2009 Aussie Millions

Russian sensation Ivan Demidov has managed to double up early thanks to some questionable play from George Youssef.

We picked up the action on the turn with board reading:



With substantial chips in the middle already, Youssef led out again with a small bet that was quickly called by Demidov.

The river landed and Youssef moved all in and was insta-called by the Russian.

Demidov showed and Youssef mucked his hand without showing. Youssef is eliminated and Demidov is awarded a nice early double-up.

As with every Main Event these days the field is a mixture of internet whiz-kids, card room locals, internet qualifiers, and of course a good selection of seasoned professionals.

It seems today is a day for last year's final-tablists, with defending champion Alexander Kostritsyn, Erik Seidel, Michael Chrisanthopoulos, Peter Ling, Antonio Casale, and Nino Marotta taking part.

2008 World Series of Poker Main Event runner-up Ivan Demidov, 2007 APPT Grand Final champion Grant Levy, along with Eric Assadourian, Jason Gray, Jeff Lisandro, Tony "Bond18" Dunst, Perry Friedman, Jeff Madsen, Annette "Annette_15" Obrestad and Michael "Timex" McDonald are all also playing.

There is no shortage of star power in today's field!

Jim Ververis started his 2009 Aussie Millions Main Event with the best possible hand: . He must have thought it was a good omen to be dealt pocket aces on the first hand. He took a raised flop with the player seated on his right, Marty Smyth.

We were busy scoping out all of the notable players who have turned up for Day 1b and weren't following the action. But Harry Demetriou, seated at the table and watching the hand develop, was overheard to ask, "Are we going to do this on the first hand?" He was referring to the fact that Smyth and Ververis seemed to be intent in getting their whole starting stacks of 200 big blinds into the middle.

Apparently that was exactly what they intended to do. By the time the river card was out on the felt to complete a board of , all of the chips were in the middle. Ververis's aces had been out-flopped by Smyth's and never recovered. Ververis knocked the table in disappointment, stood up and beat a hasty exit from the Crown Poker Room.

Alexander Kostritsyn has said those famous words, "Shuffle up and deal!" and the cards are now in the air for Day 1b of the 2009 Aussie Millions Main Event!

The Crown Poker room sound system is booming out the sounds of the introductory highlights video that we saw yesterday, as we get ready for the introduction to Day 1b. Play should be underway in approximately 10 minutes.

Welcome back to Day 1b of the 2009 Aussie Millions Main Event! The crowd is slowly begin to trickle in to the Crown Poker room, following the 190-plus strong field yesterday.

Nervous, energized, and prepared are only a few words that can describe the players who are wandering the tournament floor, but all will be put on the line in under 20 minutes as the cards get dealt and the game begins!

Chris Chronis, Patrik Antonius and Noah Schwartz were a few of the big names that stood high above the field yesterday. With the online whiz-kids battling it out on the virtual felt, the possibility of a big-name live pro finishing on top is a high possibility with the likes of Erik Seidel, Alexander Kostritsyn and Joe Hachem expected to play today.

Will our champion emerge from today's field? Make sure to stay logged onto PokerNews to find out as we bring you all the live updates, photos, videos and more as it develops live on the floor!