Company directors, investors, doctors, hairdressers, taxi drivers, in fact every profession under the sun. What do they have in common, you may ask. Well, besides the fact that they have “handles” (nicknames) that sound as if they come straight from a Damon Runyon novel, they all have the ability to keep a poker face. And Poker was the name of the game when the likes of ‘The Craw’, ‘Black Panther’, ‘Slowdog’, ‘Goose’, ‘Big D’, ‘Bubble Boy and ‘The Baptist’ recently met at the Christchurch Casino to compete for the coveted title of New Zealand Poker Champion.
And what a battle it was, with close to a 100 of the best poker players from Australia, New Zealand, and even a few from as far afield as England, battling it out night after night during the weeklong New Zealand Poker championships in March (15 – 22)
Christchurch Casino is the only New Zealand host for the Australasian championships and to date it has hosted four National Poker Championships, each drawing great interest from some of the world biggest names in Poker.
This year, it was clear right from the start that last year’s champion, American Matthew Hilger, was up against stiff competition. Hilger, who now lives in Christchurch, New Zealand, surprised the poker fraternity last year when he won the NZ tournament after just a year of playing professionally. But this year the old hands – many of them who started playing poker as kids and betting with matchsticks -- weren’t about to let the title slip away to a rookie again.
Holding their cards tight, they didn’t panic when their chip counts got low. Armed with cigarettes, the occasional bear and gallons of coffee, some of them quietly followed their opponents’ games --- keeping their eyes on each other’s faces, waiting for the moment when a glint in an opponents eye, perhaps didn’t match the poker face.
Others have more of a showmanship attitude with loud confidence that makes one wonder whether they don’t perhaps belong in a boxing ring. But it is thanks to these colourful characters of poker, that the game now has a certain entertainment value too. Gone are the days where serious poker players sat behind locked doors hidden away from the world. Nowadays these eccentric seekers of that elusive but perfect hand of cards, are not adverse to people watching them play. They all accept (most of them even welcome) the fact that serious poker has also become entertainment with a rather significant spectator value.
A person whose name is synonymous with poker in Australasia is Queensland Businessman Maurie “The Master” Pears who, with his website Pokernetwork.com boasts that he brought Australasian Poker to the world. Pearce – one of the founding fathers of poker in Australasia - describes the game of poker as follows: “Its essentially a social activity. It’s also an illusion played by eccentrics in funny hats. It’s a game of patience, observation, deceit and aggression and as such mirrors the life we all lead.”
Pearce goes on to say that Poker is about “communicating with other people, dealing with failure and seizing opportunity.”
But back to this year’s championship: It was the usual good old-fashioned rivalry between those on “this side of the ditch” and those one “that side of the ditch”. The large contingent of Australian players at the New Zealand Championships would have loved to take the title to OZ. But in the end it was the New Zealand players who managed to put their money where their mouths were.
So, it came as no surprise that the Kiwis occupied the top order. Wellington businessman, Jamil Dia, managed to clinch victory in a tight play-out with Cantabrian Hamish Webb and fellow Wellingtonian Constantine Harach, who came second and third respectively.
Jamil Dia and third placed Constantine Harach are old hands at poker. Both have been playing poker since they were young boys in Lebanon and it was perhaps no surprise to see the pair in the Top Five.
What nobody expected was for newcomer Hamish Webb from Christchurch, to topple some of the most experienced players in Australasia.
For More information contact::
Norma Odendaal
Public Relations officer: Christchurch Casino
(03)365 9999 ext 8844 / 0274 309 001
norma@christchurchcasino.co.nz
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