Welcome back to the 2013 Aussie Millions $100,000 Challenge. Yesterday, 21 players took to the felt for nearly 10 levels of play. Andrew Robl was the first to bust from that field, but he opted to exercise his re-entry option (the only one to do so). That brought the total field to 22 entries, which created a prize pool of A$1,957,000, but by the night only seven remained. Of that four will get paid, with the winner taking home a smooth A$1,000,000. The man best position to capture that prize is veteran high roller Masa Kagawa, who starts the day with 695,000.
Seven players are still in contention, but only four of them will earn a payday as follows: 1st-A$1,000,000; 2nd-A$610,000; 3rd-A$320,000; and 4th-A$237,000. Who will add their name to this prestigious list of champions (click name to learn more about their victory):
Day 2 of the 2013 Aussie Millions $100,000 Challenge will kick off at 14:00 EDT (22:00 EST), which is about half an hour from now. Stay tuned to PokerNews all the latest and greatest from that event as well as Day 1b of the A$10,000 Main Event.
It didn't take long for the first elimination of the day, less than 20 minute in fact.
It happened when Vanessa Selbst opened the action with a raise to 16,000 from the hijack and Tobias Reinkemeier three-bet to 63,000 from the small blind. Andrew Robl then four-bet all in from the big blind for 123,000, Selbst folded, and Reinkemeier called off for roughly 115,000.
Reinkemeier:
Robl:
It was a terrible spot of the German, and it got even worse when the { 2d} flop paired Robl's ace. The turn left Reinkemeier drawing dead, and after the was put out on the river for good measure, he left empty handed in seventh place.
Niklas "ragen70" Heinecker entered the money bubble as an extreme short stack, and everyone knew it wouldn't be long before he had to make a move.
It happened when he opened for 40,000 under the gun and was met with a three-bet to 70,000 by Masa Kagawa in the small blind. After the big blind folded, Heinecker opted to just call the additional 30,000 and leave himself 24,000 behind. Kagawa proceeded to bet the and Heinecker committed his remaining chips while saying, "That's good enough for me."
Masa:
Heinecker:
Neither player had hit the flop directly, though Heinecker picked up an open-ended straight draw. According to the PokerNews Odds Calculator, Heinecker had a 34.54% chance of survival on the flop, but that dropped to 22.73% when the useless turned. Heinecker was on his feet as the dealer burned one last time and put out the . The German online star missed and took his leave in fifth place after shaking hands with the remaining four player, who're each guaranteed at least $237,000.
The PokerNews crew is down under at Crown Casino for the 2013 Aussie Millions. On this episode they talk about the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship, the $100,000 Challenge, and more. They are then joined by Nate Silver, the creator of the FiveThirtyEight blog and author of The Signal and the Noise, to talk about his trip to Melbourne, his poker skills, and the Main Event.
Igor Kurganov started the action with a raise to 24,000 from under the gun. Masa Kagawa made the call on the button, and action folded over to Dan Shak in the big blind. He also called, creating a three-way pot to the flop.
The flop came down , and Shak checked. Kurganov bet 50,000, but Kagawa opted to raise it up to 150,000. Shak looked at the dealer and announced that he was all in — a bet worth 462,000. Kurganov folded, and Kagawa snap-called.
Shak tabled the for the flopped nuts. Kagawa had flopped top two pair with the and needed to fill up to win the hand.
The turn was the , keeping Shak in front. The river completed the board with the , and Shak's hand held up.
Shak doubled to over 1 million in chips, while Kagawa was kicked all the way back to 325,000.
On the very next hand following the beat he took from Andrew Robl, Dan Shak raised to 32,000 on the button. Igor Kurganov reraised to 88,000 from the small blind, and action moved back to Shak. He reraised the pot to 280,000, and Kurganov shoved. Shak quickly called, but would be met with a surprise.
First, Kurganov tabled the , and he was up against Shak's . Shak thought Kurganov had around 300,000-400,000, but Kurganov actually had closer to 700,000 in chips thanks to quietly building his stack throughout the day. Shak cited the last hand with Robl and also said he thought Kurganov had far less chips than he did. At any rate, the money was in and the board needed to be run out.
The flop came down , and Kurganov picked up a set of queens to really get ahold of the hand. The turn was the , and now Shak's only hope was a ten on the river to chop the pot.
The landed on fifth street, and Kurganov won the pot. He doubled to nearly 1.4 million while Shak was left with just about 260,000.
Andrew Robl limped in on the button for 16,000, before Dan Shak raised to 72,000 from the small blind. Igor Kurganov folded from the big blind after a brief hesitation, then Robl took a minute. Robl eventually called, and the flop came down .
On the flop, Shak fired 155,000. Robl took his usual time, then announced that he was all in.
"I guess I call, but I'm behind," said Shak as he made the call for his last 144,000. He turned up the and was up against Robl's .
"I need a queen... or running diamonds," said Shak with a sigh as he awaited the turn and river.
The turn was the leaving Shak down to needing just a queen to win him the hand. The river was the , though, and Shak couldn't pull it off. He was eliminated in fourth place, and earned AU$237,000.
Masa Kagawa, who began the day as chip leader, had been nursing a short stack in the last few levels. He managed to fight back a few times, but his bid at a comeback has come to an end.
