With the main event being played in three ‘flights’ before getting to the final table, this is how the finals of the New Zealand Poker Champs played out:

Flight One ended on thursday 8th and nine players were set to progress to Sunday’s NZ Poker Champs final table. 36 players started the day’s play, and the nine to progress were Craig Giles, Ken Eastwood, Wayne Paaka, David Bradford, Richard Grace, Martin Cardno, Graeme Putt, Kwang Son and Nilesh Naidu.

Flight Two started with 59 players and was condensed down to 15 to progress through to the New Zealand Poker Championship final table. A big name to be cut from flight two was Team PokerStars pro Lee “Final Table” Nelson, on the table was 2 hearts, 10 hearts, 2 clubs and 9 spades, and Nelson went all in with an ace and a king, but when the jack hearts came out on the river, it was Nick Wright’s pocket eights that knocked Nelson out.

The final table was finalised with 41 players set to dual it out for the New Zealand Poker Champs crown after flight three finished up on Saturday 10th. Nick Wright came in with the overall chip lead with $140,000, followed not far behind by David Bradford, David Borg and last years champion Eric Assadourian.

The final table was set to be a thrilling encounter with many big names starting with large stacks, but it was Australian David Borg who eventually outplayed compatriot Tony Hachem. Borg made a flush on the river after Hachem went all in to take the $100,000 first prize and the biggest win of his career - as was crowned the New Zealand Poker Champion for 2008.

Runner up Hachem took home $54,000, and the highest placed New Zealand player was John Pye who finished third and picked up a cheque for $34,000.

Final results of the New Zealand Poker Championships are below:

With the New Zealand Poker Championships in full swing, 3 of the 5 tournaments already have their winners.The opening event of the tournament being the Canterbury Championship - No Limit Holdem was taken out by Richard Grace. Richard was up against 72 other players but went down to the wire against a mate of his and took home $16,500 winnings for his efforts.

The second event was the Peter Peko Memorial - Pot Limit Holdem / Omaha, there was a total of 59 players contesting this event with a total prize pool of $29,500. New Zealand’s Sam He was the eventual victor who received the top prize of $10,000.

Australian Poker star Eric Assadourian became the only player to defend a New Zealand Poker Championship title in the history of the tournament, when he took out the New Zealand Pot Limit Omaha Championship. Assadourian headed off a field of 60 players to walk away with $10,000 in winnings.

The top 3 for each of the events are listed below.

Do you struggle week after week to find the latest Lotto results, Big Wednesday results and Keno results? NZS.com is now your source for all of your results - we’ve launched our brand new New Zealand Lotto section today!

We are dedicated to providing results from the latest draws to you in an simple to navigate format which is easy on the eye. Unlike many other online lottery results sources, NZS.com provides past draw winning numbers, so if you find a ticket in an old pair of pants that went unchecked, this is where you can find out if you were a winner! Remember that your old tickets are valid for 12 months.

The History of Lotto is actually quite interesting - beginning thousands of years ago in China, the first records of a lottery was put in place to help fund the construction of the Great Wall of China. Since then both the Roman Empire and Queen Elizabeth I’s England have benefited from lottery funding, along with several ivy-leave American universities.

NZ Lotto has been in place since 1987 and is a popular pastime for hundreds of thousands of Kiwis. During the 1990s Keno was launched as a daily lottery option for the thrill of the draw, and three years ago in 2005 Big Wednesday was launched to give Kiwis the chance to win the ultimate lifestyle: luxury cars, boats, baches and cash.

Make sure you bookmark the New Zealand Lotto page on NZS.com!

Image from Flickr.

I was surfing the net over the weekend and came across a private yacht called “Octopus”. What a yacht it is! At 126m long, it is apparently the largest privately owned yacht in the world - costing US$200 million and has a permanent crew of 60. It has two helicopters, seven boats, and a 10-man submarine that has the capacity to sleep eight for up to two weeks underwater. Talk about luxury accommodation!

The cost to maintain the yacht and cover crew salaries is estimated at US$20 million a year, and that’s before you drop anchor and leave the dock.

The man that owns this behemoth, Paul Allen, is the co-founder of Microsoft. It is just one of three he owns, although the other two yachts are not as big.

This maritime mammoth got me thinking, what else do those who can afford anything spend their millions on? Here are some of the luxury purchases made by the uber-wealthy according to Forbes.

Private Planes

Private Planes are to billionaires what Ferraris are to programmers who have cashed in their stock options. They are the thing they’ve always wanted and now can finally afford. The most popular is the Gulfstream V which retails for around US$40 million., although there are reports of a couple of A380’s on order for private use at a whopping US$280 million.

Sports Teams

Perhaps buying a sports team is a repressed adolescent fantasy for rich guys who could never play sports in high school and can now afford to buy the whole team? Paul Allen reappears here thanks to his purchase of the Seattle Seahawks NFL team and the Portland Trailblazers NBA team. Mark Cuban who founded Broadcast.com owns the Dallas Mavericks NBA team, and lets not forget Malcolm Glazer who famously purchased Manchester United Football team and also owns the Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL team.

Collecting

Many of the veterans of the Forbes 400 rich list have been collecting for years, but for some of the newer billionaires, it’s a more recent passion. Bill Gates made several headlines through his purchase of celebrated artworks, the most important of which was when he paid approx US$30 million in 1994 for Leonardo Da Vinci’s Leicester Codex.

Getaways

There is a reason why a getaway is called what it is - because people don’t want to be found. Every Billionaire owns at least one, but the whereabouts are jealously guarded. Media Mogul Robert E. Turner has made no secret about his. Over the past several years, he has spent nearly half a billion dollars acquiring land around the world including 13 separate ranches in six western states, totalling 1.7 million acres - making him the largest landholder in the United States outside of the federal government.

Clothes

It is easy to say that a billionaire, like an 800 pound gorilla, can wear anything he wants. But billionaires are getting more dress savvy, thanks in part to the skill of master menswear tailor Gian DeCaro, whose Seattle shop has made hand-sewn suits for most of the city’s high tech elite.

Yachts

After purchases by the likes of Paul Allen, luxurious superyachts have become one of the big ticket items billionaires like the most. Larry Ellison, CEO of software giant Oracle is another with a fondness for sailing yachts. Jim Clarke former chief of Netscape has just recently commissioned a multi-million dollar, 292-foot three master, that when completed will be the world’s largest sloop.

Staff

The single biggest expense that any billionaire can accrue is manpower. Getting all the people you need to fly your planes, build your homes, manage your ranch, hang your paintings and cook your meals can add up. To get help getting help, billionaires turn to companies like Starkey International, a Denver based firm that specialises in training and placing household management staff around the world. Entry level household staff can earn as much as $35,000 to $55,000, depending on skills, while more experienced estate level managers can earn up to $125,000 a year.

Whilst these things are clearly luxury items to the average wage earner, it still begs the question: why?

And the simple answer is “because they can”!

Image from Flickr.

The 2008 New Zealand Poker Champs has already begun and is being held between 3 May and 11 May at the Christchurch Casino. The popular and entertaining “Celebrity Challenge for Charity” will again feature at the 2008 New Zealand Poker Champs where some of New Zealand’s most famous faces will have their best poker faces on. The winning celebrity will donate their winnings to their selected charity.

The Canterbury Championships, the South Island Championships, Peter Peko Memorial and New Zealand Pot Limit Omaha Champs will again feature in 2008.

Big star names that have expressed interest in playing in this years tournaments include international cricketer Shane Warne, 2005 WSOP Main Event champ Joe Hachem and professional poker player Kenna James.

The New Zealand Poker Championship tournament details are listed below.

The start of May brings another NZ Music Month to life. This seems to fit nicely with the announcement today that Flight of the Conchords have come in at #3 on the US pop charts with their debut self-titled album, topping the previous high of Crowded House at #12 for their own self-titled debut album in 1987.

Each year, the month of May is dedicated to promoting New Zealand music on radio & television and is supported heavily by the NZ Music Commission who work tirelessly to bring local talent in front of the wider NZ public.

The official website (nzmusicmonth.co.nz) lists a surprisingly large level of NZ gigs going on around during the month. On the 1st of May alone there are more than 20 different NZ gigs taking place up and down the country, from Sarah Brown in Auckland to The Mint Chicks in Dunedin.

