From under the gun, Gavin Griffin raised to 600. Jamie Pickering called from the cutoff seat, the button called and Dennis Huntly called from the small blind to make for four-way action to the flop with 2,600 chips in the middle.
After the flop came down , Huntly checked to the preflop aggressor Griffin. He fired a continuation bet of 1,300 and Pickering called. The player on the button got out of the way and Huntly also folded, leaving half of the players to the turn.
Fourth street brought the and Griffin bet 2,200. Just as he wasn't slowing down, Pickering wasn't going anywhere and made the call.
The river card was the and completed the board. It didn't complete the action though as Griffin bet 5,800. Pickering pulled the 5,800 aside from his stack and contemplated his decision before finally tossing in the chips to make the call. After he did so, Griffin turned over the for just the nuts. Pickering mucked his hand and dropped back to 18,300 in chips. Griffin rose to 34,000.
On a flop of , Roland de Wolfe checked from out of the small blind before Michael Pedley tossed in a bet of 600.
Eric Assadourian jacked up the price to 1,500 as de Wolfe got out of this Australian battle as Pedley made the call.
When the turn landed the , Pedley took the lead again with a 2,300-chip bet which Assadourian called as the completed the board.
Pedley paused for a few moments before making it 3,000 to go as Assadourian again made the call.
Pedley tabled his for two-pair, but it would be Assadourian's same two-pair with , but a better kicker, to see the 2006 Melbourne Poker Championships winner collect the pot to move to 31,000 as Pedley slipped back down to 18,500.
From the button, 2006 Aussie Millions champion Lee Nelson raised to 525. The small blind three-bet to 1,200 and the big blind called. Nelson also called to see the flop.
The flop came down and the small blind fired 2,000. After the big blind folded, Nelson made the call.
The turn brought the and the small blind bet 5,000. He had 4,425 behind and Nelson studied the situation for a bit. Eventually, Nelson gave it up and cut his losses. He's on 24,000 now.
Jackie Glazier, Joe Hachem, and Ryan Bochorsky saw a raised flop three-handed. It fell , and Glazier checked in the small blind. From late position, Bochorsky bet 1,100, and Hachem flatted on the button. Action back to her, Glazier raised to 3,500. Bochorsky immediately moved all in for his 7,600.
Hachem asked to see Glazier's stack before furrowing his brow and pitching his cards to the dealer. Glazier called the extra 4,100 and showed for a naked flush draw. Bochorsky would need to dodge another club to double up with his . The on the turn gave Glazier a pair and some extra outs, but the river was a brick. She tapped the table and paid Bochorsky, dropping below starting stack to 16,500.
Grant Levy opened to 450 from middle position and Jay Kinkade and the big blind made the call to see a flop fall.
The action was checked to Kinkade in the cutoff who opted to fire out a bet 700 with only the big blind making the call.
As the turn landed the , Kinkade continued for 2,205 after his opponent checked, and once he made the call and the river landed the , both players checked.
The big blind tabled his for trips, but it would be Kinkade's for a better set of trips that would see him earn the pot and move to roughly 16,000 in chips.
After a player limped in from under the gun, Evan "MacDaddy34" Panesis raised from the hijack seat to 900. Richard Willson reraised from the small blind and made it 2,200. The limper folded before action went back to Panesis. A strategy pro from PokerNews Strategy, Panesis reraised to 6,650. Wilson made the call and would have to play out of position from here on out in the hand.
The flop came down and Wilson checked. Panesis checked behind and for now the pot wouldn't get any larger despite some aggressive preflop action. The turn card was the and added a second diamond to the board. Wilson checked and Panesis checked behind.
The river completed the board with the to bring in a backdoor flush draw and also complete some straight draws. Wilson was first and tanked for a bit before checking. Panesis also tanked, but he didn't check. Panesis fired 7,000 and Wilson made the call.
Panesis was the beneficiary of those backdoor diamonds as he tabled the for a flush. Wilson mucked his hand and lost the pot. Panesis stacked his chips and now has 57,000 in his stack.
As mentioned before, Panesis is one of our pros at PokerNews Strategy, which is currently running a special sign-up promotion for the Aussie Millions. Visit PokerNews Strategy and enter the code "AUS2001" when creating your account to receive three FREE days of full membership! If you then subscribe further within one week of your trial, you'll get 20% off! Take advantage of the offer and unlock your potential!
Obviously there are plenty of pros Down Under for the 2011 Aussie Millions. While most of them are using temporary grind stations, I decided to check out the more permanent grind station of Melbourne resident, and Full Tilt Poker Red Pro Van "Sirens" Marcus. I even got to go for a ride in his fire-engine red Ferrari - you know, the one that was stolen last year.