2011 Aussie Millions Event #7 Day 1: Rebuys Abound; Winners Crowned in Event #6 and Full Tilt Poker #25,000 Shootout Invitationa
It may have been Friday in Melbourne, Australia to some, but to others, it was the ninth day of the 2011 Aussie Millions, a day where Event #7 kicked off, two winners were crowned, and of course a Welcome Party was held. We're only going to talk poker tournaments here, so as not to make you too jealous if you didn't get to attend the Australian themed party at Breezes at Crown Casino.
Event #7, the $1,150 No-Limit Hold'em Rebuys event kicked off at noon local time on Friday. There were 86 runners for the event, down from last year's 100 - but that could have something to do with the Full Tilt Poker golf outing (yes, Lynn followed along, so you should watch the video). Tony Dunst, Shane Warne, Scott Montgomery, Steve Yea, Tyron Krost, Faraz Jaka, and Neil Channing were all part of the field, but neither of them could get anything going and were sent packing before the end of the night. In all there were 255 rebuys, creating a prize pool of AUD$341,000.
Only the final table will make the money, meaning the final ten who are playing for the title on Saturday are all guaranteed at least AUD$6,820. Leading the way into final table play is Randy Dorfman with 121,300. Just behind him is Oliver Speidel with 114,800, and JP Kelly rounds out the top three with 78,200.
The final table gets under way at 4:00 p.m. local time and PokerNews will be there to bring you all the action.
Event #6: No-Limit Hold'em - 6-Handed
The sixth gold ring has just been handed out at the 2011 Aussie Millions. Tim O'Shea came into the day as the chip leader and while it wasn't always smooth sailing, he managed to hang on and win Event 6: $1,100 No-Limit Hold'em - 6-Handed.
Just an hour after play started for the final two tables, the players were already being moved over to the feature table, meaning that five players had been eliminated. Just minutes after they were situated there, Nino Marotta was eliminated in seventh place, creating the official final table. That's when play slowed down. It took two hours before Andrew Hinrichsen was eliminated. That didn't get things going however, as the players were about even in chips and weren't tangling too much with each other. Another two hours passed without a single elimination, but things sped up rather quickly soon after. It all started when Daniel Neilson tripled up hen his jacks held against Jackson Zheng's tens and Kelsey Hendriks ace-king. That hand crippled Zheng and he was eliminated in the next hand in fifth place.
One hand later Gautam Dhringa was eliminated by O'Shea in fourth, as well as Kelsey Hendriks in third, leaving O'Shea heads up with Neilson. Going into heads-up play, O'Shea held a two-to-one chip lead over Neilson. After just a few hands, the fireworks happened. O'Shea raised from the button to 85,000. Neilson then reraised to 235,000 and before Neilson could finish tossing his chips in the middle, O'Shea moved all in. Upon hearing that, Neilson snap-called and the cards were on their backs. O'Shea tabled 10♦10♣ to Neilson's 7♥7♣. O'Shea flopped a set on the 4♥10♥J♥ board, that gave Neilson a flush draw. The turn and river were both kings, bricking for Neilson, but giving O'Shea a full house, the gold ring and the AUD$56,175 first-place prize.
If you want the play-by-play or to see the payouts, check out the Live Reporting Blog.
Full Tilt Poker $25,000 Shootout Invitational
After three shootout tables that featured some world-class players, along with a final table that involved some of the most intense shootout poker, the Full Tilt Poker $25,000 Shootout Invitational has a winner. David Oppenheim took down the 24-player field which included the likes of Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius, Tom Dwan, John Juanda, Howard Lederer, Andy Bloch, and Tony G.
There were three flights before the final table. Each table consisted of eight pros and only two would advance to the final. Oppenheim and Barny Boatman won the first flight, Patrik Antonius and James Bord won the second, and Howard Lederer and Eli Elezra too the third.
Elezra was first to go from the six-handed final table, followed by Antonius, each collecting AUD$30,000 and AUD$40,000 respectively. Barny Boatman exited in fourth, taking home AUD$50,000 and the elimination of Lederer in third, left Oppenheim and Bord heads up for the quarter-million-dollar first place prize.
With a near three-to-win lead, Oppenheim would relinquish the first two pots to Bord before having eighty-percent of the chips in the middle preflop with his A♠10♦ dominating Bord's A♥8♥. The flop came down 5♥A♣2♦ keeping Oppenheim in the lead, but the 2♥ on the turn gave him a bit of a sweat. Unfortunately for Bord, the 6♠ did nothing for him and he would have to be consoled with AUD$150,000 for his second place finish, while Oppenheim took the win and AUD$250,000 pay day.
[There are plenty of events left at the Aussie Millions, so keep it locked to PokerNews as the [URL="https://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/2011-aussie-millions/"+]Live Reporting Team will be bringing you all the action[/URL] that comes out of the Crown Poker Room, and as always, follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.
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