Oliver Gill is making his usual noise here on Day 1a of the ANZPT Melbourne Main Event. He’s been chatting away with ANZPT Commissioner Danny McDonagh with typical gusto and it’s got a few people riled up, even those not on his table.
“My hearing is only 70% but he’s still too loud for me, and I’m not even on his table!” chuckled former Aussie Millions champ David Gorr from a nearby table.
By his own admissions, Gill hasn’t had a great ANZPT series so far, but with the volume turned up that should kick his game up a notch here in the Main Event.
“This is my event!” chirped local Ben Savage as he raked in a handy pot and sent an opponent to the rail. It was a classic coinflip with Savage calling with against a short stack’s .
The first four community cards were a bare but the ace from space river gave Savage the winning pair of aces.
Savage’s reference to this being his event comes on the back of three previous cashes in the ANZPT Melbourne. In Season 1 back in 2009, Savage took 8th place and followed that up with a 5th place finish the next year. In 2011 he couldn’t make it three final tables in a row, but did cash in 25th place for his third consecutive ANZPT Melbourne cash.
With the elimination, Savage climbs to 26,000 in chips and his on his way towards another deep run.
Both Benn 'risk2Dupside' Skender and Tristan 'SkunkDen' Bain have started the ANZPT Melbourne Main Event strongly. Both players are situated in the section near the bar, though at different tables. Skender mostly plays online, but interestingly his last two recorded live cashes were in this very tournament in 2012 and 2011. Bain has never ran deep here in Melbourne, but has final tabled an ANZPT event before.
Peter Aristidou made the final table of this event back in 2009 and we are sure he will be hoping to do the same here in 2014. There is a long way to go, but he has just won some chips, and that's a start.
We picked up the action with Aristidou involved in a hand with two opponents on a flop. The first player to act led out for 850 and Aristidou, and the other remaining player, both called.
On the turn, the play was checked to Aristidou, and he bet 2,600. Two folds meant that the pot was Aristidou's. He is up to around 25,000.
Antonis 'Toothpick Tony' Kambouroglou didn't have a very good start to the day, but has recently won a few pots to ensure that changed. The most recent hand that went in Kambouroglou's favour saw him scoop up a handy pot on a board. We arrived at the action on the turn, with Kambouroglou leading into three opponents with a bet of 1,500. Only one player called. On the river, Kambouroglou led for 1,800 and his opponent eventually called. At showdown, Kambouroglou tabled and scooped up the pot.
We recently arrived at Michel Bouskila's table (which also includes Tom Grigg and Michael Guzzardi) to find Bouskila and one opponent on the river of a board. There was well over 5,000 in the middle at this point and Bouskila led out for 3,500 from the small blind position. His opponent, on the button, eventually made the call.
At showdown, Bouskila quickly tabled for a flopped set of kings. Bouskila's opponent sent his cards into the muck and the pot went to Bouskila. He is now up to around 27,000.
Bouskila has posted plenty of big results over the last couple of years, including finishing 3rd in the ANZPT Repechage right here in this very room. Bouskila also final tabled the Seniors Event at last year's WSOP. He may be a few year's older than tablemates like Grigg and Guzzardi, but he clearly has a lot of experience and will be a formidable opponent.
More and more players have taken their seats here on Day 1a of the ANZPT Melbourne Main Event. One of those players was Billy 'The Croc' Argyros. The Australian Poker Hall of Famer has played plenty of poker here in the Crown Poker Room, including winning the APPT Melbourne Main Event in 2013.
The players are back from their break and the cards are back in the air.
Antes have now kicked in!
In other news, Day 1a has now had a very solid 230 entries. Remember this tournament is a freezeout, registration is open until the next break and today is the first of two Day 1 flights.
![[user162117]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
against a short stack’s 
.
but the ace from space 
river gave Savage the winning pair of aces.
flop. The first player to act led out for 850 and Aristidou, and the other remaining player, both called.
turn, the play was checked to Aristidou, and he bet 2,600. Two folds meant that the pot was Aristidou's. He is up to around 25,000.
board. We arrived at the action on the turn, with Kambouroglou leading into three opponents with a bet of 1,500. Only one player called. On the river, Kambouroglou led for 1,800 and his opponent eventually called. At showdown, Kambouroglou tabled 
for a flopped set of kings. Bouskila's opponent sent his cards into the muck and the pot went to Bouskila. He is now up to around 27,000.
