Have you subscribed to the NZS.com newsletter yet? For the month of July, all new sign-ups go into the draw to win a sponsored listing on NZS.com, worth up to $300!

The winner will receive a prime ad spot in the NZS.com category of their choice, which aims to direct traffic towards their target market favourably over standard listings. What a great chance to increase your online presence!

The July newsletter is hot off the press today and features the latest tips and news from the NZS.com team, this month including details on our spanking hot new Jobs section, advice on long lasting search results and a rundown on the iPhone 3G’s release next week!

To be in to the draw to win the advertising spot, simply sign up to the NZS.com newsletter before the end of July. Not sure what a sponsored listing is? Check out the New Zealand advertising page for a rundown on advertising options on NZS.com.

Image from Flickr.

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.

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.

You know how much I love free things. Who can resist a giveaway, even if the item in question is completely useless or impractical?

But this, ah, we’re onto a winner.

Good ol’ Air New Zealand is offering you the chance to win flights to Australia in a gimmicky, yet oddly enticing, way. The deal is this: just send a message online to a friend in Australia (an expat Kiwi, of course) and it’ll be displayed on a billboard outside Customs House in Sydney. Just by sending this message to a mate, you’ll go into the draw for a return flight to Aussie (and so will your friend). The gallery of sent messages also makes for good voyeuristic viewing (as well as the usual ‘I luv you, will you marry me?’s, there are comedians out there writing gems like this one: Hey man, remember the time we ate a whole pair of jeans? Come home so we can do it again!).

Remember, NZS.com lists heaps of other sites where you can enter competitions and snaffle free stuff for yourself. And if you don’t fancy your chances of winning, why not book a flight to Australia to escape these far-from-tropical wintry days?

Something that caught my eye (and my inbox!) was this little ditty ‘n’ dance, otherwise known as the haka. But this is a haka with a difference – it’s performed by a team of hybrid gingerbread All Blacks.

These funky dancing biscuits are brought to you by the Baking Industry Association of New Zealand, in aid of the annual Bakery of the Year competition. This nationwide bake-off is open to all Kiwi bakeries, from cafes that bake their own breads, to specialist baking outfits and instore supermarket bakeries.

If you’re a bakery, register to earn a coveted place in the top ten of New Zealand’s best bakeries. And if you’re a punter, you can be in to win a $500 travel voucher just by casting your vote! To sample some baked goodies before making your decision, take a look at our New Zealand bakeries category.