2012 Aussie Millions Day 17: Ivey and Nelson Miss Final Table; Bjorn Li Leads the Way

January 28, 2012

Even though the 2012 Aussie Millions Poker Championship is winding down, there was plenty of action to watch on Saturday. A final table was reached in the Main Event, and while all eyes were on Phil Ivey, he ultimately fell short in 12th place. Not to be deterred, Ivey exited the Main Even arena and immediately entered the $250,000 Challenge. That event went late into the night and into the early morning, and was actually still in progress at the time of this writing. We'll provide a separate recap when that event wraps.

A handful of preliminary events crowned champions on Saturday, and you can find the details on those events below. Here’s a look at the action from Day 17 of the 2012 Aussie Millions Poker Championship:

Event #8: $10,000 Main Event Day 5

After five days of play, the 2012 Aussie Millions Main Event reached a final table on Saturday. The original starting field of 659 runners has been whittled all the way down to just seven, and leading the way is Bjorn Li with 4.775 million in chips.

Coming into Day 5, the two big stories were Phil Ivey and Lee Nelson, the 2006 Aussie Millions Main Event champion. All hopes of a final table that included the both of them would not come true as Ivey fell in 12th place and Nelson in ninth.

Ivey was the first player eliminated on the day after entering Day 5 as the shortest stack. He got involved in a raising war with Yann Dion before calling off all of his chips dominated. Ivey held the A♦Q♣ and Dion the A♠K♦. After a board of 2♦2♣2♠8♣9♠ ran out, Ivey was left with a payday of $100,000 and ran upstairs to Studio 3 to hop in the $250,000 Challenge that was to start a couple hours later.

Nelson lasted a little longer than Ivey did before bowing out in ninth place for $125,000. On Nelson's final hand of the tournament, he was all in with A♣K♥ versus the 8♦8♣ of Oliver Speidel. The eights held for Speidel after the board ran out 6♦5♣4♠3♥7♥, and Nelson headed out the door.

After a redraw to one table of eight — the unofficial final table — it was 2011 World Series of Poker bracelet winner Daniel Idema who was eliminated just one spot short of Day 6. Idema was by far the most decorated player in the final eight, but he was sent to the rail when his A♣Q♥ ran into Li's A♦K♠. Idema earned $125,000 for his five days of work.

Final Table Seating Assignments

After the players bagged and tagged for the night, Mile Krstanoski told us that he's going to "ship the lot!" That means he's fired up for the final table and you should be as well.

The sixth and final day of the Main Event will kick off at 12:30 AEST on Sunday, and the PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be on hand capturing all the action as the next Aussie Millions champion is crowned.

Event #13 $5,300 Heads-Up Championship

The $5,300 Heads-Up Championship began on Monday and featured four starting flights over four days, bringing the total number of players up to 32 and creating a prize pool of $160,000. Some of the players who entered but failed to cash were Randy Dorfman, Daniel Neilson, Michael Marvanek, Tom Rafferty, Jonas Kronwitter, Nam Le, and Kristian Lunardi, just to name a few.

In the final match, Canada's Sorel Mizzi took on South African Gregory Ronaldson and, after a back-and-forth match, Ronaldson emerged victorious. Mizzi later expressed his frustration on Twitter:

Event #13 $5,300 Heads-Up Championship Payouts

Event #18 $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha

On Thursday, 83 entrants forked over $2,500 to enter Event #18, creating a prize pool of $186,750. The two-day event concluded late Friday night and saw Jim “Mr_BigQueso” Collopy capture the title. Collopy is having a nice showing at this year’s Aussie Millions, following up a final table appearance in the $1,100 NLH w/ Rebuys event with a win.

Event #18 $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha Final Table Payouts

Event #19 $2,500 NLH Six-Handed

The $2,500 Six-Handed event began on Friday and attracted 190 players. The field was pretty stacked with the likes of Jonathan Karamalikis, Faraz Jaka, Tony Hachem, Danny Smith, and Daniel Laidlaw all surviving the Day 1 and making the top 20, just two spots shy of the money.

