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Home / Sport

Kiwi poker player leads $88 million tournament

NZ Herald
17 Jul, 2016 06:33 AM2 mins to read

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Poker chips. Photo / Getty

Poker chips. Photo / Getty

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New Zealand poker player Jan Suchanek is heading towards a massive payday in the biggest tournament in world poker.

The Nelson-based poker pro is leading the way with 83 players remaining at the highly lucrative World Series of Poker Main Event.

Suchanek is assured of a NZ$95,305 payday, but his eyes will be looking towards a multi-million dollar prize on offer at the prestigious event.

US$8 million (NZ$11,236,351) is up for grabs for the winner of the event which saw more than 6700 players pony up a US$10,000 buy-in to enter, creating a prizepool of over NZ$88 million.

Near the end of almost five grueling days of play, Suchanek has collected 9.8 million in chips to lead the tournament.

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The prizepool continues to rise rapidly from here on in, with NZ$113,000 on offer for making the top 80, and NZ$245,000 the minimum payout for reaching the final 45.

A trip to the final table (final nine players) locks in at least US$1,000,000, with prize-money increasing as each player gets knocked out.

The tournament pauses when the final table is reached, and resumes in early November in a live-TV extravanagza known as "The November Nine".

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It is the second straight time Suchanek has cashed in on the Main Event, after finishing 787th for US$15,000 last year.

Suchanek will also earn the most money ever by a New Zealander in the main event, eclipsing previous high-ranking finishes from Thomas Ward (313th in 2014) and Simon Watt (397th in 2010) respectively.

Watt is the only New Zealander to have won a World Series of Poker tournament, winning a US$1500 NL event in 2010. Suchanek's best finish is a runner-up finish in a US$1500 10-game mixed event in 2014.

However, nothing matches the prestige of the Main Event, and Suchanek is well in the mix for poker's biggest prize.

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