$1 Million Cash Game Day 1 | 2009 Aussie Millions

01-25-2009 17:11 UTC+11

First Blood: Patrik Antonius

[user75032]

I missed the preflop raise (lots going on here), but it was probably to $7,000 -- that seems the standard. Dwan checked to Antonius, who bet $10,000 on a board of {7-Hearts}

. Dwan called.

Dwan check-called $25,000 more on the {8-Spades}

turn, then check-folded to a $65,000 bet on the {J-Diamonds}

river.

A few hands later, Antonius showed down the winner in a hand with little betting. Each player put in a total of $22,000. Antonius' {6-Diamonds}

was the winner on a board of {6-Clubs}

.

01-25-2009 17:03 UTC+11

OK! We're ready to rock and roll here in the River Room. After a quick photo opportunity (where Dwan replied "F*ck that," when a photographer asked the two men to pose back-to-back), Dwan and Antonius are seated at opposite ends of the table.

There was a lengthy discussion regarding games and stakes. They're definitely playing no-limit hold'em; some pot-limit Omaha may be mixed in also. The two went back and forth regarding the size of the blinds and finally settled on $1,000 and $2,000. Antonius does not want to lower the game later for full ring, expressing a concern that if he gets stuck big early against Dwan, he'll have no chance to recover in a smaller game later.

"These guys have to ante up if they want to play with us and be on television," Antonius said. Dwan seemed more concerned about which stake level would be most likely to interest Gus Hansen.

Cards are in the air now.

01-25-2009 16:41 UTC+11

Dwan Arrives With the Bigger... Stack

[user75032]

Looks like we're going to get to play some poker today after all. Tom "durrrr" Dwan arrived a few minutes ago. He's in the interview room, giving Fox Sports the benefit of all 22 years of his worldly wisdom.

The first victory in this pissing contest goes to Dwan; he showed up with AU$2,000,000 in chips, which are now neatly stacked on the table.

01-25-2009 16:26 UTC+11

Speed Poker

[user75032]

In order to increase the number of hands the players are able to get in, two dealers and two decks will be in play. While one dealer is dealing the first deck, the other dealer will shuffle and cut the second deck so that it's ready to go as soon as the first hand ends.

Antonius' chips are on the table. He's brought 50 blue (AU$1,000) chips, 100 orange (AU$5,000) chips, and 38 AU$25,000 flags. I'm no mathemagician, but I believe that adds up to AU$1.5 million.

The blinds during heads-up play will be AU$2,000 and AU$4,000 with no ante -- but only if durrrr ever decides to grace us with his presence.

01-25-2009 16:09 UTC+11

Patrik in the House

[user75032]

One of our two heads-up players is here. Patrik Antonius arrived ten minutes ago, accompanied by his lovely wife Maya. He is currently giving a pre-interview to Fox Sports.

Still no sign of Dwan.

01-25-2009 15:39 UTC+11

What We Know So Far

[user75032]

Welcome back to the television studio in the River Room of the Crown Towers at the Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia. It's my day off but I decided to spurn my planned drive along the Great Ocean Road in gorgeous 26-degree weather to bring the world live coverage of the 2009 Aussie Millions Million Dollar Cash game. Really. I'm not getting paid for this.

This is where we're at: the television crew is on set, doing whatever it is a television crew does. It involves cables. Lots and lots of cables. Power cables, video cables, sound cables... maybe even some coaxial cables. Who knows.

We're going to start the day with Patrik Antonius and Tom "durrrr" Dwan playing heads up for two hours. Each will buy in for the allotted AU$1,000,000. At the end of the two hours, a full ring game will commence for smaller stakes. Right now the prevailing wisdom is that the blinds will be AU$1,000 and AU$2,000 with a AU$200 ante, but I haven't heard what the cap on the buy-in will be. That's probably still under negotiation.

We're underway in 20 minutes -- assuming Dwan and Antonius turn up on time.

01-25-2009 13:21 UTC+11

Australia's Biggest-Ever Cash Game

[user67765]

Today brings one of the most highly anticipated games of poker ever witnessed -- the AU$1 million cash game.

In a first for Australian poker, the world's highest rollers and elite players will come together for this made-for-TV production.

The talk of the town has been who will play, will they get enough players, and will the buy-in really be AU$1 million? The answer to all of those questions at this stage is, we're not sure.

As of last night some of the confirmed starters included Andrew Robl, Patrik Antonius and Tom Dwan. We can't confirm who else will join them at this stage, but we can speculate Tony G, Chris Ferguson and Masa Kagawa may be on the interest list. If the game cannot get off the ground then it's likely that the buy-in will be reduced to accommodate a full table.

The action is scheduled to commence at 4 p.m. local time which is in just under three hours from now. In a world's first, PokerNews will be covering this cash game live as it happens from the Crown Casino. Live hand blogging, chip counts, photos and video interviews from the biggest-ever cash game down under! Stay tuned!