The first Day 1 flight of the 2011 Aussie Millions Main Event has officially come to a close and you could not have asked for three bigger names to be at the top of the chip counts!
In fact, those three big names are the arguably the biggest steeds in the Full Tilt Poker stable - Team Full Tilt Pros Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius and Erick Lindgren. Lindgren has topped our chip counts with 186,000, while Antonius is close behind with 176,500, trailing Luke Brabin who stormed out of nowhere to bag 177,200.
Ivey is also up there, finishing with 134,200, but sandwiched between them are Carter Phillips (167,500) and Brian Furness (141,800).
Other big names to have made it through to Day 2 (made up of a huge majority of Full Tilt Pros) include Chris Moorman (116,900), Erik Cajelais (108,700), Sean Dunwoodie (89,500), Jarred Graham (86,600), Billy "The Croc" Agryros (64,500), Howard Lederder (62,500), James Akenhead (56,000), Robert Romanello (35,000) and Barny Boatman (22,800).
Australian football superstar Gary Ablett Jr. also managed to scrape through with 22,800, but unlike his fierce aggression and determination displayed on the field, he appeared quite timid at the tables and will need to change up his game come Day 2.
However, with those who survive, there are others that fall, and amongst those in today's tournament obituary include Maria Ho, Tony Dunst, Daniel Neilson, David Saab, Terrence Chan, JP Kelly, Raymond Rahme and Erica Schoenberg, as well as Full Tilt Pros Mike Matusow, Jonathan Karamalikis, Eli Elezra and Justin Smith.
In all, 83 out of the 238 players who started today will be returning on Wednesday to continue their quest to becoming the newest Aussie Millions champion. And if today is anything to go by, we could be in for one of the most incredible tournaments we've ever witnessed in this part of the world.
We could wax lyrical about what we've witnessed today, but given that the cleaning staff are belting our feet with the vacuum cleaners, it's time for us to wrap this up and get back home. Be sure to join us tomorrow from 12.30pm AEDT for Day 1b of the 2011 Aussie Millions Main Event!
From all of us at PokerNews (and in case we don't see you), good afternoon, good evening and goodnight!