Day 4, the penultimate day of the 2013 Aussie Millions Main Event, is set to begin in 60 minutes or so. The chip leader is Australian Ray Ellis, who was the only player to bag over one million chips. In second place is Finnish poker legend Patrik Antonius, who has 957,000 chips, and among the survivors are Brandon Adams, James Obst, Phil Ivey, and Dan Shak.
Antonius shot up the chip counts on Day 3 thanks to this hand against Adam Carlton. Antonius fell below one million chips during the last level of play, but should be very dangerous with the second-largest stack on the room.
The eyeballs that are not on Antonius will surely be on Mr. Ivey. Ivey was unable to defend his title in the $250,000 Challenge last night because it is a two-day event, which means he has all of the motivation in the world to make this deep run count.
Also still in the field is last year's Aussie Millions Main Event second-place finisher, Kenny Wong, as well as his girlfriend, Jay Tan. The two were put to the WAG Diaries challenge on Day 2:
Who will be the next to add their name to this prestigious list of winners?
The plan today is to play until we reach an official final table of six. All the tables are now six-handed, and the final six players will receive the following prizes:
2013 Aussie Millions Final Table Payouts
Place
Prize (AU$)
1st
$1,600,000*
2nd
$1,000,000
3rd
$600,000
4th
$400,000
5th
$290,000
6th
$220,000
*Will also receive a car.
The action kicks off at 12:30 p.m. local time, so be sure to stay tuned for all of your exclusive, up-to-the-minute updates straight from the tournament floor.
When we reached Table 11, there was around 200,000 in the pot on a board of . Man Hei Lam was all in for 491,000, and there were no bets in front of Jan Collado, meaning that he open-shipped for more than two times the pot on the turn.
Collado looked very confused, but called nonetheless.
Lam:
Collado:
The river was a repeat deuce - the - and Lam shipped a massive double up. He now sits with around 1.2 million chips, while Collado is down to around 305,000.
Phil Ivey opened to 16,000 on the button, Daniel Laidlaw three-bet to 44,000 from the big blind, and Ivey made the call.
The dealer fanned , and Laidlaw checked. Ivey tossed out three brown T25,000 chips, and Laidlaw called.
The turn was the , both players checked, and the completed the board. Laidlaw checked a third and final time, prompting Ivey to slide out a tower of yellow T1,000 chips.
The bet was 100,000, and Laidlaw tanked for the better part of two minutes before calling. Ivey ripped over for a pair of tens, but they were no good against Laidlaw's for a pair of queens.
Laidlaw is up to 720,000 chips, while Ivey is in the danger zone with 130,000.
When we reached the table, the board was . Stevan Chew led out for 38,000, and Mervin Chan raised to 127,000. Chew tanked for a bit, then moved all in for around 400,000.
There was a beat, and then Chan called.
Chan:
Chew:
Chew needed an ace, jack, or six to survive, but the bricked on the river. The local hero was eliminated in 36th place, while Chan now has over 1.1 million chips.
Shoshiro Karita opened to 20,000 from early position, James Obst three-bet to 46,000 from the small blind, and Dan Shak cold four-bet to 200,000 from the big blind. Karita quickly folded.
Obst started talking with Shak, and we're not exactly sure what he said to Shak, but we're positive that said the word, "aces."
Eventually, Obst announced that he was all in. Shak snap-called the 625,000-chip bet.
Obst:
Shak:
Shak had the Aussie crushed, and held as the board ran out . Shak now has 1.3 million chips, while Obst is down to 385,000.
Last year Phil Ivey finished 12th in this very event and then went on to win the $250,000 Challenge later that night. Unfortunately for him (and plenty of poker fans), Ivey won't be bettering that result here in 2013.
