APPT Melbourne After three days of hyper-aggressive action, the final table for the 2011 APPT Melbourne Main Event is at last playing out today with Phillip Willcocks starting in a commanding lead on over 2 million in chips. Second-in-chips is Leo “The Mechanic” Boxell with just over 1 million while the rest are yet to surpass the seven-digit chip-mark.
Having started both Day 2 and Day 3 as the chip leader, Willcocks, who is best known for his runner-up finish at the inaugural 2009 ANZPT Queensland Main Event and 8th place finish at the 2009 APPT Cebu Main Event, has consistently dominated the tournament. Along the way, he eliminated two heavyweights in the field, PokerStars Team Asia Pro Bryan Huang and 2003 WSOP Champion Chris Moneymaker. Up against Huang, Willcocks disposed of him in a preflop showdown of Pocket Kings versus Huang’s Pocket Fives. Moneymaker met the same fate with Pocket Sixes when Willcocks snap-called his all in holding Pocket Aces.
Also amongst the fallen were current Aussie Millions Champion David Gorr when his Ace-Jack all-in did not improve against an opponent’s Pocket Queens. 2010 ANZPT Melbourne runner-up James Obst fell short of a final table berth when he was eliminated in 11th place with 
against 2008 APPT Manila Champion Van Marcus who held 
. Meanwhile, PokerStars Qualifier Jackson Zheng eliminated Antonis “Toothpick Tony” Kambouroglou with Pocket Queens over Pocket Sixes and, consequentially, his departure gave Leo Boxell the lead in the PokerStars ANZ Player of the Year race.
For Boxell this prestige is certainly something worth bragging about and part of how he got there was scooping up a huge pot while knocking out two players in a single hand. The action began from middle position, when Australian PokerStars Qualifier Ivan Zalac went all in preflop. He was called by Aaron Lim on the small blind and Boxell on the big blind. The flop read 
. Lim bet it out and Boxell who had Lim well covered in chips announced he was all-in. Lim insta-called with 
only to be crushed to see Boxell’s 
in a commanding lead with a set, while Zalac lagged way behind with 
. With a 
on the turn and a 
on the river, Boxell was well placed for his final table berth.
The unfortunate player knocked out in 10th was Aharon Shabtay, whose aggressive action in the previous days seemed to have lost most of its steam during crunch time. In a desperate need to double up, Shabtay went all-in with 
only to have his hopes quashed by Steve Bouya, who held Pocket Queens. Shabtay failed to improve and the final table was decided.
Here is the list according to chip count of the 2011 APPT Melbourne Main Event finalists:
Phil Willcocks 2,317,000
Leo Boxell 1,170,000
Steve Bouya 910,000
Michael Frydman 741,000
Will Jones 730,000
Jackson Zheng 640,000
Julius Colman 513,000
Van Marcus 346,000
Eddie Mascardi 335,000
With a mixed bag of players looking to be the next APPT Champion, check out PokerStarsBlog.com for the exciting final table hand highlights.
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May 11, 2012 by Posted By: Adam Smith
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