Nobbi Tanaka opened with a raise from the lo-jack as Tony Bloom made the call next to act before the small blind squeezed. Tanaka folded, but Bloom made the call as a flop fell and Bloom smooth-called the small blind's continuation-bet.
The turn of the saw the small blind fire again, only to have Bloom move all in. The small blind called, and the 2004 Champion was at risk.
Bloom:
Opponent:
With Bloom in front, it would be tournament-crushing on the river that would see him hurtled to the rail after his opponent made a straight.
Amazingly, Bloom has one of the greatest Aussie Millions records - and shows no signs of letting up - albeit from today's event.
After winning the Main Event in 2004 for AUD$426,500, Bloom went on to capture a second title the following year. The Lizard however would return with a bang in 2009 when he finished runner-up to David Steicke in this very event for AUD$600,000 before making a return to the same final table the following year for AUD$200,000 when he finished fourth.
For someone that is based in London, it might be worth him moving down to Australia because he now has over AUD$2,000,000 in this very casino!
Facing a 750-chip raise preflop, Gus Hansen made the call, along with the player on the button before [Removed:415] three-bet to 6,000 from the big blind.
The original raiser folded, but Hansen committed his final 5,925 as the player on the button folded.
Hansen:
Doria:
The board ran out to see Hansen double through to 13,800 as Doria slipped below the 60,000-chip mark.
Bruno Portaro raised it up under the gun to 750 preflop, and an unknown player in the big blind decided to ship it in for 7,150 total. Portaro made the call with , and was in great shape against the of his opponent.
The board was unkind to poor Bruno, as it brought his opponent an ace right in the door.
From the big blind, Full Tilt Poker Red Pro David Benyamine defended his big blind to see a flop with two clubs.
Both players checked as the landed on the turn and Benyamine fired out 1,400. The original raiser moved all in and Benyamine made the call for roughly his last 5,000.
Benyamine:
Opponent:
The river of the couldn't save Benyamine as he was left on the rail - or more likely on his way up to the Million Dollar Cash Game!
We saw a battle of the Full Tilt Poker Pro's as both Andy Bloch and Scott Montgomery called a 800-chip preflop raise from the under the gun player.
The flop was checked to see the land on the turn. Bloch led for 1,500 from the small blind before Montgomery raised to 4,500. The preflop raiser got out of the way as Bloch committed his final few thousand with Montgomery making the call.
Bloch:
Montgomery:
With Bloch drawing dead, the river landed the to end his tournament early while sending Montgomery up to 25,000 in chips.
Team Full Tilt Poker member Gus Hansen, who won this very event back in 2007, raised to 650 from the button. [Removed:415] reraised from the big blind to 2,100 and Hansen called.
The flop came down and Hansen led out with a bet of 2,200. Doria raised to 35,000 to put Hansen all in and Hansen mucked. Hansen was knocked down to 5,300 in chips.
Another installment of the renowned online poker series from Full Tilt Poker is edging ever closer, kicking off on February 6th and spanning a couple of weeks.
Be sure to check out the FTOPS XIX schedule and get involved in one of the 45 championship events on offer.
Who knows, if you're good enough you could walk away with a gold jersey... not to mention the millions of dollars up for grabs!