2009 Aussie Millions Event #11, $1,110 Pot-Limit Omaha, Day 1: David Bach Heads Final
Omaha action at the 2009 Aussie Millions Poker Championship returned on Wednesday with Event #11, $1,100 Pot-Limit Omaha. Among those present at the Crown Casino in Melbourne were Lee Nelson, JC Tran, Jamie Pickering, Billy "the Croc" Argyros, Julian Powell, Craig Bergeron and Mitchell Carle, as well as David Bach, who finished the day with the chip lead as the bubble burst and the final table was set.
The format of Event #11 was a little different than most PLO tournaments, as it featured a "second chance" option. Players started with 3,000 in chips, and had the option to use a second stack of 3,000 chips at any time in the first three levels. This gave some players the chance to start with 6,000 chips and play tight, while others chose to gamble it up with their first 3,000, knowing that a reload was just a chip runner away.
Danny Mountt and Martin Harvey quickly took advantage of their second chance when they got stacked in an early hand against Bjorn van Bavel. All the chips went in on a J♣9♣5♦ flop with Mount holding Q♥Q♦J♠9♠ for top two pair. Harvey showed A♣A♦4♣5♣ for the nut flush draw, while van Bavel tabled K♣Q♣10♥6♦ for the straight draw. Van Bavel made his straight when the 8♠ hit on the turn, and he managed to fade all the river outs to stack both opponents when the 3♦ came down.
Billy "The Croc" Argyros was an early casualty on Day 1 as he fell to Marsha Waggoner's flush in Level 5. Waggoner didn't outlast Argyros by long as she in turn fell to Sean Dunwoodie's flush soon after busting Argyros. Other notable departures included JC Tran, Nam Le, Josh Field, Jamie Pickering and Julian Powell.
Van Marcus busted near the money bubble after losing a huge pot to Rainer Quel. All the chips went in preflop with Marcus holding K♠K♦4♠4♦ to Quel's A♦A♣J♥J♦. Marcus flopped a flush draw with 2♦Q♦9♥, but the turn and river came down 7♣ and J♣ to make Quel's set and leave Marcus running on fumes. He busted in the next hand to Nathan Snow.
With the money bubble upon him, Lee Nelson picked up a double at just the right moment. Nelson got his chips in preflop with A♠A♦A♣K♥ against the K♦A♥K♣6♣ of Van Tran. The board missed both players when it came down Q♣10♦3♠4♦10♠, and Nelson's aces held up to leave Tran on the short stack. Tran became the bubble boy a few hands later when David Bach sent him off in tenth place. In that hand, Bach raised preflop with A♥6♣8♦9♣, and Tran moved all in over the top. Tran did the math and made the call, tabling J♦7♣Q♣K♠. Bach made two pair on the flop as it read A♣5♦8♣, then improved to a straight as the board finished out 7♥4♦. The hand gave Bach a narrow lead heading into the final as the chips were bagged for the night.
The final table's seating assignments and chip counts:
Seat 1: Rainer Quel — 51,500
Seat 2: Nathan Snow — 62,700
Seat 3: Sandra Propper — 54,800
Seat 4: Lee Nelson — 78,200
Seat 5: [Removed:248] — 106,500
Seat 6: David Bach — 122,000
Seat 7: Nino Ascenzio — 94,700
Seat 8: Kenny Ng — 98,000
Seat 9: David Morton — 51,200
Join PokerNews on Thursday afternoon Melbourne time for all the live updates from the final table of Event #11 of the 2009 Aussie Millions Poker Championship.
