Sam Youssef
Everyone knows that Steve Topakas has already performed quite well at the 2009 Aussie Millions, with a runner-up finish in Event #1 that was worth more than AU$100,000. There's another Topakas that's making waves in today's field -- Andrew Topakas.
Topakas took a four-way flop with Sam Youssef and two other players. It came down and generated the most action, and the biggest pot, we've seen today. All four players wound up all-in. Youssef showed for bottom set; Topakas showed for a flush draw and small gutshot straight draw; the third player showed for an up-and-down straight draw and the fourth player showed for a set of queens!
Several side pots were created. Youssef, as the biggest stack involved at the table, was the only one not at risk of elimination. The turn and river fell , making a flush for Topakas, and a straight for the third player. Topakas had the third player covered, so he eliminated that player after taking the main pot and the first side pot. The fourth player won the secondary side pot as his set of queens bested Youssef's set of fives.
Topakas is now near the top of the counts with 38,400. Youssef is still in it but has dropped all the way to 8,000.
Goonawardana Gone
On a flop of , Jai Kemp led out with a bet of 1,200 and Marlon Goonawardana made the call.
The turn was the and Kemp checked to Goonawardana, who fired a healthy 5,000 chip bet. Kemp made the call.
The river brought the and this time Kemp led out with a bet of 5,000. Goonawardana made the call for his tournament life, but mucked when Kemp tabled for quads!
Goonawardana is out and Kemp moves up to 38,000 chips.
The deeper a player gets in a poker tournament, the harder it is to stomach the bad beats. A player moved all in from late position and was called by Sam Khouiss. Khouiss had the dominating hand, agains , but lost the hand when a king spiked on the flop and Khouiss never improved from there.
"I don't feel like playing anymore," said a disgusted Khouiss despite retaining 5,000 in chips.
Christopher Chronis
From the big blind, Christopher Chronis called the preflop raise of his middle position opponent before check-raising on a flop of . The MP player moved all in and Chronis made the call.
The MP player showed for top pair, but Chronis had flopped two pair with his .
The turn and river arrived safely for Chronis to double up to 20,000 chips.
After recently being caught on a bluff, Michael Guzzardi found himself in charge of one of the shorter stacks in the tournament with just 1,800 left.
Holding , he decided to move in preflop in an attempt to double up. He didn't like the reshove from Daniel Kochan. All of the other players got out of the hand, making it heads up between Guzzardi and Kochan's .
The flop did not leave Guzzardi a lot of options, and when the turn dropped he was on his way home with no draws, and no outs.
Kochan survived some early battles with Guzzardi to ultimately see him off and move up over 7,000.
Emannuel Seal
Emmanuel Seal was down to 1,075 chips in his stack. He shipped them all into the middle on a flop of and was called in two spots. His , that had made a set of sixes on the flop, held up through the turn and river to triple Seal's chip stack to 4,500.
4,500 is a somewhat short stack at this stage of the tournament. Seal's going to need some more short stack magic to get back in contention.
Liv Boeree has just eliminated Michael Harrison-Ford and raised her chip stack to a very healthy 25,000.
Preflop, Harrison-Ford opened the pot to 600 from middle position and both Boeree and the small blind made the call. On a flop of , action checked to Boeree, who bet out 1,600. The small blind folded and Harrison-Ford shoved over the top for the rest of his chips.
Boeree made a quick call with for top two pair, crushing Harrison-Ford's bottom two pair. The turn and river brought no help for Harrison-Ford, who was eliminated.
Boeree continues to shape up as a contender today.
Daniel Kochan has doubled up after his won a race against an opponent's . The chips were all in preflop with the board running out . Kochan picked up a pair of tens and the double up to 7,500.
We're seeing lots of action, and lots of talking, on the turn cards of recent boards. This time the commentator was an opponent of Michael Guzzardi. He reraised preflop from the small blind to 1,650 after a player opened for 650, then continued the betting on the flop by firing out 1,225. Both bets were called by Guzzardi's opponent.
On the turn, with the board showing , Guzzardi moved all in. "Looks like I committed myself," his opponent said. He made the call with and was quite surprised to see Guzzardi turn over a complete airball, . The river bricked , allowing Guzzardi's opponent to collect the pot.
and generated the most action, and the biggest pot, we've seen today. All four players wound up all-in. Youssef showed 
for bottom set; Topakas showed 
for a flush draw and small gutshot straight draw; the third player showed 
for a set of queens!
, making a flush for Topakas, and a straight for the third player. Topakas had the third player covered, so he eliminated that player after taking the main pot and the first side pot. The fourth player won the secondary side pot as his set of queens bested Youssef's set of fives.
, Jai Kemp led out with a bet of 1,200 and Marlon Goonawardana made the call.
and this time Kemp led out with a bet of 5,000. Goonawardana made the call for his tournament life, but mucked when Kemp tabled 
for quads!
agains 
, but lost the hand when a king spiked on the flop and Khouiss never improved from there.
for top pair, but Chronis had flopped two pair with his 
.
flop did not leave Guzzardi a lot of options, and when the turn 
dropped he was on his way home with no draws, and no outs.
and was called in two spots. His 
, that had made a set of sixes on the flop, held up through the 
for top two pair, crushing Harrison-Ford's 
and river 
brought no help for Harrison-Ford, who was eliminated.
won a race against an opponent's 
