Liam O'Rourke's 2014 Aussie Millions Main Event has come to an end courtesy of Jamie Beer.
In the first of two hands between the duo, O'Rourke rivered a flush holding the . Unfortunately for him Beer had rivered a bigger one with the .
That left O'Rourke on a short stack, and he got it in soon after with the and was up against Beer's . The pocket pair held and that was all she wrote for O'Rourke.
John Juanda has just eliminated Jesse "OnTheMac" McKenzie after flopping bottom set against the Aussie's top-pair top-kicked.
We picked up the action on the turn on a board reading when McKenzie bet 8,200 from the small blind and Juanda called from middle position. When the completed the board on the river, McKenzie checked and Juanda moved all in. McKenzie had about 25,000 behind and snap-called off.
Juanda tabled the for a set, and it was good against McKenzie's .
We happened by Table 32 and discovered Billy "The Croc" Argyros was all in for 20,700. His opponent, Team Online's Randy Lew, had 10,300 out in front of him and was debating whether or not he wanted to call the additional 10,400. He decided that he did and the cards were turned up.
Argyros:
Lew:
Argyros got it in good, but there was a king in the window when the flop came out . Neither the turn nor river helped "The Croc," and he wished the table luck before taking his leave from the tournament.
Liv Boeree opened to 5,000 from under the gun, Antonio Tartaglia three-bet to 14,100 on the button, and both blinds released. Boeree made the call, both players checked on a flop of , and the turn brought the .
Boeree led out for 13,000, Tartaglia called, and the repeated on the river. Boeree led out again, firing a bet of 35,000, and Tartaglia folded face up.
The Team PokerStars Pro slid her cards into the much facedown, and pulled in the pot.
The 2014 Aussie Millions Main Event continued on Wednesday as the surviving players from the three starting flights combined into a single field in Crown’s Poker Room. The day began with 355 players, but after six 90-minute levels of play just 109 remained with Phillip Willcocks (510,600), Sorel Mizzi (507,100), and Gareth Dwyer (503,600) topping the counts.
Others who bagged up big stacks were Martin Rowe (463,900), Darren Rabinowitz (368,000), Antonio Esfandiari (349,800), Heinz Kamutzki (336,000), Julian Track (209,100). In addition, Team PokerStars Pros Angel Guillen, Randy Lew, and Jonathan Duhamel all advanced.
We caught up with Duhamel late on Day 2 to see how he was doing. He also offered his thoughts on Joe Hachem’s belief that recent World Series of Poker Main Event champs haven’t lived up to their responsibilities.
Nine players took advantage of the late registration, which brought the total number of entries up to 668 – the biggest turnout in the last three years! That created a prize pool of AUD$6.68 million, which will be distributed to the top 72 players with the eventual winner receiving a smooth AUD$1.6 million.
In Level 8 (400/800/100), Full Tilt Poker Ambassador Tom Grigg opened for 1,800 only to have "King" Dan Smith, who won the $100,000 Challenge here two years back, three-bet to 4,600. Not to be outdone, Grigg four-bet to 10,200 and then called when Smith five-bet all in for roughly 40,000.
Grigg:
Smith:
It was a classic race, and according to the PokerNews Odds Calculator Smith was a slight 56.65% favorite while Grigg would score the elimination 42.95% of the time. The flop was safe for Smith, and he pulled out to a 3-1 lead. Unfortunately for him, that is when the dealer burned and turned the . Grigg paired his ace to become a massive 95.45% favorite, which meant Smith needed to catch a jack and a jack only to survive. He had a 4.55% chance of doing it, but in this particular hand it didn't come as the blanked on the river.
While hundreds fell, some notables managed to punch their ticket to Day 3 including Mike Watson (149,200), Jarod Ludemann (91,500), Annette Obrestad (87,100), Marco Johnson (81,500), Paul Klann (64,400), and Paul Newey (47,200).
Day 3 is set to begin at 12:15 local time, and the plan is to play six more 90-minute levels. During that time the money bubble will burst and the field will be reduced to approximately 30 players. Of course the PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be on hand to bring you all the action, so be sure to check back then.
In the meantime, have a look at Kristy Arnett’s interview with Patrik Antonius, who was one of many Day 2 casualties:
. Unfortunately for him Beer had rivered a bigger one with the 
.
and was up against Beer's 
![[user101598]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
when McKenzie bet 8,200 from the small blind and Juanda called from middle position. When the 
completed the board on the river, McKenzie checked and Juanda moved all in. McKenzie had about 25,000 behind and snap-called off.
for a set, and it was good against McKenzie's 
.
turn nor 
river helped "The Croc," and he wished the table luck before taking his leave from the tournament.
, and the turn brought the 
.
repeated on the river. Boeree led out again, firing a bet of 35,000, and Tartaglia folded 
blanked on the river.