Boxell Wins APPT Melbourne


The Mechanic snares the AUD $330,000 APPT title The Mechanic snares the AUD $330,000 APPT title


The highly accomplished poker pro Leo “The Mechanic” Boxell has taken down the inaugural 2011 APPT Melbourne Main Event. In a thrilling final table, mixed with heavy hitting young guns and old school poker veterans, Boxell outshined them all to take the championship and a cool AUD $330,000 in winnings.

Having previously won first prize at the 2011 Aussie Millions AUD $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Handed and cashed big at the 2011 ANZPT III Gold Coast Main Event, Boxell’s consistent run this year is definitely a force without any brakes. Entering the final table second in chips, Boxell quickly displayed his extensive experience of the game. In a raised pot against Michael Frydman and Steve Bouya, the three-way action saw a flop of . Boxell bet out 100,000, Frydman folded, and Bouya check-called. At the turn of Boxell bet another 100,000 which Bouya again check-called. At the river of , Bouya fired out 250,000 and Boxell immediately called, prompting his opponent to quickly muck his hand. As Boxell collected a mountain of chips and moved into the chip lead, he joked “You can’t bluff an idiot!”

With the table narrowing down to six players, Boxell further extended his chip lead when he eliminated Frydman. From under the gun, Frydman open-shoved his short stack with only to be crushed by Boxell’s call with . The board ran giving Boxell the flush. A couple of hours later, the remaining players would continue to trade chips and leads, with lots of aggressive action spicing up the crowd at Crown Casino. With the elimination of Van Marcus in 5th and Will Jones in 4th, Boxell nabbed the chip lead once again after eliminating Bouya in 3rd place, who went all-in with Pocket Nines against Boxell’s Pocket Aces.

In a match-up that truly defined the dynamic of the final table, old school veteran Boxell was heads-up against the young hyper-aggressive Phil Willcocks. Wasting no time, Boxell shoved all-in on the first hand after Willcocks raised the pot. He then continued to dominate in the next few hands bringing his chip lead to almost 2:1. However, it was short-lived as his shove with took a heavy beating against Willcocks’ .

In a desperate all-in move to gain back some chips, Boxell cracked Willcocks’ with . The board ran giving him the straight. Shortly after, he proceeded to win some pre-flop raising wars against Willcocks, which propelled him back in the lead. In the final hand, Willcocks raised with and, in a gamble, Boxell called with . As the board ran out and was checked until the river, Willcocks went all-in with his pair, but it wasn’t good enough to defeat Boxell’s two-pair.

Congratulations must go to the 69-year-old Boxell who wins his first APPT title and is currently in the lead for the ANZ Player of the Year race. For all the in-depth details of how it all played out visit PokerStarsBlog.com.



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