Aucklander, Simon Watt takes out the 2009 SKYCITY Festival of Poker

Yesterday, North Shore resident, Simon Watt from New Zealand became the second ever player to take out the SKYCITY Festival of Poker NZPT Main Event. Simon outplayed 263 rivals over five days to take home the 2009 SKYCITY Festival of Poker trophy and $209,085.00 NZD.

The Final Table began with 9 players left from an original starting field of 263 battling for a total prize pool of more than $750,000.00. Of the final nine, four were New Zealand-based players. Other payers in the tournament came from Australia, Canada, France, New Caledonia, Russia, USA, Brazil, Philippines, Netherlands, Germany, Norway, United Kingdom, Taiwan, China, French Polynesia and Spain.

Simon took the title from Gerome Guitteau from Paris, France with a pair of 5’s against Gerome’s King 7. Gerome takes home $142,020.00 NZD for second place.

The 2009 SKYCITY Festival of Poker attracted a world-class field of some of the sport’s finest talent, including international including players; Eric Assadourian, Grant Levy, Celina Lin, Tony Hachem, Emad Tahtouh and New Zealand-based Lee ‘Final Table’ Nelson. Coming from over fifteen different nations, the 263-strong field was cheered on by local fans at SKYCITY Auckland, creating a high-energy tournament experience.

Simon was thrilled with winning in Auckland, “I couldn’t believe how my luck went in the last few hours.’

SKYCITY Auckland’s Executive Manager of Table Games, Ejaaz Dean was pleased how the event ran.

“This has been another successful SKYCITY Festival of Poker with over one million dollars in prize money being given out over the last week.”
The final standings and monies earned are as follows:
1. Simon Watt – Auckland, New Zealand - $209,085.00 NZD
2. Gerome Guitteau – Paris, France - $142,020.00 NZD
3. Jason Brown – Auckland, New Zealand - $82,845.00 NZD
4. Ke Sijia– China - $55,230.00 NZD
5. Richard Lancaster – Auckland, New Zealand - $42,606.00 NZD
6. Jens Walther – Germany - $31,560.00 NZD
7. Assadour Assadourian – Sydney, Australia - $23,670 NZD
8. Lance Climo – Hamilton, New Zealand - $18,936.00 NZD
9. Michael Shinzaki – Los Angeles, United States of America - $14,202.00 NZD

About Simon Watt
From Auckland, New Zealand, Simon is a 26-year-old software developer, he was a former chip leader in this event with the size of his stack swinging wildly over the past few days. With five years of experience under his belt, the Auckland local can’t believe that he has won the 2009 SKYCITY Festival of Poker Main Event.