The danger of two pair that isn't the top two pair, is that someone can make a better two pair with a board pair. That's what happened to John Dalessandri. He flopped two pair with on a flop of . An opponent with called bets all the way to the river, where the board paired nines. As a result, Dalessandri was out-kicked. He's down to 23,500.
Iraqi Nick looking to add the Aussie Millions, alongside his PokerNews Cup victory
2008 PokerNews Cup champion Nali "Iraqi Nick" Kaselias has just eliminated an opponent to move up over 40,000. Kaselias got the perfect flop for his when it came . An unknowing opponent holding for top and bottom pair, got into a raising war with Kaselias and all the money went in on the flop.
The turn and river were no help for Kaselias' opponent, who was eliminated.
John Juanda
John Juanda is in the land of the short stacks. He raised to 2,100 preflop after a late-position raise to 625 was called by one player. Only that player called.
On the flop, Juanda bet 2,800. His opponent thought things through for about 15 seconds and then pushed all in. Juanda was the one who would be at risk of elimination if he called. Instead he folded and lived to see another hand. He's on 6,100 chips now.
Nenad Medic
You probably think this post is going to be about Nenad Medic catching queens and winning a big pot with them. You are incorrect. We're just stating a fact -- the ladies love Nenad.
Nenad loves chips. He's got 32,000 after taking down a nice pot with a turned nut flush against a flopped set on a board of . The total pot was 8,000 chips headed to the river, where Medic bet 6,550 and got the call out of his opponent. Medic's was the boss hand, besting his opponent's .
Vartan eliminated
Michael Vartan has been eliminated from the Main Event. After flopping a flush holding on a flop, Vartan moved his short stack into the middle and found a caller who tabled .
As long as a diamond didn't hit the board Vartan would be safe. The was a fine turn card, but the river card was a nasty eliminating the Hollywood actor from the 2009 Aussie Millions Poker Championship Main Event.
Dennis Huntly is quick with a turn of phrase. A few nights ago, after David Steicke won the AU$100K tournament, Huntly remarked with a wink that, "Poker is a hard living. But I'm used to making a 'hard' living."
If that's true, it's no wonder that Huntly has ordered himself a table massage while working his way through the Day 1c field. His chair is turned around to give the massage therapist full access to his upper back and shoulders. It also gives the rest of the field a full view of several inches of Huntly's rear end.
"Dennis! Surely that's a five-minute penalty for exposing yourself!" shouted Dan Shak from one table over. Clonie Gowen, seated at the same table as Shak and directly in line of the protruding tuchus, could hardly contain her laughter even as she desperately looked for some other point in the room on which to focus. Van Marcus also got in on the action, running around behind Huntly and sticking a Coke bottle down his pants.
Given Huntly's past, we figure a Coke bottle is probably the least offensive thing that's been that close to his ass.
Tom Dwan's stack in the process of being blinded off
Some very observant shout box fans pointed to the fact that Tom Dwan is currently playing online. We swung into action and went and found Dwan's empty seat, with his chip stack blinding off.
Obviously tournaments are not Dwan's thing, but he is believed to be looking forward to the AU$1,000,000 buy-in cash game, to be played on Sunday here at Crown.
We caught the action on the turn with the board reading . George "Tasmaniac" Mamacas, who finished third at the Aussie Millions in 2005, was leading out with a 2,000 bet into an already substantial pot.
JC Tran was his opponent in position who put in the raise to 5,500. Mamacas deliberated before making the call.
The river was the and Mamacas checked to Tran who quickly checked behind. "Queen high," said Mamacas as Tran revealed for top pair.
Mamacas is down to 12,000 with Tran now sitting with over 45,000 chips.
It's been a tough couple of months for Clonie Gowen. Things aren't getting any easier in the Crown Poker Room.
On a board of , Gowen was last to act and put in the second raise to 15,000 after the small blind opened for 1,000 and was raised by a second player to 5,000. The small blind called all in with and found himself up against Gowen's . Gowen was in great shape to eliminate the small blind, but the board went runner-runner clubs and to give him the nut flush.
Gowen is still in the tournament but she's down to 7,000 chips.
Aussie tennis great Mark Philippoussis flopped a great hand. His made top pair and the second-nut flush draw on a board of . He therefore bet 1,200 after the big blind checked to him. The big blind then moved all in, with Philippoussis calling all in for 6,350 total. He found himself up against probably the one hand he didn't want to see -- the flopped flush, made with . "Poo," as he is affectionately known in Australia, didn't get there with his draw. The turn and river gave him two pair, but that wasn't enough. He's out.