On Day 2, both Karamalikis (16th for $5,100) and Hachem (12th for $10,200) were eliminated shy of the final table, but notables Jaka, Anton Wigg, Sean Keeton, and Tam Truong reached the final six. The heads-up match was a lengthy battle between Jaka and Paul Helderman. In what would be the last hand, Jaka had about 30 big blinds and three-bet called with A♠10♠ against Helderman’s 4♦4♥.

The 7♠K♦5♠ flop gave Jaka a flush draw to go along with his overs, but neither the 5♦ turn nor the 3♥ river provided him with the help he needed.

Here’s a look at the $2,500 NLHE Six-Handed final table results:

Event #19 $2,500 NLH 6 Handed Final Table Payouts

Event #21 $1,100 8-Game Mixed Event

On Saturday, the final table of the $1,100 8-Game Mixed event got underway with Sean Dunwoodie leading a stacked final table that included Victor Ramdin, Sam Khouiss, and Chris Bonato. The former two players were the first casualties, and Bonato's deep run ended when he was defeated by Yan Suchanek in heads-up play.

Event #21 $1,100 8-Game Mixed Event Final Table Payouts

Event #22 $550 Turbo NLHE Cubed

Saturday saw the last $550 no-limit hold’em event of the 2012 Aussie Millions take place. Players were allowed one rebuy and one add-on, and the 130 entrants took advantage by creating 195 rebuys and add-ons. In the end, Martin Mathis outlasted them all to claim the $32,950 first-place prize.

Event #22 $550 Turbo NLH Cubed Final Table Payouts

Event #23 $25,500 NLHE Semi-Shootout

After just nine levels of play the final table is set for the $25,000 Semi-Shootout event. On Sunday, Lithuanian Dominykas Karmazinas emerged as the chip leader as the field of 20 was whittled down to the final six.

Play started on a delay as many players didn't register, but just wandered around the poker room to see who would. Just past 3pm, things finally kicked things off with three short-handed tables. In the second level, after around 50 minutes of play, the first elimination occurred. Jason Koon, who went deep in the Main Event finishing 27th for $35,000, clashed with Roberto Romanello in a huge pot where they both made a flush. This hand was a symbol for one of the most fast paced tournaments at this year's Aussie Millions.

Players started busting left and right as Shawn Buchanan,Joe Hachem and Vitaly Lunkin all hit the rail. Randy Dorfman was the next to go as he tried pulling off a massive bluff against Romanello. Play started with only 20 players and when Tobias Reinkemeier busted in 13th place, the tournament entered the shootout stage.

After the dinner break, 12 players returned on two six-handed tables. From each table the top three would advance to the final table, and on Table 32 this only took 80 minutes. Jonathan Karamalikis ran his ace-jack into Dan Kelly's pocket kings, and he was quickly followed out the door by Matt Jarvis who couldn't dodge Mike Watson's flush draw. Watson seemed to be in control, but running into pocket aces never helps. Watson bubbled the final table as his final chips went to Daniel Alaei, who had a nice rush towards the end of the night.

Table 29 hadn't lost a single player when Table 32 finished. Chips were being moved around, but no massive pots were created. After a very quiet level, the players seemed to be switching gears as we saw three bustouts in the next 40 minutes. Local player Billy Jordanou was the first to go as he ran his short stack into two big hands. Then, Romanello lost a big portion of his stack doubling up Elliot Smith who woke up with pocket kings. Moments later it was Igor Kurganov who four-bet all-in from the small blind into Karmazinas who also had pocket kings. Kurganov didn't improve his queen-jack into a winning hand. Romanello couldn't recover from his loss against Smith as he also doubled up Tony G. The G moved up to over 40 big blinds while Romanello was knocked down even further. A couple hands later he busted when his top pair couldn't hold up against Smith, who rivered a set.

The final table draw is not known and won't be determined until players return to action at 14:00 AEST on Sunday. Here are the final table chip counts:

Upcoming Events

The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be on hand for the final day of the 2012 Aussie Millions Main Event on Sunday. In addition, the final two event of the 2012 Aussie Millions Poker Championship, the $550 Australian Poker Hall of Fame Classic and the $10,500 8-Game Mixed Event, will kick off.

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PR & Media Manager for PokerNews, Podcast host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.

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