Aussie Millions, Event #10, $2,200 PLHE/Omaha/Omaha Hi-Lo: Michael Pesek Rolls to Win
13 players returned to the Crown Casino for Day 2 of the $2,200 Pot-Limit Hold 'Em/Omaha/Omaha Hi-Lo Event, including Event #4 winner Jamie Pickering, 18-year-old Josh 'JJProdigy' Field and chip leader Dag Martin Mikkelsen. The chip stacks looked like this as play began:
Dag Martin Mikkelsen – 94,500
Michael Pesek – 87,000
David Bach – 61,000
Josh Field – 54,000
Sam Khouiss – 47,000
Jamie Pickering – 44,000
Sam Di Carlo – 39,500
Jeff Brown – 37,500
Mick Stanton – 34,500
JJ Hazan – 29,000
Roy Winston – 18,000
John Dalessandri – 16,000
Vince Moro – 10,000
Play started with a round of Pot Limit Hold'Em, and after several raises and re-raises, Sam Di Carlo and Josh Field got all their chips in the middle preflop. Di Carlo's A♦Q♠ was dominated by Field's A♣A♥, and when the board ran out 2♣6♣7♣5♦10♥, Di Carlo was the first elimination of the day. Vince Moro was sent home in 12th, courtesy of JJ Hazan, when Hazan's A♣10♦ rivered a straight on a board of 5♣7♣6♦8♥9♣ to crack Moro's pocket kings. Chip leader Dag Martin Mikkelsen claimed his first scalp when his A♣Q♠ outflopped John Dalessandri's 5♠5♥. The flop came down 7♣Q♦A♦, and Dalessandri was eliminated. Sam Khouiss went out on the bubble in the Omaha-hi round when he pushed all in on a flop of A♦8♥6♦ and David Bach made the call. Khouiss tabled Q♦Q♥9♥3♠ to Bach's J♦3♥10♥8♠. Khouiss's queens were ahead of Bach's eights, and the 4♠ on the turn helped neither player. The 3♣ on the river gave Bach two pair and sent Khouiss home on the bubble.
The final-table seating assignments and chip counts looked like this after Khouiss's elimination:
Seat 1: Jamie Pickering - 51,500
Seat 2: David Bach - 87,000
Seat 3: Michael Pesek - 84,000
Seat 4: Josh Field - 93,500
Seat 5: Mick Stanton - 17,000
Seat 6: Roy Winston - 48,000
Seat 7: JJ Hazan - 15,000
Seat 8: Dag Martin Mikkelsen - 142,500
Seat 9: Jeff Brown - 33,000
Action was heated as the final table began, with three players busting in the first 30 minutes. Mick 'The Hoon' Stantion was first to go when he got the last of his chips in with 6♠8♣9♠7♥ and found one caller in Mikkelsen with K♦K♠J♥5♣. The flop gave Mikkelsen a straight with 10♥Q♥9♦, and the A♦ improved his hand further on the turn. The 9♣ on the river was irrelevant, as Stanton was drawing dead from the turn. He picked up $4,560 for his ninth-place finish. Jeff Brown went out in eighth place ($6,840) when JJ Hazan called his all-in re-raise preflop, with A♣Q♦6♣6♠ to Brown's A♠K♣K♠J♠. Hazan flopped a set on the board of 6♦9♥10♥, and the turn and river brought no help for Brown.
Event #4 winner Jamie Pickering pushed all in with 4♦Q♥K♠7♣ and was called by David Bach, who tabled A♠8♣K♣K♦. The flop of 8♦A♦Q♣ gave Bach two pair, aces and eights, and when the turn and river came down 5♥J♣, Pickering was eliminated in seventh place ($9,120). Soon after, Hazan called with "one of the worst hi-lo hands in history" against Michael Pesek with 7♥7♣9♠8♥ to Pesek's A♠8♠A♣9♥. When the board ran out 2♥5♦Q♠Q♦3♣, Pesek scooped with aces and queens for the high and an 8-5-3-2-A low to eliminate Hazan in sixth place ($13,680).
Next, Field raised preflop from early position and found two callers in Bach and Mikkelsen. With only two 1,000 chips left, Field quipped "I'm folding if I don't hit." The players checked it down to see a board of K♣5♥3♠4♣6♠, and Field revealed that he did not, in fact, hit with his J♠A♥9♣7♥. Bach took down the high pot with 2♥3♥8♠2♠ for a straight to the six and the low with 6-5-4-3-2. Mikkelsen tabled 4♠A♣10♣4♥, and Field was crippled. Field was eliminated in fifth a few hands later, picking up $18,240 in his first live final-table appearance. Meanwhile, tournament staff reviewed the tapes of the hand and moments later realized that the low pot was erroneously awarded to David Bach with his 6-5-4-3-2 low when Dag Martin Mikkelsen had a 6-5-4-3-A low. The chips were removed from Bach's stack and moved to Mikkelsen's to correct the error.
Roy Winston and Bach then tangled in a huge Hold'em pot that ended with Winston heading to the cage for his fourth-place payout ($22,800). Bach raised from the button, and Winston re-raised the pot from the big blind. Bach called and the flop came down 7♠7♣5♦. Winston pushed his last few chips into the middle, and Bach made the pot-committed call. Bach led with A♠4♠ to Winston's 9♥8♥, and the Q♦ on the turn helped neither player. The 4♥ on the river gave Bach a pair of fours and sent Winston home in fourth.
Shrtly after, former chip leader Mikkelsen got the last of his chips in preflop with A♠8♠ against Michael Pesek's Q♦10♦, and held the lead when the flop came down Ks-Jd-Kd, but stared at a huge draw for Pesek. Mikkelsen picked up a pair of eights on the turn when the 8♥ hit, but the river 6♦ gave Pesek the flush and busted Mikkelsen in third ($27,360).
Pesek and Bach took their time with the heads-up match, playing small pots through the remaining Hold'em round and the beginning of Omaha-hi. In the final confrontation, Pesek called from the button and Bach raised the pot. Pesek called, and Bach bet out on the 7♦3♠6♠ flop. Pesek raised the pot, and Bach went into the tank before making the all in call. Bach tabled A♦Q♦8♥10♥ for a gutshot straight draw to Pesek's 8♠K♣7♥6♣ for two pair. The 9♥ on the turn gave Bach his gutshot, but the 6♥ on the river gave Pesek the full house and the $79,800 first-place prize. David Bach picked up $45,600 for his runner-up finish, his second final table at the 2008 Aussie Millions.
