2011 Aussie Millions Event #9 Day 2: Dorfman Leads, Ivey-on-Antonius Violence; Woods and Smith Make HU Semis
Day 2 of the 2011 Aussie Millions Main Event at the Crown Casino featured more of poker's A-list stars than usually found in a Day 2 line up. Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius, Erick Lindgren, and Chris Ferguson were among the 256 players who returned. Ivey donated nearly his whole stack to Antonius on his way to the rail, rocketing Antonius to the top of the counts near the end of the night. Randy Dorfman finished the day as chip leader, followed by Michael Ryan and Tobias Reinkemeir. Sorel Mizzi, Randy Lew, and Haibo Chu round out the top ten.
Ivey and Antonius both started Day 2 with field-leading stacks. They were seated together along with Gavin Griffin at the undisputed table of death, and the two Team Full Tilt icons didn't hesitate to go after each other in big pots. Both lasted until the last level of the night, when they got involved in the clash heard 'round the room. With A♠Q♠, Ivey loved the Q♣9♠7♠ flop. Antonius loved it too, holding 10♠8♠ for an open-ended straight-flush draw. Antonius got his whole 200,000 stack in against Ivey, then spiked the J♦ on the turn to fill his straight. The 7♥ river was a blank, and suddenly Antonius was a chip leader and Ivey was crippled. Don't worry too much about him, though. Ivey's elimination means he gets a chance to play in tomorrow's $250,000 Super High Roller.
Ferguson, Griffin, Barny Boatman, David Bach, Scott Montgomery, Jeff Sarwer, and Jeff Lisandro joined Ivey on the rail by the end of the day. Just 76 players made it through all six levels on Day 2 to return on Thursday in pursuit of the whopping $2 million first prize. They only need to lose three more players to hit the money, and then things should get really interesting. Carter Phillips, Mike Sowers, Chris Moorman, Van Marcus, and Eugene Katchalov are also among those returning for Day 3.
$10,500 Australia Heads-Up Championship
The first of two Heads-Up Championship flights played from 16 to two in a series of best-of-three matches. Last year's runner-up, American Barry Woods, secured a spot in the semi-finals, as did Dan "King Dan" Smith. Smith battled Daniel Nielson, Darren Woods, Billy Jordanou, and a raging cold to guarantee himself $40,000 and a shot at $150,000. Woods worked his way through Scott Palmer, Nikolay Evdakov, and Mark Everett to earn a second consecutive semi-finals spot. Smith and Woods will play each other on Saturday. Then one of them will move on to the finals. Others who played in the first flight include Full Tilt Poker Red Pro Annette Obrestad, Daniel Alaei, and Dan "jungleman12" Cates. Another round of 16 will begin on Friday.
$5,300 Pot Limit Omaha
The $5,300 Pot-Limit Omaha side event played from a starting field of 53 to an impressive final table. While Andy Bloch, Erica Schoenberg, and Carlos Mortensen fell by the wayside, William Thorson surged forward to take the chip lead heading into the final table. Thorson will be joined in Thursday's final by Joe Hachem, Casey Kastle, Michael Greco, and Graeme Putt. The winner takes home a cool $100,000.
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