6:00: Ten-minute break

5:50pm: Nothing like flopping the nuts

Nauv Kashyap raised to 110,000 from the button and Ricky Kroesen made the call in the big blind. They saw a flop of [9d][ad][5d] and Kroesen checked to Kashyap who fired 130,000. Kroesen made the call. The turn was the [3s] and Kroesen checked it again to Kashyap who made it 350,000. Kroesen then declared himself all in, as Kashyap jumped out of his seat, slammed his cards down onto the felt and shouted "CALL!"

Kroesen opened [9s][6s] for a pair of nines but he found himself drawing completely dead as Kashyap revealed [kd][jd] for the stone-cold nuts. The meaningless river was the [7c] as the biggest pot of the tournament was pushed to Kashyap. He's up to a commanding 4.7 million chips to leave Kroesen hurting with just 900,000.

Nauv Kashyap has one hand on the ANZPT Gold Coast trophy

5:40pm: Ricky recovers

Nauv Kashyap raised to 110,000 from the button and Ricky Kroesen made the call. They saw a flop of [2c][kh][tc] and Kroesen checked to Kashyap who fired 175,000. Kroesen quickly called. The turn was the [8h] and both players checked to see the [js] hit the river. Kroesen led out with a bet of 200,000 and Kashyap went into the tank.

"I don't think I can fold this hand," sighed Kashayp before making a crying call.

Kroesen opened [jh][ts] for two pair which was good to take it down.

A few moments later Kroesen opened to 110,000 from the button and Kashyap called to see a flop of [9d][9h][7c]. Kashyap led out at the pot with a bet of 175,000 and Kroesen called. The turn was the [7s] and again Kashyap fired for 350,000. Again Kroesen made the call. The river was the [3c] and both players quickly checked it down.

Kroesen showed [as][ac] - his second pair of aces in about fifteen minutes - to rake in another pot. He's now back into the chip lead with 3.1 million against Kashyap's 2.5 million.

5:31pm: Kashyap gets no action

The chips have been going back and forth as the players seem content to play small-ball poker at the moment. One hand that reached a showdown saw Ricky Kroesen raise to 110,000 with Nauv Kashyap making the call in the big blind.

The flop landed [as][5h][5d] and Kashyap check-called for 100,000. Both players checked the [kh] turn and also [kd] river. Kashyap opened [ks][4s] for a runner-runner full house, but he got no bite as he won a small pot to increase his advantage. Kashyap has 3.7 million to Kroesen's 1.9 million.

5:15pm: Kroesen sticks it in

Nauv Kashyap raised it up to 80,000 from the button and Ricky Kroesen made the call. The flop landed [9c][kd][5c] and Kroesen checked to Kashyap who bet 100,000. Kroesen made the call. The turn was the [ah] and Kroesen checked to Kashyap who fired 250,000. Kroesen responded by moving all in and Kashyap instantly gave it up.
Kroesen is back to 2.1 million with Kashyap at 3.5 million.

5:07pm: Big pot, no showdown

Ricky Kroesen opened with a raise to 110,000 from the button and Nauv Kashyap made the call in the big blind to see a flop of [7c][4h][9d]. Kashyap checked to Kroesen who tossed out 100,000. Kashyap responded with a check-raise to 350,000 but that didn't slow Kroesen as he made it 1.1 million to go. Kashyap instantly announced he was all in, and nearly just as quickly Kroesen had tossed his cards into the muck.

"Go Captain Tandoori!" yelled his mates on the rail as Kashyap is up to 4.1 million with Kroesen wobbling on 1.5 million.

5:00pm: Blinds up: 20,000-40,000, with 4,000 ante

4:55pm: Nauv doubles up!

Nauv Kashyap has found a much needed double up to get himself back into contention for this ANZPT Gold Coast title. He was all in preflop with [ah][js] and racing for his tournament life against the [8d][8c] of Ricky Kroesen.

The crowd roared for their favourite player, but it was the Kashyap crew cheering when the flop landed [jh][9h][5d] to give their boy the lead, and it remained that way on the [9d] turn and [7d] river.

Kashyap doubled to 2.5 million with Kroesen still in front with 3.1 million chips.

4:50pm: Kroesen flushed with chips

Catching the action on the turn on a board of [9c][2d][td][jd], Ricky Kroesen fired a bet of 200,000 with Nauv Kashyap making the call to see the [as] hit the river. Kroesen was first to act and thought for a few moments before sliding a stack of 500,000 into the middle. Kashyap quickly announced a call, but slammed his hand down onto the table in disgust when Kroesen revealed [7d][5d] for a flush.

Kroesen is running away with this as he's now up over 4 million in chips!

Ricky Kroesen in action

4:45pm: That's not a great flop for kings

Ricky Kroesen opened with a raise to 100,000 from the button before Nauv Kashyap made it 350,000 from the big blind. Kroesen called but neither liked the board as they checked down the [ac][4d][as][8c][8h] board. Kashyap opened pocket kings which was good to take it down.

4:27pm: Ricky takes the lead

Nauv Kashyap raised to 100,000 before Ricky Kroesen made it 300,000 from the big blind. Kashyap put in a four-bet of an additional 450,000 but Kroesen responded by moving all in. Kashyap instantly folded as he gave up the chip lead for the first time on this final table.

Kroesen is up to 3.1 million with Kashyap looking a little rattled as he's back to 2.5 million.

Here's what we're playing for - the trophy and the cash!

