Amir Minagar opened to 450 from under the gun, and received one caller on his direct left and another in the big blind. The flop came , Minagar fired out a continuation-bet of 800, and only the player on his direct called.
The turn was the , Minagar bet another 2,200, and the player tanked for nearly two minutes before calling.
Both players checked after the completed the board, and Minagar showed for a flopped set of fives. His opponent mucked.
On the flop, Jackie Glazier had called an opponent's all-in shove with the for top two pair. Her opponent, who was at risk for 12,500 total, held the .
The turn was the , and that left Glazier needing to dodge just one more card, but she couldn't do it when the fell to counterfeit her hand. Her opponent doubled up, while Glazier slipped back to 32,000 in chips.
The 2014 Aussie Millions Main Event has teamed up with the PokerStars.net Asia-Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) and expectations are high. While today marks only Day 1a of the Main Event, let's take a look at the previous seven years in terms of field size, the tournament winner, and the first-place prize money awarded:
Year
Entries
Winner
First Prize (AU$)
2007
747
Gus Hansen
$1,500,000
2008
780
Alexander Kostritsyn
$1,650,000
2009
681
Stewart Scott
$2,000,000
2010
746
Tyron Krost
$2,000,000
2011
721
David Gorr
$2,000,000
2012
659
Oliver Speidel
$1,600,000
2013
629
Mervin Chan
$1,600,000
Russian Alexander Kostritsyn won the largest Aussie Millions Main Event in 2008 after conquering a field of 780 runners to win the top prize of AU$1,650,000, but it was the following year, 2008, that would see the largest first-place prize given out when Stewart Scott walked away with the top prize of AU$2,000,000. First place remained at AU$2,000,000 the following two years after that before it dropped back down to AU$1,600,000 in 2012 and 2013. Mervin Chan was also awarded a car as part of his prize last year when he won the event.
Teaming up with PokerStars.net and the APPT does have expectations high for the Main Event, as rumor has it that over 100 more qualifiers will be in the field. If you simply add those qualifiers to last year's number, it puts the field back over 700, but only time will tell as to how many entries are actually generated. If we were going to place a bet, though, we'd be betting on the fact that the decline in numbers flips this year and things end up back on the rise.
Poker is a game of patience, and that's something Joseph Cabret knows all too well. In last year's Aussie Millions Main Event, Cabret navigated the 629-player field to make it down to the final table. It was there that he squared off against some stiff competition that included Jay Tan, [Removed:17], Dan Shak, and Patrik Antonius.
Cabret began that final table fifth in chips, but he played a patient game and eventually found himself heads up against Mervin Chan. Cabret was unable to seal the deal, but he still took home AU$1,000,000 for his runner-up finish.
Cabret is in today's field, and we decided to spend an orbit with last year's runner-up.
Hand #1 (Button): Cabret began the orbit with 25,000. The player in the cutoff opened for 625 and Cabret quickly folded the button.
Hand #2 (Cutoff): The under-the-gun player opened for 450, the hijack called, and Cabret released from the cutoff.
Hand #3 (Hijack): Action folded to Cabret and he does the same.
Hand #4 (UTG+1): The under-the-gun player folded and Cabret followed suit.
Hand #5 (Under the Gun): Cabret was first to act and folded.
Hand #6 (Big Blind): One by one the players folded to Cabret and he received a rare walk.
Hand #7 (Small Blind): The hijack opened for 500 and Cabret folded when action reached him.
It was a lackluster orbit to say the least, but remember, poker is all about patience. Clearly Cabret has some.
After a bit of preflop action, a local player was all in and at risk with against Amir Minagar's . The flop fell , giving Minagar a pair of kings and his opponent an open-ended straight draw. The turn was the , giving the player a few extra outs, and the bricked off on the river.
Minagar has won a few big pots to kick off Day 1a, and sits with around 75,000 chips.
Five-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Jeff Lisandro silently tossed forward a red T500 chip from early position, intending to raise. Since he didn't announce "raise" it was deemed a call, but the players, including one gentleman in the big blind, considered it a raise.
"Check or raise," the dealer asked the player in the big blind.
The player must not have heard the dealer, pulled back his big blind, and put out a T500 chip. The dealer announced that this was a raise, confusing everyone, and Lisandro eventually re-raised to 1,400. The player in the big blind called.
The flop fell , both players checked, and the turn was the . The player in the big blind checked, Lisandro tossed out 5,000, and the player folded.
Eoghan O'Dea opened for 400 from the hijack and Michael Weiss defended from the big blind. Both players proceeded to check the flop, and the dealer burned and turned the . Weiss led out for 525, O'Dea called, and the completed the board on the river, which they both checked.
Weiss wasn't excited to tabled his for a missed flush, but as it turned out the ten high was good enough to win as O'Dea double checked his cards and then sent them to the muck.
Australian Daniel Laidlaw, who finished 12th in the 2013 Aussie Millions Main Event, opened to 600 in middle position, and his fellow countryman Oliver Gill called in the cutoff. The button and both blinds folded.
The dealer fanned , the pair checked, and the turn brought the . Laidlaw led out for 1,000, and Gill called.
The completed the board, Laidlaw tossed out 7,000, and Gill ripped the hood off of his head. Perplexed at the size of the bet, the Aussie flicked his cards into the muck, and Laidlaw silently raked in the pot.
We caught up with 2012 World Series of Poker third-place finisher Jake Balsiger on the first break of the day. He talks about his hot start, tennis, and why he loves Australia so much.
![[user101598]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
, Minagar fired out a continuation-bet of 800, and only the player on his direct called.
, Minagar bet another 2,200, and the player tanked for nearly two minutes before calling.
completed the board, and Minagar showed 
for a flopped set of fives. His opponent mucked.
flop, Jackie Glazier had called an opponent's all-in shove with the 
for top two pair. Her opponent, who was at risk for 12,500 total, held the 
.
, and that left Glazier needing to dodge just one more card, but she couldn't do it when the 
fell to counterfeit her hand. Her opponent doubled up, while Glazier slipped back to 32,000 in chips.
against Amir Minagar's 
. The flop fell 
, giving Minagar a pair of kings and his opponent an open-ended straight draw. The turn was the 
, giving the player a few extra outs, and the 
bricked off on the river.
. The player in the big blind checked, Lisandro tossed out 5,000, and the player folded.
for a missed flush, but as it turned out the ten high was good enough to win as O'Dea double checked his cards and then sent them to the muck.
, the pair checked, and the turn brought the 
. Laidlaw led out for 1,000, and Gill called.
