Event #9: Aussie Millions Main Event
Day 1a Started
Event #9: Aussie Millions Main Event
Day 1a Started
You can feel it in the air as the atmosphere morphs into that keen mixture of nerves, excitement and anticipation, so ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, we present to you the 2011 Aussie Millions Main Event!
In 2009, Stewart Scott became the first Aussie to keep the title on home soil and by 2010 a young man by the name of Tyron Krost had ensured it would stay that way. In typical patriotic fashion the Australians will be looking to achieve the elusive hat-trick, but it won’t be easy with the droves of internationals having other ideas.
Satellite winners, rich businessmen, celebrities and poker professionals alike will all be in attendance over the next few day one flights, all looking to create a day two berth and start their journey towards stardom.
Only one person will end up with millions of dollars and the title of 2011 champion, so who will it be? Will they be in today’s field? Your guess is as good as ours, but one thing is for sure, whomever it may be, they will need keen wit, patience, well timed aggression and that championship quality that only a few possess.
Cue the drum roll please, as the PokerNews Live Reporting Team is in Melbourne, Australia for the piece de la resistance that is the Aussie Millions Main Event!
Level: 1
Blinds: 50/100
Ante: 0
Joe Hachem has kicked off the event with the age old words we were all waiting for and with that the dealers have thrown the cards in the air.
Let's get this party started!
Crown Casino Master of Ceremonies Anne Peacock led the presentations once again and after a solid performance of the Kenny Rogers smash hit, "The Gambler" by the house band, defending champion Tyron Krost was introduced to the crowd before a visual presentation of the devastating Queensland floods was shown.
Crown Casino and the Aussie Millions are doing their bit to help the victims of this disaster by setting up over 100 collection tins throughout the complex, as well as asking players to make a donation upon collecting their winnings during the series. All proceeds will be matched dollar for dollar by Crown and will go directly to the Salvation Army Flood Appeal.
As Crown Ambassador and 2005 World Champion Joe Hachem said, "It really puts your bad beats at the table into perspective."
Naturally, the entire team at PokerNews urge everyone to chip in for the cause and help out those in need.
We know you at home want to prepare yourselves for a day (or night) of railing, so here is what you can expect. The field will be playing seven 90-minute levels with a 75-minute dinner break after the fourth level (about 7:45).
Player | Chips | Progress |
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Barny Boatman | 20,000 | |
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Jim Sachinidis | 20,000 | |
Dan Smith | 20,000 | |
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James Akenhead | 20,000 | |
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Justin Smith | 20,000 | |
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Cliff Lee
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20,000 | |
Perry Friedman | 20,000 | |
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Andrew Teng | 20,000 | |
JP Kelly | 20,000 | |
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Tony Dunst | 20,000 | |
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20,000 | |
Jesse McKenzie | 20,000 | |
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20,000 | |
Eli Elezra | 20,000 | |
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Leo Boxell | 20,000 | |
Maria Ho | 20,000 | |
Daniel Neilson | 20,000 | |
Stewart Scott | 20,000 | |
Jarred Graham | 20,000 | |
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Dale Philip | 20,000 | |
Steve Leonard
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20,000 | |
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20,000 | |
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20,000 | |
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20,000 | |
Andrew Hinrichsen | 20,000 | |
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There seems to have been a rather peculiar mix-up over on table 26, where Daniel Neilson, Masa Kagawa and last night's Event #7 runner-up Randy Dorfman are currently sitting.
The only problem? It appears that Maria Ho is actually supposed to be seated where Dorfman is now - table 26, seat 4. As a result, Ho is yet to take here seat in the Main Event. From what we've been able to establish, it seems that there might have been a mix-up when the seating allocations were printed off this morning.
The Crown tournament staff are investigating, but at least we can take comfort in the fact that everyone is laughing about it. "Sorry, but Maria's better-looking than you!" quipped one player.
"Okay Maria, it seems I'm out, you're in," Dorfman joked. We'll keep you posted as more develops.
Barny Boatman has already been involved in an action pot with this hand taking place as our PokerNews reporter caught the action with the board showing .
There were two other players in the pot and one of them shoved their stack allin for 11,700 sending the action Boatman's way. With one player behind him, Boatman decided he too would move his 16,675 in the pot. With the other player not wanting to tangle with Boatman it would be one players tournament life on the line or a big double-up for Boatman looming.
Boatman:
Opponent:
Hitting trips on the flop would be good enough and when the river bricked, Boatman would send his rival packing, as this little dialogue played out between Boatman and local player Jim Sachinidis.
"Barny, you weren't thinking of folding?", Sachinidis asked.
"I was actually thinking about going up to the cage to get more money to raise!", replied Boatman as he gathered up his now 38,000 chip stack.
Here are a few more people we've found at the tables:
Player | Chips | Progress |
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Mike Watson | 20,000 | |
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Raymond Rahme | 20,000 | |
Harrison Gimbel | 20,000 | |
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Keith Gipson
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20,000 | |
Rami Boukai | 20,000 | |
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Chris Moorman | 20,000 | |
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Erick Lindgren | 20,000 | |
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Benny Spindler | 20,000 | |
Mike Matusow | 20,000 | |
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Jonathan Karamalikis | 20,000 | |
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Dominik Nitsche | 20,000 | |
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