2009 Aussie Millions

An Aussie hero is out. Stewart Scott raised to 40,000 before Grant Levy moved all in for roughly 450,000. Scott called and tabled . He was racing Levy's .

"You run too good," Levy told Scott. "I'm resigned."

The crowd groaned when the dealer spread out a flop of . Neither played had improved, but Scott picked up an additional handful of outs.

"It's a sweat alright," Scott told Levy. With Eric Assadourian shouting, "Come on nine!", the dealer burned and turned the . It was a killer card for Levy, putting two pair on board that overcoated his pocket nines. He needed to catch up on the river to win or chop, but the river blanked .

Levy shook Scott's hand and headed for the rail in 13th place.

It was a limped pot between Barny Boatman and Grant Levy. Boatman led out for 18,000 on the flop. Levy responded by raising to 100,000. That raise sent Boatman into the tank.

"Go with your instincts, Barny," Levy said.

"So I can hit you? That's what my instincts are telling me to do," replied Boatman. He did eventually fold.

Richard Ashby raised to 47,000 from the button and Sam Capra made the call in the big blind.

The flop landed and Capra led for 60,000. Ashby made the call. The turn was the and both players checked. The river was the and again it was checked down.

Capra flipped pocket nines but Ashby surprisingly revealed a slow-played to take the pot.

It's always a beautiful thing to flop a set. It's even better when you're in the late stages of a major tournament with a short stack. Sam Capra limped in from under the gun before Zach Gruneberg raised the button to 60,000. Only Capra made the call.

The flop came down . Capra checked to Gruneberg, who quickly moved all in. Capra made the call with , but was unhappy to see Gruneberg turn over for a set of eights. The turn and river were both blanks, the and the , giving Gruneberg the pot and the double-up to 850,000. Capra is now down to 900,000.

Stewart Scott - 3,200,000
Peter Rho - 2,480,000
Sam Capra - 1,500,000
Rajkumar Ramakrishnan - 1,010,000
Elliot Smith - 900,000

A three-way limped pot contested among Richard Ashby, Annica Ivert and Sam Capra got hot and heavy by the river. Ivert acted first on a flop of by betting 40,000. Capra and Ashby both called, prompting Ivert to slow down on the turn. She and Capra both checked to Ashby, who bet 125,000. Only Capra called.

The river was the . Capra checked again to Ashby, who moved all in for 256,000. Capra thought it over for thirty seconds before releasing his hand. Ashby is up to 662,000 in chips.

To emphasize, the slowdown in play is creating many more hands of a "raise it and take it" variety than we've seen to this point in the tournament. There is occasional variation; Barny Boatman opened for 43,000 from the cutoff before Grant Levy moved all in for 196,000 total from the button. Everyone folded.

Tino Lechich is continuing to slide after losing back-to-back pots. In the first hand he raised to 41,000 only for Peter Rho to reraise to 133,000 from the small blind. Lechich folded face up.

Then Lechich tried again with a button raise to 41,000, only for Elliot Smith to re-pop it to 125,000. Again Lechich folded and again he advertised by flashing the .

With these hits Lechich is now down to 340,000.

From table to table the camera crew raced. Elliot Smith and Tino Lechich were waiting on a camera crew for five minutes to complete their hand. Peter Rho had opened for 42,000, then folded after Tino Lechich called and Elliot Smith moved all in. Lechich was the one who made the call.

Smith:
Lechich:

"I lose half my stack here," Lechich said glumly while waiting for the cameras. "Twenty eight percent," he added, referring to his EV in the hand.

Finally the cameras arrived, and the dealer started burning and turning. Lechich let out a hopeful "Hey..." at the turn with the board showing . He realized a deuce would give him a chop. But the river fell , doubling Smith up to 720,000. Lechich is down to 415,000.

At the same time that Christian Heich was all in, there was significant action on Richard Ashby's table. He had opened the betting for 47,000 and was called by Sam Capra before Zach Gruneberg reraised from the big blind to 147,000. Ashby moved in for 237,000 total, folding Capra. Gruneberg was priced in.

Gruneberg:
Ashby:

The board ran out safe for Ashby, . He doubled to 510,000, moving Gruneberg back to 380,000.