The second and final day of the A$1,150 No-Limit Hold'em Terminator Event #13 of the 2016 Aussie Millions Poker Championship gets underway in half an hour from now at 1 p.m. local time in the poker room of the Crown Entertainment Complex. A field of 316 entries has been reduced to the last 21 hopefuls over the course of 15 levels and Mark Payne is leading the field with 386,500 chips.
The overnight podium is completed by Sam Vakili (371,500) and Samantha Abernathy (353,000) while Don Mishra (175,500) is looking for another final table after finishing 9th in the #Accumulator Event yesterday. Fellow finalist Park Yu Cheung just fell short of making Day 2, as did Australia's poker queen Jackie Glazier.
Other notables include Minh Nguyen (108,000), Walter Treccarichi (98,000) and World Series of Poker bracelet winner Paul Hoefer (69,000), who are among the short stacks when play resumes with blinds of 3,000-6,000 and a running ante of 1,000. All survivors are guaranteed at least A$1,495 for their efforts, each knockout gives another A$500 in profit whereas the winner can look forward to a payday of A$39,000 and the elusive LK Boutique championship ring.
Tune back in regularly, as the PokerNews live reporting team will be on hand to provide updates until a winner is crowned.
Michael Fraser raised to 22,000 and was called by Alex Lee from one seat over. The action folded around to Michael Tchong and he moved all in for 141,000. Fraser reshoved and that resulted in a quick fold by Lee.
Tchong:
Fraser:
It was all over after the turn of a board and Tchong headed to the payout desk to collect his winnings.
The stack of Reece Webb had dwindled down to just under 100,000 and he moved all in to claim the blinds and antes. Then, Alex Lee opened from the button and Webb shoved for around 125,000 only to see the initial raiser snap him off:
Webb:
Lee:
There was no help on the board and that was it for the Australian, who bowed out in 5th place for a payday of A$9,125.
Michael Fraser just shoved for the second time and showed the to claim the blinds and antes. Soon after he was in the big blind and Mark Payne raised to 45,000 from the button. Fraser pushed forward his stack and Payne asked for an exact count before committing 349,000 chips for the call.
Fraser:
Payne:
The flop came and Payne had immediately paired his ace to leave Fraser with one out only. It was not meant to be, as the turn and river both blanked. "I hate pocket jacks," a friend of Fraser on the rail said and the thoughts of the fourth place finisher must have been quite similar.
Mark Payne folded the button and Samantha Abernathy moved all in for what looked like 400,000 from the small blind. Alex Lee made the call and they turned them over:
Abernathy:
Lee:
The flop changed nothing whatsoever, whereas the turn put Abernathy into the lead. It was the river that restored the preflop order and sent Abernathy to the rail in 3rd place for a payday of A$15,760.
The heads up duel took all but one hand and it was a battle of the ace rags that put Mark Payne at risk with the slightly worse kicker.
Payne:
Lee:
A likely split pot was foreseen on the flop , whereas the turn was a bad card for Payne. Lee locked up victory with the river and sent his opponent to the payout desk to collect A$24,885.