Event 18 - $1,100 2 Card Manila Championship w/ Rebuys | 2009 Aussie Millions

01-26-2009 18:32 UTC+11

Harach Out; Crocky Catching Virus

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Since the last update the short-stacked Constantine Harach has been eliminated, leaving six players remaining.

It appears to be a race in two with Paul "Virus" Ravesi (19,000) with a nose in front of Billy "The Croc" Argyros (18,000), with Joe Meissner (3,500) on the short stack.

Ravesi is currently dominating the play and the table talk. He is raising a lot of pots, and his table banter is clearly getting under the skin of the rest of the table. The usually jovial Argyros has been eerily quiet at this table. Perhaps it's a steely focus on winning the Aussie Millions gold ring, but after he shook his head at another raise from Ravesi, seated to his direct right, we think that "Virus" may be starting to make "The Croc" feel a little unwell.

01-26-2009 17:54 UTC+11

Khouiss, Putt and Cooper Bust; Ravesi Back in Front

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[user67765]

We're down to seven players after Sam Khouiss, Graeme Putt, and Ian Cooper were all recently eliminated.

Constantine Harach is also now on the short stack after doubling up Joe Meissner. With the {A-Clubs}

showing as the first community card, both players committed their chips into the middle. Harach held {A-Spades}

but Meissner had him crushed with his {A-Hearts}

. The board ran out {A-Clubs}

to leave Harach with only a few hundred chips.

Meanwhile Paul Ravesi has reclaimed the chip lead and is talking up a storm, much to the dismay of the rest of the table

01-26-2009 16:52 UTC+11

Final Table Lineup

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[user67765]

Here is your final table for the 2 Card Manila Australian Championships:

Seat 1: Bill "The Croc" Argyros - 12,900
Seat 2: Sam Khouiss - 8,100
Seat 3: Kerry Stead - 6,100
Seat 4: Ian Cooper - 1,800
Seat 5: Graeme Putt - 2,800
Seat 6: Peter Bowen - 3,900
Seat 7: Mark Scott - 2,000
Seat 8: Joe Meissner - 2,200
Seat 9: Constantine Harach - 10,500
Seat 10: Paul Ravesi - 8,800

01-26-2009 16:15 UTC+11

Final Table Set, Crocky Assumes Lead

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We've just had another elimination to leave ourselves with a final table of ten players. Of course only four of them will reach the money.

As the players relocate to the feature table, they have been given another 30-minute break.

We'll have the names and chip counts from the final table players for you very shortly, but it appears that Billy "The Croc" Argyros has made a nice comeback to carry the chip lead into the final table.

Tags: Billy Argyros

01-26-2009 15:22 UTC+11

Bart Out, Ravesi in Front

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We're down to our final 12 players, with recently casualties including Antonio Fazzolari and 2006 2 Card Manila Champion Fred Bart.

Bart was short-stacked after losing a pot to Sam Khouiss. Bart held {A-Spades}

but aces can get chewed up very quickly in this game, especially on a board of {Q-Diamonds}

as Khouiss tabled {J-Spades}

for the straight. A few minutes later, Bart was eliminated by an opponent's Broadway straight.

Out current chip leaders are Paul Ravesi with about 12,500 and Sam Khouiss who is near 10,000.

Tags: Paul Ravesi

01-26-2009 14:45 UTC+11

Prize Pool and Payouts

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The prize pool and payouts have been announced for Event #18 of the Aussie Millions. With 18 starters and 23 rebuys we have a prize pool of AU$41,000 which will be distributed to the top four players:

1st: AU$18,040
2nd: AU$12,095
3rd: AU$7,195
4th: AU$3,690

01-26-2009 14:10 UTC+11

Rebuy Period Over, Khouiss Leads

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We ended up with a field of 18 starters with latecomers including Billy "The Croc" Argyros. Unfortunately for Argyros he's already had to dig into his pockets for a rebuy. After being all in on the turn with {K-Clubs}

against Joe Meissner on a {Q-Diamonds}

board. Meissner made the call with {A-Clubs}

and proceeded to take the pot when the {A-Spades}

spiked on the river.

We're down to 15 players left, with Antonio Casale among the early casualties electing not to rebuy.

The players have just reached the end of the rebuy period and are currently purchasing an add-on before taking a 30-minute break.

Sam Khouiss is a clear chip leader with about 8,000 chips and is talking up a storm!

01-26-2009 13:33 UTC+11

What is 2 Card Manila?

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2 Card Manila is a game with a long history. It's been played around these parts for many decades, so you'll usually find the demographic of the players being from the older generation of poker players. Most people may not have even heard of this game, so we won't find too many internet kids in this field.

What is 2 Card Manila? Well it uses a cut-down deck of 32 cards (all cards lower than a seven are removed), which means that a flush beats a full house in this form of the game. Players are dealt two cards, similar to hold'em and must use both cards to make their best five-card poker hand. The action is similar to limit hold'em except that the community cards are spread one at a time, creating five rounds of betting.

01-26-2009 12:52 UTC+11

Cards Are in the Air!

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The cards are in the air with 16 players so far taking to the felt, however registrations are still open.

The field features the usual group of old school Manila grinders, but some of the notables include Sam Khouiss, Antonio Casale, Graeme Putt and Antonio Fazzolari.

01-26-2009 12:19 UTC+11

Happy Australia Day!

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Most folks down under are out in the sun enjoying a public holiday as the country celebrates Australia Day. For some, that means venturing into the Crown Poker Room in Melbourne for one of the more traditional forms of the game with the Australian 2 Card Manila Championships. There will be a small field but it is a rebuys event so that should boost the prize pool a little.

We will be providing periodical updates of this event throughout the day so stay tuned to PokerNews as the final day of the 2009 Aussie Millions reaches a conclusion.