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More and more players are starting to file into the Crown Poker Room with a few of the below players returning after busting out of Day 1a last night.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
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10,000 | |
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10,000 | |
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10,000 | |
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10,000 | |
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10,000 | |
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10,000 | |
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10,000 | |
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10,000 | |
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10,000 | |
The 2012 Aussie Millions Poker Championship kicked off yesterday with the $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em Opening Event flight one, which drew a field of 274 players. It was at that time Crown officials revealed to PokerNews that in celebration of the Aussie Millions’ 10th anniversary, a special Tournament of Champions will be held on Saturday, Jan. 21 — the day before the Main Event.
Tournament officials have confirmed that eight of the nine Aussie Millions champions will attend. Alexander Kostritsyn, 2008 winner, will not be able to attend.
The eight players who will attend are Peter Costa (2003), Tony Bloom (2004), Jamil Dia (2005), Lee Nelson (2006), Gus Hansen (2007), Stewart Scott (2009), Tyron Krost (2010), and David Gorr (2011).
The champions will compete for a “golden ticket,” which will award the winner a lifetime of buy-ins to the Aussie Millions Main Event.
“I’m really excited about having all of the former champions return to celebrate our 10th anniversary,” said Christian Vaughan, tournament director at Crown. “This will be the first time Jamil Dia has been back since his win in 2005 and we haven’t seen Peter Costa in many years. It’s thrilling to have all these great players under the same roof and battling it out for a lifetime freeroll at the Aussie Millions.”
Leo Boxell raised to 500 from middle position and was met with a three-bet to 1,500 by a player in the hijack. Action folded back to Boxell and he made the call, leading to a flop of 
. Boxell proceeded to check-call a bet of 1,250, and then check-called another bet of 3,500 on the 
turn.
When the 
appeared on the river, Boxell checked a third time and his opponent moved all in for 4,500. Boxell snap called and the hijack just shook his head and tossed his cards to the muck. Boxell followed suit and tossed his own hand to the dealer, winning the pot without so much as a showdown.
Boxell is up to 20,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
20,000
10,000
|
10,000 |
The first couple of levels have already played out here on Day 1b, but the players continue to take their seats' at the tables.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
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10,000 | |
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10,000 | |
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10,000 | |
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10,000 | |
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10,000 | |
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10,000 | |
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10,000 | |
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10,000 | |
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10,000 |
Level: 3
Blinds: 100/200
Ante: 0
It is interesting to note that both Jim "Mr_BigQueso" Collopy and Daniel "djk123" Kelly have taken their seats at the same table in today's event.
Both of these players are well known for crushing online tournaments and since the events of "Black Friday", have both spent a considerable amount of time in Australia playing online poker.
Octavian Voegele opened for a raise only to be three-bet by an unknown opponent. Voegele responded by pushing back for his entire stack, totaling 6,100, and his opponent snap-called.
Showdown
Voegele: 
Opponent: 
Voegele held live cards, but needed to improve to stay alive. Unfortunately for him, the board ran out an uneventful 
and Voegele was eliminated from the tournament here in the early stage of Level 3.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Busted |
Maria Ho opened from the hijack for 450 and found a call from the player in the big blind. Both players proceeded to check the 
flop, as well as the turn. When the 
appeared on the river, the big blind checked, Ho bet a modest 550, and he opponent tank-folded.
It wasn't much of a hand, but it gave us the excuse to let all you Ho fans out there know she is up to 14,500.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
14,500
4,500
|
4,500 |
Thanks for following along with our coverage of the 2012 Aussie Millions on PokerNews. Be sure to check out our friends at the PartyPoker blog as well.
Wandering past Maria Ho and Gary Benson's table and we noticed that Ho had considerably less than her peak stack from just a short while ago and Benson is looking a lot healthier.
While we were at the table, Ho and Benson were rumbling in the following hand. the board showed 
and Ho and one other player checked to Benson. At this point Benson made a bet of 1,400 and Ho went for the check-raise, making it 3,450. The other player got out of the way, while Benson made the call.
The on the river would see Ho check again and Benson would again bet, this time 3,500. Ho thought for some time, glancing at her cards several times before letting it go, sending the pot to Benson.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
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24,000
14,000
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14,000 |
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9,200
-5,300
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-5,300 |