2011 Aussie Millions

Welcome to the Million Dollar Cash Game in Oz. We'll bring you all of the action as some of the game's biggest names play some of the game's biggest pots. These guys face off regularly on the virtual felt, but today we get to watch them go for the jugular in person. The game is No-Limit Hold'em, and stakes are starting at $300/$600 but could jump to $600/$1,200 before we're done. Minimum buy-in is a sweet $100,000, but with many players loading up with more, there could quickly be over $1 million on the table.

You may have heard about crazy action in the high-stakes cash games in Macau in recent months, but details have been scarce. Now we get a front row seat as the Macau game has been moved to Melbourne for the afternoon. Three wealthy Chinese business, Wang Qiang, Paul Phua, and Richard Yong, are regulars in the biggest game in Macau and will be taking seats here to try their luck against Patrik Antonius, John Juanda, Eli Elezra, Tom Dwan, and Phil Ivey.

They've let the fans in already, and they're filling into the stands. Camera crews are getting set, and players are getting last-minute make up touch ups. Once Patrik Antonius' head is appropriately powdered, we'll get some cards in the air and some big chips flying.

While the Chinese players went out to smoke before they start, Eli Elezra and Patrik Antonius are playing a little Chinese - high stakes, no doubt.

The dealer is now dealing Chinese for the players, and Patrik Antonius is showing one of the businessmen how to play. He's letting him look at his hands as he plays and demonstrating how to set them. Phil Ivey is taking over the aggressive part of the hustle, goading the neophytes to join in. "A real gambler wouldn't even mention losing that. It's like losing $60," he teased one.

Cards are in the air, and the stakes are already up. Now the game is NL Hold'em - $500/$1,000 with a $100 ante.

Here is the current seat order:

Seat 1: Wang Qiang
Seat 2: John Juanda
Seat 3: Paul Phua
Seat 4: Patrik Antonius
Seat 5: Phil Ivey
Seat 6: Tom Dwan
Seat 7: Eli Elezra
Seat 8: Richard Yong

On the very first hand, there was a raise and two calls before action got to John Juanda in the big blind. No messing around for him. He just moved all in. Everyone laughed and folded, and Juanda took the pot.

Tom Dwan, John Juanda, and Paul Phua saw a raised flop three-handed. turned out to be an action flop. Durrrr checked in the big blind, and Juanda stuck out a bet. Then in the cutoff, Phua raised to $31,200. Durrrr sat frozen for a minute before grabbing a big stack of chips and three-betting all in. Juanda tank folded, and Phua gave up as well, rewarding Dwan for his aggressive move.

Action folded to Paul Phua in the cutoff, and he opened to $4,000. Patrik Antonius called on the button.

Flop: - Phua bet $7,000, and Antonius raised to $21,000. Phua called.

Turn: - Phua checked. With action on the usually immobile Antonius, the dealer asked him to look at his cards again to make sure the hole camera caught them. He stayed frozen for a few seconds, but eventually complied. Guess he liked what he saw, because he moved all in. Phua admitted defeat.

As Antonius raked in the hand, Tom Dwan told Phua the hand was standard. "He only plays like one hand every two hours, but every time he plays a hand, he's all in."

Tags: Patrik AntoniusPaul PhuaTom Dwan

Wang Qiang called for a rebuy, but the chips hadn't arrived yet when the hand began, so Qiang was playing $100k behind. After some raising action preflop, the betting got nuts on the flop. Qiang made a big bet, and John Juanda moved all in for $137,200. Qiang made the call with and wasn't pleased to see that Juanda had flopped a wheel with . The turn and river bricked out.

The chips arrived just in time to pay Juanda with most of them. Qiang is taking a breather at the moment.

Tags: John JuandaWang Qiang