Lower Hutt plasterer Daniel Craker last night became the first SkyCity festival of poker champion, outplaying 305 rivals over four days to take home the 2008 festival of poker championship trophy and $257,040.
The final table began with nine players left from an original starting field of 306 battling for a total prize pool of more than $850,000.
More than half the starting field was made up of locals, and four of the final nine were New Zealand-based players, while the others came from Australia, Britain, Singapore and Finland.
Craker took the championship title from Australian Matthew Konnecke with pocket twos. Konnecke took home $162,791 for second place.
"I'm so excited to take out New Zealand's biggest ever poker tournament at SkyCity.
"I felt pretty confident throughout the day, though now I actually have the title I think it will take at least until tomorrow for the victory to sink in," Craker said.
He said he was dedicating his win to the Wainui boys.
The festival of poker attracted a world-class field of some of the sport's finest talent, including Team PokerStars Pros Greg Raymer, Joe Hachem and New Zealand-based Lee Nelson.
The other Kiwis who made it to the final table were Luke Stanford, Dan Sing and Wang Che Jung.
Players from 21 countries took part.
Sky City's executive manager Ejaaz Dean said the festival was a huge step forward for tournament poker as a sport in New Zealand.
"We more than doubled the prize pool of any previous tournament in this country.
"We look forward to building on the success of the inaugural Skycity festival of poker with an even bigger prize pool and greater number of players next year."
The final standings and monies earned are as follows:
1. Daniel Craker - Lower Hutt ($257,040)
2. Matthew Konnecke - Sydney ($162,791)
3. Wang Che Jung - Blenheim ($85,680)
4. Dan Sing - Auckland ($59,976)
5. Luke Stanford - Auckland ($46,267)
6. Nathanael Seet - Singapore ($34,272)
7. Jani Karke - Finland ($25,704)
8. Michael Mariakis - Sydney ($19,706)
9. Wai Kwan Yuen - United Kingdom ($14,565)
