Auckland poker player Ben Rendell has won the Main Event of the Auckland Anniversary Deep Stack Championship at Sky City Casino in Auckland tonight, earning $38,460
After 16 hours of play over two days, Rendell outlasted 128 players that all paid $1,100 to enter the tournament, which generated a prize pool of $129,000.
Rendell held a huge chip lead when the tournament was whittled down to four players, but after World Series of Poker bracelet winner Simon Watt was eliminated in fourth place (for $12,380) Aucklander Brent Unkovich briefly took over as chip leader.
But it didn't last for long, as Rendell soon regained control showing a cool temperament and calculated mind to outlast Aucklander Ace King, and then Unkovich to win the tournament.
The Main Event was the flagship event of the nine-day Deepstack championship series, which featured five events and attracted many of New Zealand's top poker players.
