Kiwis unbeaten as SKYCITY Festival of Poker title stays in New Zealand for a third consecutive year

The Godfather of New Zealand Hip-Hop, Dawn Raid Entertainment’s Danny 'Brotha D' Leaoasavaii from South Auckland became the third ever SKYCITY Festival of Poker champion outplaying 218 rivals from across the world to take home the title of 2010 SKYCITY Festival of Poker champion, the trophy and NZD $170,000.00. Danny won his ticked into the SKYCITY Festival of Poker Main Event through his back to back win at the SKYCITY Celebrity Invitational poker tournament."

The final table began with nine players from an original starting field of 218 battling for part of a total prize pool of NZD $654,000.00. A total of 28 countries were represented across five continents. Countries that were represented were New Zealand, Australia, United States, Canada, Russia, New Caledonia, China, Taiwan, Denmark, Hungary, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Cyprus, Czech Republic and Germany.

New Zealand boasted the most entrants with 106 players which is approximately 49% of the field. Australia yielded the second-most with 53.

Danny took the championship title from Tom Grigg with Ace high over Tom’s Jack high. Tom takes home NZD $107,000.00 for second place.

The SKYCITY Festival of Poker attracted some of the sport’s finest talent in the Australasian region, including PokerStars.net Team Pro Tony Hachem, NZPT Queenstown – SKYCITY Alpine Adventure winner Julian Cohen and 2009 SKYCITY Festival of Poker winner Simon Watt. Coming from 28 different nations, players throughout the tournament were cheered on by local fans at SKYCITY Casino Auckland providing the players with a high-energy tournament experience.

SKYCITY Auckland’s General Manager of Casino Operations Ejaaz Dean was pleased with the outcome of the 2010 SKYCITY Festival of Poker.

“It has been great to see the SKYCITY Festival of Poker title remain in New Zealand for a third consecutive year. Poker players from around the globe have ventured to SKYCITY Auckland to play in the SKYCITY Festival of Poker which emphasizes the fact that SKYCITY is New Zealand’s Home of Poker and a world-class poker destination.”

The final standings and payouts earned are as follows:

1. Danny 'Brotha D' Leaoasavaii – New Zealand – NZD $170,000.00

2. Tom Griggs – Australia – NZD $107,000.00

3. Srdjan Mitrovic – New Zealand – NZD $60,500.00

4. Danny Silk – Australia – NZD $49,050.00

5. Tamas Lendvai – Hungary – NZD $40,900.00

6. Ropati Toleafoa – New Zealand – NZD $34,300.00

7. Santi Soriano Ramos – Spain – NZD $27,800.00

8. Noah Vogelman – United States – NZD $21,250.00

9. Leo Boxell – Australia – NZD $ 16,350.00


About Danny 'Brotha D' Leaoasavaii

South Auckland, New Zealand native Danny ‘Brotha D’ Leaoasavaii is the co-founder of Dawn Raid Entertainment, a hip-hop record label based in the South Pacific. The label made in a big splash in the North American market back in 2008 with the release of the hit single “Swing,” performed by RIAA certified platinum rapper ‘Savage.’

Commonly referred to as the “godfather of hip-hop in New Zealand,” 40-year-old Brotha D has seen some moderate success in the poker world, having won back-to-back SKYCITY Festival of Poker Celebrity Invitational titles (2009 & 2010). Brotha D has been playing poker for about four years, and in that time he has yet to record a big-buy-in tournament cash.