It happened when he limped from the small blind and Andrew Robl checked his option from the big. Kagawa then moved all in for 338,000 on the , and Robl thought for a solid minute before making the call.
Robl:
Kagawa:
Both players had flopped a pair of tens, but Kagawa's kicker had him out in front. Robl could still take the lead with either a jack or nine, and one appeared when the dealer burned and turned the . Robl hit his straight and Kagawa was drawing to a chop, which didn't hit as the blanked on the river.
It's over. Andrew Robl has defeated Igor Kurganov to capture the 2013 Aussie Millions $100,000 Challenge title and AU$1,000,000 first-place prize.
In what would be the last hand, the board read when Robl bet 60,000 and Kurganov raised to 190,000. Robl then three-bet all in and Kurganov called off with . Unfortunately for him, Robl held for a wheel. The river was no help to Kurganov and he finished as runner-up for AU$610,000.
The 2013 Aussie Millions $100,000 Challenge recommenced on Monday with the final seven players of a 22-entry field. After just six hours of play, Andrew Robl emerged victorious to capture the A$1,000,000 first-place prize and the title of champion.
Seven players began the final table as opposed to the traditional eight thanks to a double elimination in the last hand of Day 1. With that said, only four spots were slated to be paid, which meant three players would leave empty handed.
It didn't take long for the first elimination of the day, less than 20 minute in fact, and it happened when Vanessa Selbst opened the action with a raise to 16,000 from the hijack and Tobias Reinkemeier three-bet to 63,000 from the small blind. Robl then four-bet all in from the big blind for 123,000, Selbst folded, and Reinkemeier called off for roughly 115,000.
Reinkemeier:
Robl:
It was a terrible spot of the German, and it got even worse when the flop paired Robl's ace. The turn left Reinkemeier drawing dead, and after the was put out on the river for good measure, he exited in seventh place.
The next elimination came a short time later in Level 12 with the blinds at 5,000/10,000/1,000. It happened when start-of-the-day chip leader Masa Kagawa raised to 20,000, Robl flatted from the cutoff seat,and then Selbst made the call from the big blind. The three players saw a flop, Selbst checked, Kagawa bet 36,000, and Robl folded. Selbst then check-raised all in for 79,000. It was at this time that Kagawa was delivered his hot chocolate from the cocktail waitress. Kagawa tipped the young lady, took a sip of his creamy drink and added a nice foam mustache to his face. Then, he called. Selbst showed the for middle pair, and she was behind the for Kagawa. The turn was the , and the river completed the board with the . Kagawa won the pot and sent Selbst home in sixth place.
The elimination of the all-time most-winning female player brought about the money bubble, and Niklas "ragen70" Heinecker was sitting on an extreme short stack. He made his move shortly thereafter when opened for 40,000 under the gun and was met with a three-bet to 70,000 by Kagawa in the small blind. After the big blind folded, Heinecker opted to just call the additional 30,000 and leave himself 24,000 behind. Kagawa proceeded to bet the and Heinecker committed his remaining chips while saying, "That's good enough for me."
Masa:
Heinecker:
Neither player had hit the flop directly, though Heinecker picked up an open-ended straight draw. According to the PokerNews Odds Calculator, Heinecker had a 34.54% chance of survival on the flop, but that dropped to 22.73% when the useless turned. Heinecker was on his feet as the dealer burned one last time and put out the . The German online star missed and took his leave in fifth place after shaking hands with the remaining four player, who were each guaranteed at least $237,000.
Four-handed play was an extended affair, and in Level 12 (6,000/12,000/1,000) Dan Shak managed to take over the chip lead when he flopped a straight to double through Kagawa. Unfortunately for him, he lost it back over the next couple of hands, and Shak was eliminated in fourth place not long after. It happened when Robl limped on the button for 16,000, and Shak raised to 72,000 from the small blind. Robl took a minute, eventually called, and then watched Shak fire 155,000 on the flop. Robl took his usual time, then announced that he was all in.
"I guess I call, but I'm behind," said Shak as he made the call for his last 144,000. He turned up the and was up against Robl's . "I need a queen... or running diamonds," Shak added. He’d find neither as the appeared on the turn followed by the river. Shak was eliminated, but not before the tournament director reminded the crowd that it was the third time in four years Shak had cashed the event (he won it in 2010).
In Level 13, with the blinds at 10,000/20,000/2,000, Kagawa limped from the small blind and Robl checked his option from the big. Kagawa then moved all in for 338,000 on the , and Robl thought for a solid minute before making the call.
Robl:
Kagawa:
Both players had flopped a pair of tens, but Kagawa's kicker had him out in front. Robl could still take the lead with either a jack or nine, and one appeared when the dealer burned and turned the . Robl hit his straight and Kagawa was drawing to a chop, which didn't hit as the blanked on the river.
Heads-up play began with Robl holding a nearly 10-1 chip lead over Kurganov, but the Russian didn’t give up. A double saw him work his way up to 915,000, but it wasn't enough as Robl eventually finished the job.
Place
Player
Prize
1st
Andrew Robl
A$1,000,000
2nd
Igor Kurganov
A$610,000
3rd
Masa Kagawa
A$320,000
4th
Dan Shak
A$237,000
Congratulations to Andrew Robl on winning the 2013 Aussie Millions $100,000 Challenge and adding his name to this prestigious list of champions: