Del Vecchio Trying to Cook Up Third Straight Run to Aussie Millions Final Table
Mike Del Vecchio has been a beacon of success at the Aussie Millions Main Event the past two years. Each of those years, no player was able to send him to the rail until the final day of play, as Del Vecchio finished fifth in 2018 for A$370,000 then chopped it three ways last year for A$1,272,162 and an official second-place finish.
For the third straight year, Del Vecchio has put together a strong run at Crown Melbourne. This time around, he has bagged once more heading to Day 4, in the money and in the hunt with only about 4% of the field remaining.
Del Vecchio's 1,093,000 ranks sixth. It wasn't the easiest run for the American as he had a below-average stack for much of the early portions of Day 3, but he ran it into the seven figures after the dinner break and looks poised to contend for a third straight six-figure score Down Under.
In total, 37 players advanced, with Nino Ullmann (1,497,000) in the lead as the redraw to six six-max tables looms. Other big stacks include Rishabh Vekaria (1,380,000), Manig Loeser (1,355,000), Bryce Yockey (1,246,000) and Randy Lew (1,094,000).
Plenty of recognizable names also remain in contention, including Erik Seidel, Scott Margereson, Fabian Quoss and Nick Pupillo.
Day 3 would see a key point in the tournament arrive as the money bubble burst about halfway through the day's seven-level grind. Ize Bourne was the unfortunately player to bust in 89th place, the final unpaid position, when his eights and fives couldn't overcome the trips flopped by Sergio Aido.
Kahle Burns, Jack Salter, Rory Young, Sergio Aido and Steve O'Dwyer were among the big names going down but at least pocketing some cash for their efforts.
O'Dwyer held one of the biggest stacks in the hours after the bubble burst, but he ran into a rough spot when he opened pocket tens on the button and got three-bet by fellow high roller reg Loeser, then four-bet by the big blind. O'Dwyer shipped it covering everyone, and Loeser called it off with kings and held to shoot up the counts and into the lead.
Defending champ Bryn Kenney also busted but had a fruitless day where he came in with a big stack and simply found no success. All other remaining champs have likewise exited, ensuring a fresh name will go down in Aussie Millions history.
Day 4 of Aussie Millions commences at 12:30 p.m. local time on Wednesday. Return to PokerNews then for more coverage, as well as the first day of livestreamed action, with play beginning at 6,000/12,000/12,000.