Just before the last break, a big pot went down at Table 33. When we arrived, the board read and there were three hands tabled. Erik Seidel had the best of it with the , another player had the , and Aaron Benton had the .
Benton said his last 15,000 or so in chips went in on the flop, but whatever the case Seidel was pushed a hefty pot.
As players were leaving the room to head on a break, Andy Lee opened for a raise of 550. Gareth "Panda" Dwyer put in a three-bet to 3,200, Lee four-bet to 7,750, and Dwyer made it 22,000. Lee moved all in for roughly 70,000 or so, and Dwyer called.
Dwyer:
Lee:
The board came , and Dwyer shipped a massive double. Lee plummeted to 17,000 chips.
Minh Nguyen was just the beneficiary of a kings-over-queens double. Nguyen got his stack of 20,075 all in preflop holding the and was well out in front of his opponent's . Nguyen was looking to dodge a queen, and that's just what he did as the board ran out a clean .
Antonio Esfandiari checked the flop, and the next player fired a bet of 1,750. The third player in the hand raised to 4,600, and then action fell back on "The Magician." Esfandiari fired in a reraise to 10,000 even, and the original bettor folded. The other player moved all in for 11,375, and Esfandiari snapped.
Esfandiari tabled bottom set with the . His opponent had flopped the wheel with the .
On the turn, the was added to the board, leaving Esfandiari needing a board pair on the river to win the hand. When the completed the board, it wasn't what Esfandiari was looking for, and he sent over the chips to double up his opponent.
Esfandiari was left with approximately 40,000 in chips.
While perusing around the Crown Poker Room we saw that David Steicke has taken his seat in the 2014 Aussie Millions Main Event.
Steicke, who is listed as from "Hong Kong, Italy" in his Hendon Mob profile, has nearly $3 million in lifetime tournament earnings, including a win in the $100,000 Challenge at the 2009 Aussie Millions. Steicke also finished fourth in the $100,000 Challenge in 2011.
His deepest run in the Aussie Millions Main Event came in 2012, when he finished 26th for A$35,000. Steicke is looking to record just his second cash since May of 2013.
Mervin Chan has chosen Day 1b to attempt his title defense, and one pot just pointed him in the right direction. We didn't catch the action until the river on a board reading when Chan bet 4,200 into a pot of 6,200.
His unknown opponent tossed in a call and seemed flabbergasted when Chan rolled over the for a rivered straight. "Nice catch," his disgusted opponent mumbled before flashing the .
Unofficially Day 1b has attracted 150 runners thus far, and that number will likely go up as late registration is still available. Yesterday attracted 176 runners, so we're just about on par especially when you take the $25,000 Challenge and Super Bowl into consideration.
After losing a decent-sized pot, Antonis "The Toothpick" Kambouroglou eliminated Michael Egan on Day 1b of the Aussie Millions Main Event.
Kambouroglou held on a flop of , and eventually made a flush when a diamond fell on the river. Egan hit the rail. while The Toothpick is up to 52,000 chips.