Event #9: Aussie Millions Main Event Day 4 | 2011 Aussie Millions

01-28-2011 14:38 UTC+11

Player	Chips	Progress
Samad Razavi	2,250,000 -100,000	-100,000
Jeff Rossiter	2,200,000 40,000	40,000

Randy Dorfman	1,890,000 140,000	140,000
Patrik Antonius	1,671,000 -79,000	-79,000

Chris Moorman	1,450,000 -200,000	-200,000

Sorel Mizzi	1,430,000 680,000	680,000
Michael Ryan	1,192,000 242,000	242,000
James Keys	920,000 -80,000	-80,000
David Gorr	550,000 -165,000	-165,000

Shane Sigsbee	465,000 70,000	70,000
Randy Lew	340,000 -30,000	-30,000

David Menz	294,000 -66,000	-66,000

Back in 2008 when Patrik Antonius made the $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em World Championship final table at the World Series of Poker, change100 wrote "Don't hate him because he's beautiful." to kick off Antonius' final table bio. Beauty doesn't win you poker tournaments though and there's a lot of people in the poker world who envy Antonius for much more than just his good looks.

Born in Finland in 1980, Antonius is one of the most recognizable faces in the game. He regularly dominates the largest cash games in the world, both live and online, and is a member of Team Full Tilt Poker. Antonius began playing poker at 12 years old with friends, but things didn't become serious for him until he stopped playing serious tennis after a back injury. He ran through the stakes and up the ranks online to soon become one of the best and most feared players in the world.

Antonius' first major deep run in a live tournament came at the beginning of 2005. He placed 12th in the World Poker Tour PCA Main Event for $34,600. A couple months later, he followed that up with a 15th-place finish in the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Stars for $40,000. That summer he cashed three times at the WSOP before going over to Sweden and winning the Scandinavian Poker Championships for over $66,000.

His year was going great so far, but his largest scores were yet to come. In September, Antonius placed third at the EPT Barcelona Main Event for over $145,000. He then won a side event at the EPT Baden Classic for $343,366. Both of those were great, but a massive seven-figure score was in the works for December. Antonius ran second behind Rehne Pedersen in the $15,000 Main Event at the Fourth Annual Five Diamond World Poker Classic. He scored himself $1,046,470 and his career earnings for the year Sky rocketed to $1,696,485.

Although 2005 was Antonius' best year for tournaments, his results haven't slacked since. He's cashed 10 more times at the WSOP and had some very nice results coming from those events. In 2006, Antonius finished ninth in the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. for $205,920 during a year where he had five WSOP cashes. The following year, his best result was a third in the $10,000 World Championship Pot-Limit Omaha for over $300,000. In 2008, Antonius placed seventh in the $10,000 World Championship Pot-Limit Hold'em to record another WSOP final table and lock up $124,080 more in prize money.

In the recent years, Antonius has been less of a frequenter on the tournament scene and more of a staple in the largest cash games in the world. You can often find me him online at Full Tilt Poker playing multiple tables in the largest games available. He's not playing against chumps either. Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan and Viktor Blom are common adversaries of his.

Antonius placed 13th in the Aussie Millions Main Event for AUD$90,000 back in 2007, the year his fellow Team Full Tilt Poker member Gus Hansen won the event. He's already topped that finish as he's in the final 12 here and looks to eventually go on to win the thing. If he can do that, it will be his largest tournament score ever and further cement his name in poker history as one of the greatest players to ever live.

Antonius resides in Monte Carlo, Monaco with his wife Maya Gellarand his baby daughter Mila. Antonius also makes frequent appearances on "Poker After Dark" and "High Stakes Poker".

Tags: Patrik Antonius

01-28-2011 14:51 UTC+11

David Menz Eliminated in 12th Place (AUD$100,000)

[user80015]

Level 19 : 6,000/12,000, 2,000 ante

Sorel Mizzi opened to 26,000 from under the gun only to have David Menz three-bet jam for 268,000 total from the button.

Once the action returned to Mizzi, he asked, "You're from Australia right?"

