Thursday, 28th March 2024 19:01
Home / Uncategorized / Lock the door and turn up the furnace, the weekend is here

Mid-November always feels like it marks the middle of the poker season, although it’s never spoken of as such. Baseball has the summer, ice hockey the winter, but poker has the fall, along with duck hunting.

For it is cold outside, the nights are drawing in, the sun goes down in late afternoon and the thermostat, having been forgotten for months, now becomes the central pre-occupation of duelling bill payers everywhere, arguing from both sides of the furnace/sweater divide what the definition of freezing cold is.

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Jake Cody: A poker player who knows the joys of this time of year

And while the duck hunters avoid all this by loading the truck and heading out into the wilderness, poker players do the opposite, putting the latch on the door, snuggling into their nests of multiple high definition screens and energy bars, and wait out the colder months. It’s a good time of year to be indoors. It’s a good time of year to be a poker player. And we should celebrate that.

There is an alternative way to survive these dark periods, and that is to follow the sparrows and the starlings and the geese, and fly south, way south, like those who play the APPT Main Event in New Zealand have done.

In truth most of those pulling up a chair in Auckland this week already lived in the region, or at least locally. And by locally we mean within a 10,000 mile radius of the north island.

After three opening days just 80 players remain at the Skycity Casino, from a starting field of 225. Each day had its success stories, whether it was Ben Rendall on Day 1A or Terangi Matenga just a few hours ago. But it was the man in the middle, Mehrdad Razmi who led at the end of Day 1B who will return tomorrow, later today, yesterday on Day 2 as the chip leader with 186,500. There’s NZ$132,000 ready for him if he keeps it up to the end.

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Current chip leader in Auckland Mehrdad Razmi

It has been a tough event for some, including those battling to find a room amid the arrival of the Rolling Stones, in town to perform. But we like to think a few aging groupies landed in Auckland, demanding to be given shelter by hotel after hotel, only to be told that a poker tournament, with tens of thousands of dollars at stake, had left them fully booked, and that they would have to seek their shelter elsewhere.

But back to the autumn, and the weekend action for those who will be happily entrenched in front of their monitors. Only a few days ago we were reminding the defeated of the great thing about the Sunday Million, that if their performances had not been up to their standards– assumed or otherwise–then not to fear, for another Sunday would come around soon. Well now it’s here. Once more anything is possible.

Lastly the Billionth Tournament Carnival continues through the weekend, complete with countless giveaways and the Golden Sit & Go’s, including the milestone ones, with a share of $500,000 up for grabs.

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It’s a precursor to events next week when, as part of the Carnival, prize pools for selected daily tournaments will be increased (Big, Bigger, Biggest) or alternatively heated up (Hot, Hotter, Hottest).

Whatever you do don’t miss it. Like I say, we’re entering prime poker season. So lock the door, turn up the heat, and settle in for another great weekend on PokerStars.

Good luck at the tables to everyone this weekend.


Stephen Bartley is a staff writer for the PokerStars Blog.

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