Live updates from day 2, level 8 (blinds 500-1000, ante 100) of PokerStars.net APPT Auckland Main Event brought to you by Sean Callander and Landon Blackhall from SKYCITY Casino in Auckland, New Zealand. Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can be found by clicking here.

1.15pm: Who's the Sherif in these parts?

Amid the champagne corks after news broke that balloon boy was OK, tournament staff have already broken two tables after more than a dozen departures during the first level of play on day two in the PokerStars.net APPT Auckland Main Event. Sherif Badran has been the big mover in the opening hour ... he claimed the scalp of Brotha D before putting a big dent in the stack of Aaron Benton, who took down the biggest online tournament prize ever won by an Australian earlier this year. Badran is up to 60,000.

1pm: Kiwis climb in early going

Top local players Dan Sing and Mike King have both scored some crucial extra chips in this first level. King moved his short stack into the middle with pocket jacks, but was called by an opponent with pocket sevens. The jacks held and King doubled up, but Sing tripled up in an almost mirror image hand played out on nearby table six.

Bruce Wilkinson limped in pre-flop but Sing moved all-in for 9000 on the button. Anibal Lee called from the big blind but Wilkinson shoved in over the top. Lee made the call and the cards were tabled - Lee with [js] [jh], Sing [7h] [7d] and Wilkinson [ac] [ks]. The flop of [3h] [2c] [7c] to give Sing the set, and he was whistling a happy tune when the turn and river bricked out [td] [8c]. Sing moved up to 30,000, Lee took a small hit and Wilkinson hit the rail.

12.45pm: Sweet straight for Honeybone

After we visited the penguins a few days ago, we have our very own giant penguin in the room today, local James Honeybone. Having just returned from the US where he caught the Pittsburgh Penguins in NHL pre-season action, Honeybone is wearing a Penguins jersey today - the good fortune of the reigning Stanley Cup champs looks like it's rubbing off after Honeybone just doubled up with [as] [kd] against the pocket aces of Yasuchika Kayano on a board that out [9d] [10h] [8h] [qh] [jc].

12.30pm: When the music's over ...

Cards are in the air on day two, with PokerStars.net Team Australia Pro Grant Levy slyly slipping into his seat minutes after the order was given to shuffle up and deal. One of the first to hit the rail today was the short-stacked Danny "Brotha D" Leaoasavaii, who made his last stand with A-J against an opponent's pocket fours. Farewell to the ultra-popular local hip-hop icon and Celebrity Challenge winner, who brought plenty of focus to the tournament over the past few days.

By Landon Blackhall

It's a tradition at international events held in New Zealand (like the PokerStars.net APPT Auckland Main Event) for visitors to be welcomed with a spine-tingling performance that culminated in the traditional "Ka Mate" or haka, which we've just watched in awe at SKYCITY Casino in Auckland.

A real eye-opener for first-time international visitors, many players from the Australasian region are familiar with "Ka Mate", as the New Zealand All Blacks rugby union team perform this dance with precision and emotion before the start of each match.

The aggressive movements, wide eyes, distorted faces, tongues out and the booming voices tell the story of a famous Maori chief named Te Rauparaha. Legend has it he was being chased by his enemies when he came across a food-storage pit.

He jumped in to the pit to hide and when his foes had given up the search, he waited until Te Whareangi, the hairy chief of an ally tribe, found him and brought him back up from the darkness of the pit into the light of the sun. According to legend, Te Rauparaha then shouted the following words in celebration of life over death, which are still chanted to this day:

Ka mate! Ka mate! Ka ora! Ka ora! (I die! I die! I live! I live!)
Ka mate! Ka mate! Ka ora! Ka ora! (I die! I die! I live! I live!)
Tenei te tangata, puhuru huru (Here stands the hairy man)
Nana ne i tiki mai whakawhiti te ra (Who brought the sun and made it shine)
A upane, ka upane (A step upward, another step upward)
A upane ka upane whiti te ra (A step upward and another, the sun shines!)
Hi!

There were also screams and contorted facial expressions last night in the SKYCITY poker room, but they came from New Zealand's glitterati as they battled in Celebrity Invitational. It was Brotha D, the Godfather of New Zealand hip-hop, who triumphed over the field of more than 80 players thus earning him a seat in the APPT Auckland Main Event.

Meanwhile players and staff packed the 21 Bar for the APPT Auckland Welcome Party. The Steinlager and some magnificent regional wines were flowing as qualifiers hung out with PokerStars.net Team Australia Pros Tony Hachem, Grant Levy, Emad Tahtouh, Eric Assadourian and New Zealand's PokerStars Player Lee "Final Table" Nelson.

PokerStars.net Team Asia Pros Celina Lin and Bryan Huang, having flown almost 30 hours to get here after the PokerStars.net EPT London Main Event, also shook off the jet lag and shared in the fun.

The finale of the 2009 SKYCITY Festival of Poker (buy-in NZD $3250) is about to kick-off with seven levels scheduled for day 1A. Players will starts with a start bank of 20,000

The structure for today's play is:

Level 1: 50/100
Level 2: 100/200
Level 3: 100/200 (ante 25)
Level 4: 150/300 (ante 25)
Level 5: 200/400 (ante 50)
Level 6: 300/600 (ante 75)
Level 7: 400/800 (ante 100)