Event 9 - $10,500 Aussie Millions Main Event Day 5 | 2009 Aussie Millions

Level: 22

Blinds: 12,000/24,000

Ante: 4,000

01-24-2009 12:51 UTC+11

Shuffle Up and Deal!

[user75032]

Ashby's back and cards are finally in the air. The 2009 Aussie Millions Main Event final table is underway!

01-24-2009 12:49 UTC+11

Richard Ashby, who overslept and missed the start of Day 3 play by more than an hour, has gone missing from the final table area. Each other player is in his seat. We're jsut waiting for Ashby to return to get underway.

01-24-2009 12:32 UTC+11

Delay of Game

[user75032]

In what should come as a surprise to exactly nobody who has ever been around a televised final table, things are running behind schedule. The players have unbagged and stacked their chips, but the television crew is still making some last-minute adjustments. We're not sure how long it will be until play kicks off. Stay tuned...

01-24-2009 11:59 UTC+11

It All Comes Down to This

[user75032]

Four days of poker have produced eight players for the 2009 Aussie Millions Poker Championship TV final table. Even as we write this, the television crews are adjusting their monitors for the television production of this event and framing all of their shots of the players.

And what of the players? Each of them has come through a grueling marathon of poker, but there's one more mile to go. They say that the last mile of a marathon is the toughest, and there's no doubt that some of these runners face an uphill climb.

The Americans are represented by two players. Seat 1, Zach Gruneberg, is one of them. He brings 1.355 million chips to the table. We've called his name earlier this fortnight; Gruneberg took down Event No. 4 - AU$1,100 Limit Hold'em for a prize of AU$35,000 and an Aussie Millions gold ring.

England's anointed champion is Barny Boatman in Seat 2. A member of the highly decorated Hendon Mob, Boatman has been cashing in poker tournaments since long before most of the new generation even knew that poker existed. He's the short stack today with 349,000 chips.

Canadian Elliot Smith is in Seat 3 and has made quite a name for himself in the last six months. He cashed three times at last year's WSOP, for almost $60,000 in prize money, and added a 53rd place finish earlier this month at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure for another $27,500. He brings 1.12 million chips to the final table

One other player hails from England at this final table. He's a Full Tilt Poker pro with eight career cashes at the WSOP, including one final table in 2007 for $1,500 Omaha Hi/Lo. Richard Ashby made the final table of Event No. 6 - AU$1,150 No-Limit Hold'em with Rebuys. Ashby's style throughout the day yesterday was to keep pots small. We'll see if he changes it up today when he sits down behind his short stack of 658,000.

Australia's great hope for its first ever Aussie Millions champion is in Seat 5. Stewart Scott is the chip leader of this final table, having amassed one-third of the chips for a total of 4.52 million. He played relentless poker on the final table bubble last night, pounding away at the shorter stacks.

The other American at the final table is Seat 6, Peter Rho. Rho also made the final table of Event No. 6 - AU$1,150 No-Limit Hold'em with Rebuys. He has five WSOP cashes and over $250,000 in career earnings. He starts the day with 2.42 million in chips.

We don't know much about the player in Seat 7, Rajkumar Ramakrishnan. He seems to have a limited-information "fan site" on the internet, but we haven't been able to learn much else. He brings 2.02 million chips to the final table.

Seat 8 is Aussie Sam Capra. We first ran into Capra last month at the APPT Sydney Grand Final, where he finished in 34th place for AU$9,800. Capra is otherwise a relative newcomer to the poker scene. He has 1.161 million in chips.

Two Aussies, two Americans, two English, one Candian and Rajkumar Ramakrishnan. That's your 2009 Aussie Millions final table. Play is scheduled to start at 12:30pm. Stay tuned to PokerNews for all the action!