The players are now in Level 8, which will be the final level for the day. With 49 players still left in the field, it wouldn't be out of the question for over 30 of them to advance to Day 2. That means tomorrow could be a very, very long day to play down to a winner.
Level: 8
Blinds: 800/1,600
Ante: 200
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
95,000
45,000
|
45,000 |
|
80,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
67,000
2,000
|
2,000 |
|
65,000
15,000
|
15,000 |
|
65,000
65,000
|
65,000 |
|
||
|
16,000
34,000
|
34,000 |
|
||
After some raising back and forth, Antonio Esfandiari had moved all in against his opponent Dan Shak. Shak made the call to put himself at risk for 70,900 holding the 
. Esfandiari had the 
and only 2,400 chips more than Shak.
The flop, turn, and river ran out 
, and Shak's two pair of kings and jacks won him the hand. Esfandiari was left with just 2,400.
"It's the Dan Shak playbook," commented Joe Hachem with a smile from across the table.
"If I think I'm gonna win, I go with it," responded Shak as he stacked up his chips.
"That's in my playbook, too," said Justin Bonomo. "If I think I'll win, I play."
Shak moved to over 140,000 in chips, and Esfandiari was eliminated shortly thereafter.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
145,000
74,000
|
74,000 |
|
Busted | |
|
||
The tournament staff have just released the officials numbers for the $25,000 Challenge. Today's tournament has attracted 65 entries which created a prize pool of AU$1.56 million. That will be distributed to the top eight players as follows:
| Place | Prize (AUD) |
|---|---|
| 1st | $460,000 |
| 2nd | $340,000 |
| 3rd | $240,000 |
| 4th | $170,000 |
| 5th | $125,000 |
| 6th | $100,000 |
| 7th | $70,000 |
| 8th | $55,000 |
Igor Kurganov, last year's champion of this event, has been eliminated. What makes things a tiny bit worse are that the waitress was refusing to serve Kurganov a hot green tea because he was no longer playing in the tournament. The man Kurganov beat, Philipp Gruissem, has also been eliminated.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
160,000
34,000
|
34,000 |
|
||
|
150,000
92,000
|
92,000 |
|
90,000
22,000
|
22,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
76,000
7,000
|
7,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
71,000
21,000
|
21,000 |
|
|
61,000 | |
|
55,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
||
|
45,000
5,000
|
5,000 |
|
45,000
3,000
|
3,000 |
|
44,000
6,000
|
6,000 |
|
40,000
10,000
|
10,000 |
|
|
||
|
35,000
15,000
|
15,000 |
|
27,000
23,000
|
23,000 |
|
|
||
|
Busted | |
|
|
||
|
Busted | |
|
|
||
Kristy speaks to Premiership Winning Captain of Hawthorn, Luke Hodge just after he announced the "shuffle up and deal" for the 2014 Aussie Millions Main Event. He talks about poker, his kids and explains what a "specky" is in Australian Rules Football.
It looks as though there were 65 entries generated this year in the AU$25,000 Challenge, although the official numbers have yet to be given. There currently are 51 players remaining.
Gus Hansen checked the 
flop, and Tony Bloom fired 5,100. Daniel Negreanu made the call, and Hansen folded.
The turn was the , and Bloom fired 8,100. Negreanu gave it up, and Bloom won the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
148,000
12,000
|
12,000 |
|
84,000
4,000
|
4,000 |
|
||
|
51,000
1,000
|
1,000 |
|
||
