2013 Aussie Millions Main Event Day 1c: Antonius Leads; Ivey, Trickett & Hachem All Advance
On Tuesday, the 2013 Aussie Millions Main Event continued with Day 1c action. Although Days 1a and 1b drew 157 and 196 players, respectively, Day 1c was the saw the largest number — 269 entries — though official numbers aren’t finalized bcause registration is open up until the start of Day 2. After seven 90-minute levels of play, Patrik Antonius emerged with 204,800 as the day's chip leader.
Antonius entered the field in Level 4 and doubled up within minutes. His double hand wasn't caught, but he was seen winning a decent one against Bruno Portaro a short time later. His win happened when five players saw a flop of 9♦3♣10♦, and three checks put action on Antonius, who bet 2,600 from the cutoff. Portaro then called from the button, the rest of the field folded, and the dealer burned and turned the 6♥. Antonius eyed up his opponent's stack of around 15,000, and then tossed out four dark blue T5,000 chips. Portaro insta-mucked. From there, Antonius was in a holding pattern until the last 15 minutes of the night when he shot to the top of the chip counts.
Obviously not everyone was as fortunate as Antonius on Day 1c. Australian cricket superstar Shane Warne gave it his best but met his end in Level 5 with the blinds at 200/400/50. Sam Korman limped for 400; two players followed suit. Warne was sitting in the small blind and raised to 1,500. All three limpers called, the flop came down Qx5x5x, and Warne fired out 6,000. Only Korman called, and Warne fired 10,000 on the J♥ turn. Korman called once again, and the river brought a third heart. Both players checked, Warne showed pocket aces, and Korman took the pot down with 5x6x.
"We were playing pretty deep, and I had around 50,000 to start the hand. He wasn't happy at all after the hand and asked why I was playing that hand," Korman told PokerNews before talking about the very next hand in which he knocked out Warne.
In that hand, Warne raised with the A♠7♠, and Korman decided to make the call with the 5♦8♣. The flop brought 7♥6♥9♠, and Warne bet 2,500. Korman raised to 6,100, and Warne moved all in for around 20,000 chips, according to Korman, who made the call. No help on the turn or river, and Warne was out.
Other Day 1c eliminations included Masa Kagawa, Jesse "OnTheMac" McKenzie, Tony Hachem, John Juanda, Brendon Rubie, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Steven Gee, Scott Lazar and Gus Hansen.
Hansen, who won the Aussie Millions Main Event back in 2007, met his end in the last level of the night with the blinds at 400/800/100. The “Great Dane” was short-stacked when he moved in for just 9,100 from the button holding K♥8♠ and Daniel Ljung called from the small blind with A♠Q♦. The board ran out A♦J♥2♣K♦J♦ and Hansen’s dreams of becoming the first two-time Aussie Millions Main Event champion were shattered.
Not everyone fared badly on Day 1c. Among those to punch their ticket to Day 2 were the winner of the 2011 Aussie Millions $100,000 Challenge Sam Trickett; last year's 12th-place finisher in the Aussie Millions Main Event, Phil Ivey; 2012 World Series of Poker runner-up Jesse Sylvia; Macau high-stakes businessman Paul Phua; 2005 WSOP Main Event winner Joe Hachem; and bwin Poker Qualifier Tom Grigg, just to name a few.
Those players will join Day 1a and 1b survivors like Tyron Krost, Neil Channing, Jason Mercier, James Obst, Kevin Rabichow, Ayaz Mahmood, Phillip Willcocks, Day 1a chip leader Brian Payne (299,900) and Day 1b chip leader Frank Rusnak (165,100) for Day 2. Will any of those players add their name to the prestigious list of Aussie Millions Main Event winners? Only time will tell.
| Year | Winner | Prize | No. of Entries | Prize Pool |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Oliver Speidel | AU$1,600,000 | 659 | AU$6,590,000 |
| 2011 | David Gorr | AU$2,000,000 | 721 | AU$7,210,000 |
| 2010 | Tyron Krost | AU$2,000,000 | 746 | AU$7,460,000 |
| 2009 | Stewart Scott | AU$2,000,000 | 681 | AU$6,810,000 |
| 2008 | Alexander Kostritsyn | AU$1,650,000 | 780 | AU$7,800,000 |
| 2007 | Gus Hansen | AU$1,500,000 | 747 | AU$7,470,000 |
| 2006 | Lee Nelson | AU$1,295,800 | 418 | AU$4,180,000 |
| 2005 | Jamil Dia | AU$1,000,000 | 263 | AU$2,630,000 |
| 2004 | Tony Bloom | AU$426,500 | 133 | AU$1,330,000 |
| 2003 | Peter Costa | AU$394,870 | 122 | AU$1,220,000 |
The approximately 320 remaining players from all three starting days will return for Day 2 action on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. EDT, which will consist of seven more 90-minute levels. The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be on hand throughout, so be sure to join them then for all the latest and greatest from the land down under.
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