With Mizzi getting no response from Menz, he added, "Do you have any Skandi blood? It'll make my decision easier!"

Mizzi cut out the allotted chips to make the call several times before eventually sliding them in to put Menz at risk.

Menz: {10-Diamonds} {8-Diamonds}
Mizzi: {A-Spades} {J-Hearts}

With Menz making a move on last year's third-place finisher, he would get caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

Still drawing the live, the {A-Diamonds} in the window saw him fall behind as the flop filled out {5-Hearts} {Q-Hearts} .

Now needing backdoor cards for a flush, straight, trips or two-pair, the {5-Spades} on the turn would render Menz's tournament over as the {j-Spades} completed the board.

As Menz headed to the rail AUD$100,000 richer, Mizzi moved to roughly 1,450,000 in chips.

Tags: Sorel Mizzi David Menz

01-28-2011 14:56 UTC+11

Mizzi Opens, Keys Three-Bets

donpeters

Level 19 : 6,000/12,000, 2,000 ante

Last year's third-place finisher Sorel Mizzi raised to 26,000 from under the gun. James Keys three-bet to 66,000 from the button and won the pot.

Tags: Sorel Mizzi James Keys

01-28-2011 15:03 UTC+11

Top Pair for Mizzi Against Antonius

donpeters

Level 19 : 6,000/12,000, 2,000 ante

James Keys raised to 28,000 from the cutoff seat and Patrik Antonius flatted on the button. Michael Ryan called from the small blind and Sorel Mizzi called from the big blind.

The four players took a coordinated flop of {Q-Hearts} {9-Hearts} {8-Spades} . Ryan was first and checked. Mizzi, who finished third in this very event last year, fired a bet of 78,000. After the preflop raiser Keys folded, Antonius asked Mizzi how much he was playing. Mizzi let him know his stack was about 1.4 million and Antonius then made the call. Ryan ducked out of the way.

The turn brought the {6-Spades} and with two hearts and two spades on board, Mizzi pressed on the gas a little harder. He bet 152,000. Antonius took his time and then made the call.

The river completed the board with the {2-Spades} and allowed backdoor spades to come in. Mizzi paused and then checked. Antonius checked behind.

Mizzi tabled the {Q-Clubs} {J-Spades} for a pair of queens with a jack kicker and Antonius mucked his hand.

Tags: Sorel Mizzi James Keys Patrik Antonius Michael Ryan

01-28-2011 15:04 UTC+11

Break Time

[user80015]

Level 19 : 6,000/12,000, 2,000 ante

The remaining eleven players are heading on a 15-minute break.

Level: 20

Blinds: 8,000/16,000

Ante: 2,000

01-28-2011 15:20 UTC+11

Play Resumes

[user80015]

Level 20 : 8,000/16,000, 2,000 ante

The cards are back in the air!

01-28-2011 15:21 UTC+11

Updated Chip Counts

[user80015]

Here are the updated chip counts as we return from break.

Player	Chips	Progress
Samad Razavi	2,321,000 71,000	71,000
Jeff Rossiter	2,080,000 -120,000	-120,000

Chris Moorman	1,940,000 490,000	490,000

Sorel Mizzi	1,760,000 310,000	310,000
Randy Dorfman	1,720,000 -170,000	-170,000
Patrik Antonius	1,391,000 -280,000	-280,000

Michael Ryan	1,198,000 6,000	6,000
James Keys	832,000 -88,000	-88,000
David Gorr	414,000 -136,000	-136,000

Randy Lew	375,000 35,000	35,000

Shane Sigsbee	328,000 -137,000	-137,000

01-28-2011 15:25 UTC+11

Schedule Plans

donpeters

Level 20 : 8,000/16,000, 2,000 ante

Tournament director Christian Vaughan just let the players know that if the field gets down to eight players quickly, they'll pause for a dinner break and then return to play down to the final six. The final table was originally set at seven players, which is accustomed to the Aussie Millions. If they get down to eight super fast, they might even just play straight through to six. We'll have to wait and see how it goes, but those are the ideas that have been tossed around between staff and players.