Make sure you get your fair share of New Zealand music this month and get along to one of the gigs!

Image from NZ History.

One of the biggest blockbusters has hit screens worldwide this week, but it doesn’t star any $20 million Hollywood scarlets or muscle-bound teen heartthrobs. In fact, those screens aren’t even silver - we’re talking about an in-home blockbuster: Grand Theft Auto IV.

The much hyped Playstation 3/Xbox 360 game is getting rave reviews worldwide, even being toted as “the best game ever” by many gaming magazines. After less than 48 hours on the market, first week sales predictions are looking towards US$400 million.

This would put it on par with the current entertainment record holder, the film Pirates of the Caribbean III, which eclipsed all previous records in May of 2007 with its opening weekend takings.

The current leader in video games is Halo 3, which was released in September last year and raked in US$300 million in its first week on sale.

To experience this visually stunning masterpiece, pick up a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV from video game stores and the usual outlets nationwide.

Image from Flickr.

If you’re in Auckland this week leading up to Anzac Day, pop down to the Auckland War Memorial Museum for a spectacular cinematic experience brought to you by Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson.

Jackson has restored footage shot by famous war correspondent Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett for the rare film “Heroes of Gallipoli”. The twenty-minute film is being projected on the outside of the museum, and will play continuously from 7.30pm until 10.00pm until the end of the week.

Visitors to the museum are invited to watch the film and then venture inside to see collections of art and photographs by current New Zealand soldiers, look up relatives’ war records on the database, and enjoy some light refreshments at the cafe.

Peter Jackson’s terrific restoration has just been listed with UNESCO’s Memory of the World programme.

For those outside of Auckland, documentaries and other ANZAC related features will run all day Friday on Maori Television, so whip some biscuits with our Anzac biscuits recipe and relax on your day off while learning about New Zealand’s history.

Image from Flickr.

The school holidays are starting and the kids want your undivided attention - for two whole weeks! Older children and teenagers can often amuse themselves without constant supervision - they’ve got bikes, video games and rugby balls, but what about little ones that need constant entertainment?

The school holidays can be a stressful time for parents at home. Often, the only solution seems to be to throw money around - taking them to the movies or adventure playlands to keep them amused. If you often find yourself stuck for ideas to keep your kids entertained (and have fun yourself too), check out some of our great ideas:

• Make a furniture obstacle course

Line dining-room chairs up and drape an old sheet over the cushions. Your kids will have fun climbing on top and crawling underneath in the ‘cave’ created by the sheets.

• Musical Statues

Teach your child to listen to instructions by turning fast-paced music up for them to dance and run around too. When the music stops they need to freeze like statues and ‘go’ again when the music starts up. Encourage them by dancing and jumping around yourself when the music starts.

• Scrapbooking

Cut out colour photocopies of photographs of your family and friends and let your kids create a scrapbook. If they are older, let them come up with captions to write on each page - an interesting story may evolve! This is perfect for those times when kids’ activities need to wind-down rather than rev-up.

Check out our article on school holiday entertainment, or if you really need a break these holidays, find a babysitter so you can have some time to yourself.

Image from Flickr.

How do New Zealanders celebrate Easter?

This holiday, traditionally a time for remembering the death and resurrection of Christ, is now celebrated as a time of new beginnings… and chocolate.

Chances are, even if you don’t consider yourself religious in any way, you’re probably still celebrating Easter with some of the most ancient symbols of new life - eggs, baby chicks and rabbits. These are all symbols of fertility, life and newfound hope. So, while you’re enjoying some hard-earned chocolate bunnies, Easter eggs and hot cross buns this year - think about the meaning behind all those delicious Easter treats!

This Easter…

Activities for Easter - Get creative with Easter crafts, go on an Easter youth camp, make gift baskets and cards, or throw a themed Easter party.

Easter baking - Nothing beats homemade hot cross buns, and they’re easy for kids to make too!

Make your own Easter eggs - Who knew it was so easy to make

Easter gifts - Give a little something at Easter to friends, family or corporate clients. Try Easter flowers, gift baskets, Christian gifts or the traditional favourite - Easter eggs.

Learn about Easter - Learn more about the traditional meaning and stories of Easter, and celebrate with others at your local church.