So far 269 players have signed up for the final starting day of the 2013 Aussie Millions Main Event. There are 221 players remaining right now and registration will remain open until the start of Day 2 tomorrow.
Patrik Antonius entered the field earlier this level, and already he's up to more than twice the starting stack! We didn't catch the hand that got him there, but we did see him win a decent one against Bruno Portaro.
It happened when five players saw a flop of and three checks put action on Antonius, who bet 2,600 from the cutoff. Portaro then called from the button, the rest of the field folded, and the dealer burned and turned the . Antonius eyed up his opponent's stack of around 15,000 and then tossed out four dark blue T5,000 chips. Portaro insta-mucked.
The players under the gun limped for 300 after which Matt 'ch0ppy' Kay raised it up to 1,000. Kay has been around in the poker world for a very long time and in October of 2007 he notched up his first live win cashing $38,200 in an Aruba Poker Classics event. Online Kay is one of the biggest winners in tournaments with over $5 million in career earnings.
Three players ended up calling Kay's raise among which Sam Cohen in the big lind, and the under-the-gun limper.
The flop came down and the action was checked to Kay who bet 2,125. Both Cohen and the preflop limper made the call.
On the turn the hit and all three players checked. The river brought the and Cohen fired out 3,225. The limper gave it some thought and called, as did Kay.
"A ten," Cohen said, "Not even a flush," as she showed her .
The limper showed a and Kay flashed pocket kings. Cohen raked in a big pot and is now up to 80,000 chips.
We noticed Antonio Esfandiari's stack and grown a bit since the last time we checked in with him, and we were fortunate enough to have a witness tell us how "The Magician" acquired them.
According to him, Esfandiari and an elderly gentleman, who was prone to ship his stack, each out in 1,600 preflop and saw a flop of . Esfandiari put out a bet, and his opponent once again shipped his stack of approximately 15,000.
"I'm 80% to call," Esfandiari was heard saying. After a stint in the tank Esfandiari did just that with . His opponent, who was drawing very much alive, held for an open-ended straight flush draw. Fortunately for Esfandiari , neither the turn nor river helped his opponent and he added a good amount of chips to his stack.
Kenny Shih and Phil Ivey were heads up on a board of . There was about 8,000 in the middle, and Shih open-shoved for 8,725. Ivey said something to Shih, but it was inaudible. Shih, who finished 18th in the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event, remained silent.
Ivey grabbed one of the two phones he has sitting in front of him, and threw it from one hand to another, like a baseball player tossing the ball into his own mitt. He repeated this two or three times, then took his other phone and tossed both of them into his hand. He finally folded, and Shih pulled in the pot.
While Shih was stacking his newfound chips, a third player at the table began clapping. Ivey's eyes darted at the man, and the look on his face said more than any angry insult ever could.
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and three checks put action on Antonius, who bet 2,600 from the cutoff. Portaro then called from the button, the rest of the field folded, and the dealer burned and turned the 
. Antonius eyed up his opponent's stack of around 15,000 and then tossed out four dark blue T5,000 chips. Portaro insta-mucked.
hit and all three players checked. The river brought the 
and Cohen fired out 3,225. The limper gave it some thought and called, as did Kay.
.
and Kay flashed pocket kings. Cohen raked in a big pot and is now up to 80,000 chips.
. Esfandiari put out a bet, and his opponent once again shipped his stack of approximately 15,000.
. His opponent, who was drawing very much alive, held 
for an open-ended straight flush draw. Fortunately for Esfandiari , neither the turn nor river helped his opponent and he added a good amount of chips to his stack.
. There was about 8,000 in the middle, and Shih open-shoved for 8,725. Ivey said something to Shih, but it was inaudible. Shih, 
