Event #21: $250,000 Super High Roller
Day 1 Started
2011 Aussie Millions
Event #21: $250,000 Super High Roller
Day: 1
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2011 Aussie Millions
Buy-in
250,000 AUD
Entries
20
Level
13
Blinds
20,000 / 40,000
Ante
5,000
![[user66118]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
The 2011 Aussie Millions generated a huge buzz by announcing that they intended to run a $250,000 buy-in event, the first-ever with such a hefty price tag. The list of players able to risk that much money one shot is obviously a very short one, but it just so happens that most of them are here in Australia right now with the cash burning a hole in their pockets. We've just now learned that the Super High Roller is, in fact, a go with a staggering thirteen players confirmed to play.
Team Full Tilt is sending five heavyweights to the felt with Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan, Chris Ferguson, Erik Seidel, and John Juanda all confirmed to play. They'll be joined by the three Chinese businessmen that we became acquainted with in the Million Dollar Cash Game earlier this week -- Richard Yong, Wang Qiang, and Paul Phua. Those eight players have been fairly safe locks to play for about a week now, but the tournament has recently begun to attract more sharks from the nearby waters.
Within the last hour, another handful of players have added their names to the docket. Nikolay Evdakov, Tony Bloom, Alexander Kostritsyn, and Sam Trickett will also be joining this expensive party, and the field is coming together literally as we type right now. Annette Obrestad has just become the thirteenth player to add her name to the confirmed list (while playing a short-handed 2/5 NL game in the casino, no less), and Andrew Feldman appears to be a near-lock to play as well.
We've also heard rumors that Dan "jungleman12" Cates and James Obst are considering the chance to get in on the action, and this event is shaping up to be seriously legendary. It's possible we could have as many as 16, maybe even 20 players each putting up a quarter-million dollars for a friendly game of cards on Thursday.
This $250,000 Super High Roller is a one-day event scheduled to begin at noon, and it's winner take all. Because it was originally scheduled as such, that payout structure will stay in place unless the players decide to change it. The staff tells us that the players will have a lot of input about the way the payouts end up being handled, but for now, it's winner take all, end of story.
Australia is just about to head to bed for the night, but tomorrow will dawn with the richest poker tournament the world has ever seen. That's pretty exciting stuff, right? If you can't be here to rail this history-making event for yourself, you know where to find non-stop coverage from start to finish!
We're going to need a power nap before this thing gets rolling, but we'll see you back here in the morning.
As with most televised poker events, things are not quite on time. Players are making their way in to Studio 3, and among them are the three Chinese businessmen, John Juanda, Annette Obrestad and Sam Trickett.
There is also word that there may be 18 players who end up entering this event, and Daniel Cates was just spotted buying in down at the cage making it 14 confirmed. Apparently there are negotiations on whether to pay out one, or two places. The answer will be the deciding factor on whether some of these "maybes" become confirmed.
Stay Tuned!
Level: 1
Blinds: 1,000/2,000
Ante: 500
Play has begun! Bam!
Feature Table
| Seat | Player |
|---|---|
| 1 | Tom Dwan |
| 2 | Phil Ivey |
| 3 | Alexander Kostritsyn |
| 4 | Richard Yong |
| 5 | Chris Ferguson |
| 6 | John Juanda |
| 7 | Tony Bloom |
| 8 | Nikolay Evdakov |
| 9 | Roland de Wolfe |
Secondary Table
| 1 | Annette Obrestad |
| 2 | Wang Qiang |
| 3 | David Benyamine |
| 4 | James Obst |
| 5 | Sam Trickett |
| 6 | Paul Phua |
| 7 | Erik Seidel |
| 8 | Daniel Cates |
| 9 | James Bord |
Tom Dwan made it 6,000 to go, but Richard Yong had a different idea. He bumped it up to 16,000. Dwan made the call and the two were off to a flop of 
.
Dwan tossed out a bet of 21,000 and after some thought, Yong tossed his cards toward the muck.
Phil Ivey and Richard Yong called Tom Dwan's raise of 6,000. Chris Ferguson then bumped it up to 30,000 to which Ivey was the only caller.
Flop: 
. Ivey checked to Ferguson who tossed out 40,000.
Players have 30 seconds to act when the action is on them and they also have two 30 second chips to use as well. Ivey folded just as his first 30 seconds were about to expire.
Roland de Wolfe and James Bord have now entered the game. De Wolfe is seated at the feature table and Bord is at the secondary. It is also rumored that Andrew Feldman has waltzed in and asked if there was a seat for him.
The early action at the side table has been dominated by the two Chinese businessmen.
We saw Paul Phua take the first pot from Annette Obrestad, and Wang Qiang grabbing the second pot with no action, after his preflop raise.
Phil Ivey then walked through the room, and upon seeing the two full tables he said "They got a lot of people for this thing, a lot of big time gamblers here."
The next hand saw Qiang limp, and Phua make it 8,000 to go. Qiang made the call, and the two saw a 
flop. Qiang checked, Phua bet 12,000 and Qiang folded.
Phua was active again on the next hand, calling a 6,000 preflop raise from Sam Trickett. The two saw a 
flop, and after Trickett checked, Phua tossed out 13,000 getting a quick fold from Trickett.