2012 Aussie Millions Event #1, Day 2: Wilson Leads; Rubie Close Behind
Day 2 of the 2012 Aussie Millions Opening Event, Event #1: $1,000 unexpectedly came to an end with ten players, forgoing the original plan of playing to a winner. At the start of the day, players were settled in for a long grind, but as the night wore on, tournament officials called an audible and opted to come back the following day. With the final table set, Scott Wilson leads the way with 2.628 million, but Australian pro Bredon Rubie is hot on his heels.
The Opening Event was unique in that it featured three starting flights and had a “repechage” format, meaning players who busted in earlier flights were able to reenter in those that followed. The first starting flight, Day 1a, drew 274 players. Day 1b attracted 251, and Day 1c boosted the number, as 421 entries brought the three-day total to 946 players. With a share of the AUD$946,000 prize pool at stake, the remaining 132 players who began Day 2 were eager to crack the top 81 for a guaranteed payday.
Unfortunately for some, they were unable to make it through the money bubble. Among the early eliminations was the defending champion, Martin Drewe, and poker legend Mel Judah, who both happened to be eliminated in the same hand. It happened when Drewe, who was under the gun, moved all-in. He was called by both Panchara Wongwichit and Judah. Tony Delavinias then put in a huge three-bet from the small blind, one that had everyone else covered.
Drewe was in, and Wongwichit thought long and hard before releasing his hand. Judah, who had about 45,000 back, made the call and the cards were turned up:
Showdown
Drewe: 10♠9♠
Judah: A♦K♦
Delavinias: A♣A♥
Delavinias was in a dominating spot, though the 10♣4♦8♥ flop gave Drewe some hope. The Q♠ turn gave Judah a gut-shot straight draw, but the 8♠ river paired the board and allowed Delavinias to score the double knockout.
Others who fell short of a cash were Darren Kramer, Andrew Hinrichsen, Jeff Rossiter, Mark Segal, and Aaron Benton.
When the money bubble finally burst, a slew of eliminations occurred including Malcolm McDougall (81st - AUD$2,500), Jay Kinkade (72nd - AUD$3,000), Joel Dodds (52nd - AUD$4,000), Grant Levy (41st - AUD$4,500), Billy Jordanou (38th - AUD$4,500), and Kenna James (31st - AUD$5,000).
The Day 1b chip leader, Sam Youssef, managed to use his big stack to coast deep into the money, but was eliminated when the blinds caught up with him and he got his short stack all-in preflop holding Q♠7♦. He was up against Brendon Rubie who held A♠3♥. The board ran out 8♣A♣8♠K♣A♥ and Youssef was eliminated in 21st place, taking home AUD$6,200 for his effort.
Leading up to the final table, several other players hit the rail including Andrew Capelin (14th), Stefan Jedlicka (13th), Tony Kociski (12th), and Matviy Bilenky (11th), all of whom took home AUD$7,600.
Here’s a look at the final table of the 2012 Aussie Millions Poker Championship Opening Event:
Final Table
| Seat | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tam Truong | 934,000 |
| 2 | Tamara Volkoff | 191,000 |
| 3 | Brendon Rubie | 1,625,000 |
| 4 | Sean Robey | 262,000 |
| 5 | Sherif Derias | 696,000 |
| 6 | Rob Angood | 1,384,000 |
| 7 | Scott Wilson | 2,628,000 |
| 8 | Manny Stavropoulos | 554,000 |
| 9 | John Thomson | 363,000 |
| 10 | Naz Sibaei | 849,000 |
The final table action on Day 3 is set to begin at 1210 AEST Monday (1710 PST Sunday), so be sure to join us then as the PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be there when a champion is crowned in the Aussie Millions' Opening Event!
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