4:18pm: Kroesen's boat narrows margin

Ricky Kroesen chipped away to take down the first few small pots of this heads-up battle, before the first significant pot also went his way.

Kroesen raised to 100,000 from the button and Nauv Kashyap made the call. The flop landed [4h][5h][5d] and Kashyap checked to Kroesen who fired 75,000. Kashyap made the call. The turn was the [ac] and again Kashyap tapped the table as Kroesen released 150,000. Again Kashyap made the call as the river landed the [2h]. Kashyap checked for a third time and Kroesen fired again, this time for 400,000. Kashyap rocked back in his chair and thought for a moment or two before announcing a call.

"I've got a boat," said Kroesen as he flipped over [4d][5s] as Kashyap tossed his cards into the muck.

The chip counts are pretty close now, with Kroesen up to 2.7 million and Kashyap back to 2.9 million.

4:00pm: Liam O'Rourke eliminated in 3rd place

Liam O'Rourke raised it up to 75,000 from the button and Ricky Kroesen made the call in the small blind. The flop landed [6d][qh][4h] and Kroesen checked to O'Rourke who fired 80,000. Kroesen put in a check-raise to 250,000 before O'Rourke moved all in. Kroesen made a pretty quick call and tabled [qc][tc] for top pair but found himself out-kicked as the youngster showed [as][qd].

However it wasn't over just yet. The dealer burned and turned the [td] to give Kroesen two pair and the lead in the hand to leave O'Rourke needing an ace from space to survive. It wasn't to be as the [8s] bricked the river to see O'Rourke eliminated in 3rd place for $64,575 in prize money.

Nothing like a novelty cheque to heal the wounds of a bad beat, as Liam O'Rourke is eliminated in 3rd place

With that elimination we're now heads up! Nauv Kashyap holds the chip lead with around 3.65 million to Kroesen's 1.95 million.

3:55pm: Play resumes

After a slightly extended break the players are back in action. Here are the chip counts at the break:

Nauv Kashyap - 3,650,000
Ricky Kroesen - 1,085,000
Liam O'Rourke - 860,000

Nauv Kashyap is still our chip leader on the ANZPT Gold Coast final table

6.15pm: Six down, two to go

The clock is ticking down to the final break of the day, with players facing two more hours of play before calling it a night on a highly successful opening to the ANZPT Canberra Main Event. Friday night means the bar is pumping and most of the railbirds are nursing a pot of their favourite lager.

6pm: Benton bolts to lead

Aaron Benton has been the one of the big stories of Australian poker in the past 12 months. He owns the biggest online score in local poker history, won the 2009 APPT Sydney title and has displayed impressive consistency in tournaments of all levels.

You can add ANZPT Canberra chip leader to that list. After a steady but profitable couple of hours, Benton has charged to 80,000 to edge ahead of Phil Batticiotto. But the tournament is over for Bob Crossman, Tom Grigg, Paul Coleman and Tony Paino.

5.30pm: Let the Carnevale begin

Canberra's own Phil Batticiotto remains the chip leader on 76,000, but the chips once in possession of fellow local Paul Coleman now reside in the stacks of Joel Dodds and Rennie Carnevale.

The ANZPT Adelaide champ made a great read on Coleman, and called a river bet big enough to put him all-in holding only top-pair on a board of [5c] [kd] [jd] [9d] [3c]. Coleman meekly showed [5c] [8h] for a pair of fives, and Carnevale scooped a pot worth 45,000.

5pm: Last (team) man standing

Emad Tahtouh remains the last of three PokerStars.net Team Australia players in today's field after the departure of Grant Levy. Almost down to the felt, Levy's final 3000 was committed with A-10 but John Maklouf's pocket jacks held firm leaving the 2007 APPT Grand Final winner free to get a head start before tonight's players' party.

4.45pm: Doctor in the house

Great to see one of our poker pioneers Dr Bob Crossman in today's field. The 1989 Australasian Championships winner is perhaps most famously remembered for his testimony in a South Australian court case during the mid-1990s in which he used his skills as a mathematician to prove that poker was a game of skill. Players of his ilk don't get the credit they deserve for keeping the poker flame burning in the days when the game was far less fashionable than today.

4.30pm: Take a breather, lady & gentlemen

As the light starts to dim outside, we're approaching the second break of the day before blinds are bumped up to level five (150/300 with an ante of 25). Casino Canberra is slowly growing on us - it almost feels like a private club. Friendly staff, great service and from a very selfish perspective, the fastest wireless we've ever enjoyed at a poker tournament!

4pm: Territorians tearing it up

The locals are lapping up the challenge of having Australia's best players in the room, with Phil Batticiotto (68,000) and Paul Coleman (62,000) holding the two biggest stacks approaching the mid-point of day 1A. It would be a massive boost for the local poker scene to have some local representation at Monday's final table.

3.45pm: Time!

With every stop we make on the ANZPT comes another little quirk. The cards are dealt out of a modified shoe like Star City and Jupiter's, but burned and turned in normal fashion. We're also fond of the giant dealer button but three votes to the dealer who called time on a surprised PokerStars.net Team Australia Pro Grant Levy. That's the sort of dedication we love.

3.30pm: Level 4 (100/200 with an ante of 25)

ANZPT chief Danny McDonagh has confirmed that we'll be playing eight levels today, which will mean the first beverage will be poured at tonight's players' party around 9pm (maybe 8.59pm if we're lucky). We're up to level four on day 1A of the ANZPT Canberra Main Event.