Michael Vartan
Michael Vartan hasn't had a good day so far. In the early going he's been chipped down to 6,600. He shipped those chips into the middle preflop with and was called by a player who tabled . Vartan won the race, . He doubled up to about 13,500 chips and is back in the thick of things.
Andrew Scott and Eddy Sabat drew the same starting table today. Both are out. Scott moved all in preflop from the small blind 4,200 after the button opened for 600. The player in the big blind called, but the button did not. Scott showed and was up against . He caught a pair of eights on the flop, but never improved from there. The turn was the and the river was the .
Sam Korman Eliminated
Sam Korman has been eliminated after a cruel twist of fate. In a battle of the blinds both players saw a flop of . The small blind bet out to 1,500 and Korman made the call. At the turn the small blind once again bet out 4,500, with Korman moving all in over the top for 12,650. The small blind player made the call and tabled for a bigger two pair then Korman's . With the river blanking the Korman hit the rail, his Main Event over.
Mark Kassis has been sent to the rail at the hands of Joe Hachem. All the chips went in on a flop of with Hachem's ahead of Kassis' for pair and flush draw.
Kassis couldn't hit when the turn landed the and river the and he was eliminated as Hachem is now up to 34,500.
Tom Dwan is one big name that we've yet to see during this year's Aussie Millions, but he's just been spotted taking his seat in today's field. He sat and played two hands before getting up to go for another walk, as he is seemingly disinterested in the early levels of play.
Of course Dwan is likely to feature prominently in the AU$1million Cash Game which will be held later this week.
For those with prop bets on the line...here are the official numbers...
Day 1a - 191 entrants
Day 1b - 202 entrants
Day 1c - 288 entrants
The huge field today has elevated the total number of entrants to a very respectable 681 players for the 2009 Aussie Millions Main Event.
As promised, first place will take home AU$2million, with the runner-up also joining the millionaire's club. A final table berth will earn a minimum of AU$100,000, while the top 64 players will collect a tidy AU$15,000.
We'll have the full breakdown of payouts for you shortly.
Phil Laak
Phil Laak is known for some antics at the poker table and for very being very talkative. We're all still waiting for the day when Laak, Greg Raymer, Scotty Nguyen and David Saab draw the same table. Everyone else's ears will probably fall off.
In any event, Laak was at it again, raising to 1,750 after Niki [Removed:552] opened for 525. [Removed:552] moved all in for 9,300 and Laak snap-called.
Laak:
[Removed:552]:
"It's seventy percent," noted Laak. The dealer put out a flop of .
"Come on. I'm ninety-four percent," Laak said. His edge held after the turn and river.
"Yes!" said Laak. "My first reraise in four-and-a-half weeks." He's up to 25,500. [Removed:552] is on the rail.
Jennifer Tilly is back over starting stack after winning a decent pot with two pair. Preflop, Tilly opened the action to 550 with both of the blinds making the call. The flop sparked action from the big blind who fired 1,000 bet into Tilly; she responded by raising to 3,000. The small blind folded and the big blind called.
Both players checked the turn and so they moved to the river. This once again provided the impetus for a bet from the big blind player who fired 3,000, which Tilly flat-called.
Before the big blind player had a chance to reveal both cards, Tilly tabled and the big blind mucked his second card after revealing the .