty Yates.

NZPT Commissioner Danny McDonagh was extremely pleased with the growth in player numbers and the greater prominence of the event in Queenstown this year.

“Queenstown is a popular destination and word of mouth from this year’s competitors should make the tournament even bigger next year.”

SKYCITY Queenstown’s General Manager Michelle Baillie is pleased with the way the tournament has run highlighting the importance of the event to the Queenstown region.

“We are thrilled to have hosted such a great poker tournament at SKYCITY Queenstown Casino and we are proud of the positive impact the tournament has had on Queenstown tourism. As well as the players, friends and family being in Queenstown for a week supporting local businesses, there has been a group of international poker bloggers including video bloggers who have broadcast some fantastic footage of Queenstown out across the world. We congratulate David and look forward to working with the PokerStars.net team on next year’s event.”

The final standings and payouts earned are as follows:

1. David Allan from Australia, NZD$110,600
2. Ken Demlakian from Australia, NZD$70,400
3. Jordan Westmorland from Thailand, NZD$41,200
4. Ricky Kroesen from Australia, NZD$34,200
5. Xin (David) Zhao from Australia, NZD$28,200
6. Matthew Wakeman from Australia, NZD$23,100
7. Bryan Huang from Singapore, NZD$19,100
8. Ivan Zalac from Australia, NZD$15,100
9. David Evans from Australia, NZD$12,070
10. Chiu Yeung Lee from New Zealand, NZD$9,060
11. Steward Ballard from Australia, NZD$9,060
12. David Wonson from Australia, NZD$9,060
13. Michael Faderson from Australia, NZD$7,050
14. Jason O’Brien from Australia, NZD$7,050
15. Tatjana Zizic from New Zealand, NZD$7,050

ENDS

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