Aussie Millions Main Event, Day 1c: Stars Fall as Soren Eriksen Leads Day's Play
The final Day 1 of the Aussie Millions Main Event saw 270 players take to the felt, bringing the total number of participants to 780 and creating a $7.8 million prize pool. Joining poker stars such as Anna Wroblewski, 2007 WSOPE Main Event winner Annette 'Annette_15' Obrestad, Howard Lederer, Chip Jett and Mike 'The Mouth' Matusow were actor Michael Vartan and cricket legend Shane Warne.
Wroblewski was an early casualty on Day 1c when her opponent flopped two pair on a 7-5-2 board to crack Wroblewski's pocket kings. Tony Hachem, brother of WSOP champ Joe, went out at the hands of Jon 'Pearljammer' Turner when Turner moved all in over the top of Hachem's turn bet. The board read J♦8♦2♥5♥, and Hachem called with J♣5♣. Turner tabled A♥8♥ for a pair with a flush draw, and rivered the 8♠ for trips to bust Hachem. Other notable eliminations in the early rounds included David Bach, Jeff 'ActionJeff' Garza and Vartan.
2006 Aussie Millions Main Event winner Lee Nelson got the last of his chips in the middle with K♠K♦, and Taner Tan called with A♥8♥. The flop came down A♦4♠7♣, and Nelson was drawing thin. The turn and river brought the A♠4♥, giving Tan the full house and sending Nelson to the rail. Elsewhere, Obrestad took two rough beats in a row to end her day. In the first hand, an opponent caught a four-flush on the river to leave her as a short stack, and later her aces were cracked when an opponent with pocket eights called her all-in on a board of 6♥4♥4♦ and spiked an eight on the river to cripple her. She got her last chips into the middle a few hands later and was eliminated with 8-7 to A-Q.
Mike 'The Mouth' Matusow finished the day in the middle of the pack after making a late surge, and fellow Team Full Tilt member Howard Lederer moved forward as play drew to a close. Lederer, who won the $100,000 buy-in event last week, limped in from middle position with K♥Q♦ and saw a flop of K♠Q♥3♣ with the big blind. Lederer moved all in over the top of his opponent's check-raise, and his two pair filled up when the Q♠ came on the turn. Lederer raked in a big pot as his opponent went to the rail. Other notable survivors from Day 1c included 2007 WSOP bracelet winner Alex Kravchenko, Kenna James, Jon Turner, Matt Matros and Tiffany Williamson.
The top ten chip stacks as Day 1c ended were as follows:
Soren Eriksen – 150,000
Joe Melancon – 120,000
Troy Glen – 107,000
Kenna James – 100,000
Nicholas Putt – 89,000
Tim Duckworth – 79,000
Leon Yanovsky – 77,000
Kevin O'Donnell – 73,000
Mark Kassis – 73,000
John Tabatabai – 72,000
