Representing poker’s elder statesmen at the APPT Auckland Main Event final table is 68-year-old Leo Boxell. The Melbourne, Australia native claims that he has been playing poker “Since Noah.” They say that with age, comes wisdom, and that would seem to hold true for Boxell, who has accumulated more than $500,000 USD in career tournament earnings, dating back to 1998. In December 2009, he finished third in the APPT Sydney Grand Final Main Event, posting an AUD $213,840 result. This was followed up by another final table appearance at the 2010 APPT Auckland Main Event, placing ninth for NZD$16,350. In 2003, Boxell finished runner-up to Peter Costa in the $10,000 buy-in Crown Australasian Poker Championships (now Aussie Millions), earning AUD $225,640 in prize money. Leo works as an auto mechanic by day, hence his nickname, “The Mechanic,” and currently ranks 19th on Australia’s all-time money list (per The Hendon Mob Poker Database).

Profile courtesy of PokerStars, dated September 2010.