His demise came when he opened for 20,000 from the cutoff and then called a three-bet to 56,000 from James Obst in the big blind. The latter led out for 60,000 on the flop, and Ivey quietly announced that he was all in for roughly 330,000. Neither Obst nor the spectators heard the declaration, and the two players sat motionless for the better part of two minutes before the dealer informed Obst that action was on him. The Australian, who was clearly surprised, made a quick call.
Ivey:
Obst:
Ivey had flopped an open-ended straight draw to go with his overpair, but Obst, who killed two of his outs, had him pipped with a bigger overpair. The turn was of no help to Ivey, and neither was the river. Ivey was eliminated from the tournament in 30th place while Obst chipped up to 1 million.
When we arrived at Table 10, Patrik Antonius (small blind) had 70,000 sitting in front of him. Dave Garcia (big blind) had 130,000 sitting in front of him, and the action was back on Antonius. He called.
The flop fell , and Antonius checked. Garcia moved all in for 369,000, and Antonius immediately called.
Antonius:
Garcia:
Antonius was well ahead with a set of jacks, and it was all over when the turned. A meaningless completed the board, and Antonius doubled just over one million chips.
It happened when the under-the-gun player opened for 24,000 and Wong three-bet to 75,000 from the button. James Obst responded by four-betting to 136,000 from the small blind, the original raiser folded, and Wong moved all in for 405,000. Obst called and was dominated.
Obst:
Wong:
Wong was primed to double to more than the chip average and put himself in serious contention to make a run at the title, but the flop robbed him of that as Obst spiked a set. Wong was clearly disappointed and was up out of his seat even before the turned. That meant Wong needed a jack on the river to survive, but he was left wanting as the blanked.
Wong, who did an interview with PokerNews earlier today, was eliminated from the tournament in 28th place.
Action folded around to the lovely Celina Lin on the button and he moved all in for right around 165,000. The small blind folded, and then Dan Shak squeezed out his cards from the big before whispering, "I call."
Shak:
Lin:
Lin has been fighting hard all day and even double numerous times, but the look on her face suggested she knew this might really be the real end. The flop brought calls for a seven from Lin's rail, but the dealer did not oblige as he burned and turned the . Lin needed an eight on the river to stay alive, but she wouldn't find salvation as the peeled off.
Shak added chips to his already monstrous stack while Lin, who had a smile on her face, sought consolation from Kenny Wong on the rail.
We've just had an elimination in 19th place, which means we're now down to three tables.
It happened when James Obst opened for 27,000 under the gun and then called when Mervin Chan three-bet to 66,000 from the button. Obst proceeded to check the flop, and Chan took the opportunity to bet 70,000. Obst responded with a check-raise to 160,000, Chan called, and the turned.
This time Obst led out for 175,000, and then he called off for around 300,000 more when Chan moved all in. Obst tabled for a full house, but it was no good as Chan held a bigger boat with . Obst, who finished Day 2 as the chip leader, was drawing dead headed to the river, which came the .
The remaining 18 players are now on a short break before redrawing for the final three tables.
![[user101598]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
. Man Hei Lam was all in for 491,000, and there were no bets in front of Jan Collado, meaning that he open-shipped for more than two times the pot on the turn.
- and Lam shipped a massive double up. He now sits with around 1.2 million chips, while Collado is down to around 305,000.
, both players checked, and the 
completed the board. Laidlaw checked a third and final time, prompting Ivey to slide out a tower of yellow T1,000 chips.
for a pair of tens, but they were no good against Laidlaw's 
for a pair of queens.
. Stevan Chew led out for 38,000, and Mervin Chan raised to 127,000. Chew tanked for a bit, then moved all in for around 400,000.
bricked on the river. The local hero was eliminated in 36th place, while Chan now has over 1.1 million chips.
turn was of no help to Ivey, and neither was the 
flop robbed him of that as Obst spiked a set. Wong was clearly disappointed and was up out of his seat even before the 
blanked.
flop, and Chan took the opportunity to bet 70,000. Obst responded with a check-raise to 160,000, Chan called, and the 
. Obst, who