2007 Aussie Millions Main Event - Day 3Hansen and Antonius Among Final Fourteen; Hachem And Defending Champ Lee Nelson Bust |
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While the seasons might flip-flop between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, and the toilets flush in opposite directions, one thing stays the same whether you see it in Melbourne, Las Vegas, or anywhere in between - that's right, the elimination frenzy better known as post-money-bubble tournament play.
Day 3 of the 2007 Aussie Millions main event started at 12:30 p.m., and, while the blinds and antes actually began at $2,500-$5,000 and $500, the barrage of eliminations made the level of play look more like $25,000-$50,000 with $5,000 antes.
A little bit of an exaggeration, but not really. Of the 80-player starting field, 20 dropped out in the first half hour of action. Dan Callaghan led the growing march to the payout window as he busted on the day's opening hand. The 80th-place elimination netted Callaghan $15,000, and made him the first player to exit the Aussie Millions main event with a paycheck.
Among the 20 dropped in the first 30, Kirill Gerasimov stood out as one of the bigger internationally known names. Gerasimov fell in 64th place when his all-in reraise with top pair fell to Marc Karam's flopped two pair.
Defending champ Lee "Final Table" Nelson flirted with joining the first wave of eliminations. Nelson moved all in preflop and found his A-Q up against Jimmy "Gobboboy" Fricke's pocket fives. But a queen on the flop ended the race situation and Nelson doubled to $450,000.
While Nelson's title defense stayed alive, Haralabos Voulgaris made a strong push at a final table appearance, as he became the first player to crack the $1 million mark. On the last hand of the opening level, Voulgaris reached the plateau by eliminating Nicki Dalgaard courtesy of his pocket aces holding against Dalgaard's pocket kings.
Level 16 brought the 49th-place elimination of David "The Dragon" Pham ($20,000), a victim of pocket tens against Robert Goldfarb's pocket aces, and also saw fan favorite Joe Hachem double through Paul Wasicka, despite both players holding A-9 offsuit. A four-heart board gave Hachem (A
9
) the winning flush, and the win bumped his chip stack up to $170,000.
Shortly into the day's third level, Nelson's repeat attempt ended courtesy of another big name at the main event. The defending champ reraised all in on a Q
Q 4 flop. Gus Hansen called, and took the lead when he turned over A Q
and Nelson showed K 9. The J turn added a straight draw to Nelson's outs, but the 2006 Aussie Millions champion exited in 36th place ($27,500) after the 3 landed on the river.
Lee's elimination, occurring on the same hand as Rick Rawlings' departure, resulted in a table redraw as the tournament switched exclusively to short-handed (six-player max) action.
At 9:46 p.m., and down to his last $67,000 in chips, Hachem moved all in and Jonas Buskas, a Full Tilt online qualifier who had eliminated Hachem's brother, Tony, on day 2, called. Hachem's Q 7 needed to improve against Buskas' A Q, but the J 6 2 10 4 board offered no help. Hachem, who left the Las Vegas Room to the applause and cheers of his hometown crowd, finished the 2007 Aussie Millions in 23rd place ($60,000).
After a roller-coaster first level (he went from $800,000 all the way down to $300,000), Jimmy "Gobboboy" Fricke experienced a run of luck that saw him eliminate three players on dramatic hands.
First, Fricke rivered an inside straight to send Ville Laukken home in 20th ($60,000), then he called an all-in bet by Shane "Shaniac" Schleger on a Q 9 2 board and became a serious underdog when Schleger turned over Q J to Fricke's Q 10. But a runner-runner straight (K turn and J river) gave Fricke the winning hand, and he eliminated Schleger in 19th place ($60,000).
On his third consecutive bustout, Fricke, holding pocket tens, called Nathan Bobik's all-in move with pocket kings. Fricke flopped a set, and made Bobik the tournament's 18th-place finisher ($90,000).
(Fricke also busted Katherine Hartree in 33rd place ($30,000), making Full Tilt's Kristy Gazes the last remaining female participant in the 2007 Aussie Millions.)
Like Fricke, Gus Hansen notched consecutive eliminations, albeit in much less soul-crushing fashion, when his pocket jacks held against Kevin Atkin's Q 10 and Robert Goldfarb's A K. "The Great Dane" dragged the pot and Goldfarb and Atkin dropped in 17th and 16th place, respectively ($90,000 each).
At 12:08 a.m., and with the action down to the tournament's final three tables, play concluded with the completion of level 20.
The remaining field of 14 returns at 11 a.m. and will play down until the seven players have been decided for Friday's 2007 Aussie Millions final table.
Official end-of-day chip counts will be added to this report as soon as made available.
Some notable finishes included Full Tilt pros Ross Boatman (26th - $40,000) and Keith Sexton (24th place - $60,000) and Haralabos Voulgaris (21st place - $60,000).
Stay tuned to CardPlayer.com for more news and information on the Southern Hemisphere's richest poker tournament.
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