Lee Nelson Wins ANZPT Melbourne 2011

Veteran poker pro Lee Nelson has won the Australia New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT) Melbourne, after defeating a field of 310 players over three days, to lift the trophy and collect the $156,550 first place prize.
With his latest victory, the 68 year-old retired doctor now becomes New Zealand ‘s highest earning poker tournament player with $2,708,711 in career winnings. He has also triumphed at a total of 11 tournaments over the years, including the 2005 PartyPoker World Open for $400,000 and the 2006 Crown Australian Poker Championship for $1,362,709.
As the $2,200 Main Event got underway in Melbourne, the tournament was always going to be a test of a player’s resilience after a single starting day ensured play would run into the early hours each day in order to determine the final table of nine on schedule.
Eventually, the “Kill Phil” co-author would start the final table third in chips and as the most experienced player at the table. He then proceeded to eliminate the opposition, starting first with  Brett Chalhoub in 8th ($17,670) whose A-K fell to Nelson’s A-Q and a Q on the river.
Next to be dispatched by Nelson was New Zealand’s Phil Willcocks in 5th ($34,100), followed by Karan Punjabi in 4th ($43,090) whose pre-flop shove with A-9 ran into Nelson’s pocket tens.
Lee Nelson (A-10) then eliminated Danny Chevalier with pocket threes in 3rd ($55,180), before going heads-up against Nick Georgoulas.
As the battle commenced, Nelson had a 4.675 million stack to Georgoulas´ 1.345 million, and just 15 minutes later it was all over when Nelson moved all-in with Jh-10h and was called by his opponent with pocket fours. The flop then hit 8h-Ah-Kh to make Nelson the flush and relegate Georgoulas to a runner-up finish worth $99,200.
Meanwhile, Lee Nelson was crowned the 2011 ANZPT Melbourne Champion and adds yet another feather to his already impressive poker cap.