Lee Nelson won this very event back in 2006 and is in action today. It's a long way until the finish line, and Nelson will have to survive Day 1a if he hopes to become the first two-time Aussie Millions champion.
With about 2,000 in the pot and a board reading , a player in the big blind checked, Sam Holden bet 1,050, and the button called. After the big blind got out of the way, the dealer burned and turned the , which both active players checked.
They repeated the action on the river and the look on Holden's face indicated he regretted his check as he rolled over . Sure enough, it was the winner as his opponent simply mucked his hand.
Jeff Lisandro was under the gun and opened for 700, which both the cutoff and the button called. With action on Peter Aristidou in the small blind, he fired out a three-bet to 2,100. One by one his opponents folded and the local veteran was able to take down the pot without so much as a flop.
Patrik Antonius opened for 450 and a player in middle position made the call. The button then woke up with a three-bet to 1,200, Antonius four-bet to 3,200, and the MP player folded. The button made the call and it was off to the flop.
Antonius was first and led out for 6,000, the button raised to 12,000, Antonius moved all in, and the button called off for 32,125 total.
Showdown
Antonius
Button
Antonius was way ahead and primed to take down the huge pot; however, the that spiked on the turn changed that. Suddenly Antonius needed an ace on the river to take down the pot, and while Barry Greenstein is nearby, it did not come to fruition as the appeared.
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Patrik Antonius hasn’t been in the tournament for more than 20 minutes and he’s already doubled. It happened when the board read , Antonius bet 3,500, and his opponent in the cutoff moved all in. Antonius couldn’t put his chips in the middle fast enough as he tabled for a full house. The cutoff held and was drawing dead headed to the river. Antonius, who appears to have forgone the $100,000 Challenge in favor of the Main Event, is already up to 60,000.
He’s widely known as one of the best players in the world and we were expecting him in the Crown Casino today. Nobody had foreseen it would be in the Main Event because Patrik Antonius is one of those high rollers who usually shows gets fired up for $100,000 buy-in events.
Patrik just sat down at Leo Boxell’s table and the first thing he got sorted was a massage. The Finnish pro seems relaxed and ready to go.
Action folded to an unknown player in the cutoff position and he opened for 600, which the player in the small blind called. A shirt-stacked Chris Barrat then moved all in from the big blind for 4,425. The cutoff made the call while the small blind got out of the way.
Showdown
Barratt
Cutoff
It was the worst of spots for Barrat, though the { flop did give him some more outs to an open-ended straight draw. Unfortunately for him, the turn and river blanked and he was eliminated here in the early stages of Level 3.
With 1,525 in the pot and a flop of , Maria Ho bet 550 and was raised to 1,600 by her opponent on the button. Ho made the call and then checked the turn. The button did not back down and fired out 2,500, but again Ho called.
When the appeared on the river, Ho checked for a second time and the button bet 6,000. Ho thought for about 45 seconds before tossing out three yellow T5,000 chips, constituting a raise to 15,000. The button gave it about a minute’s worth of thought before tossing his cards to the muck.