Erik Seidel open-shoved his short stack of 370,000 from the cutoff, and Ami Barer quickly called on the button. Both blinds released, and the hands were tabled.
Barer:
Seidel:
Seidel was crushed, and didn't improve as the board ran out . He's off to collect AU$100,000, which is just enough to get him into the neighboring $100,000 Challenge.
Jake Balsiger checked to Ami Barer on a flop of , and the Canadian fired out 90,000. Balsiger check-raised to 225,000, only to have Barer re-raised to 390,000.
The 2012 Octo-Niner opted not to call, and Barer raked in yet another pot.
Sorel Mizzi opened from the cutoff and Denny Lewis, who has a deep rail supporting him, opted to move all in for 645,000 from the cutoff. The button and blinds folded, and Mizzi dropped in a call.
Mizzi:
Lewis:
"Come on, Denny," one of his supporters yelled from the rail. Lewis was in dire straits as he shared a king with Mizzi but with the inferior kicker. Lewis was in desperate need of a queen, and he sat stoically to watch his fate... .
There was no queen to be hand, which meant it was the end of the line for Lewis, who took home AU$130,000 for his ninth-place finish. Not too bad for getting into the Aussie Millions through his local pub league!
Ami Barer opened from the cutoff for 80,000 and was met by an all-in three-bet to 965,000 from Eoghan O'Dea on the button. Jake Balsiger, who barely had him covered, was in the small blind and thought long and hard before moving all in over the top. Barer folded and it was off to the races.
Balsiger:
O'Dea:
Balsiger was ahead, but he knew he had to dodge big cards. He didn't seem too thrilled when the flop delivered O'Dea a gutshot Broadway draw, but there was no need to worry as the blanked on the turn followed by the on the river.
O'Dea missed and was sent to the rail in eighth place, which means the 2014 Aussie Millions Main Event final table is set.
On Friday the final 36 players of a 668-player field returned to Crown Melbourne to play down to the final table of seven in the 2014 Aussie Millions Main Event. It took nearly twelve hours of play, but eventually the final table was set with Ami Barer and his stack of 6.57 million leading the way.
Joining him there are some big names in Sorel Mizzi (2,830,000), Jake Balsiger (2,385,000), Darren Rabinowitz (2,365,000), and Scott Seiver (855,000).
The day was full of crushed dreams as players like Rhys Jones (36th – AU$30,000), Martin Rowe (35th – AU$30,000), Jae Kyung Sim (34th – AU$30,000), Team PokerStars Pro Raymond Wu (33rd – AU$30,000), Uros Brkic (32nd – AU$30,000), Florian Bussmann (31st – AU$30,000), Rahul Rastogi (30th – AU$35,000), Heinz Kamutzki (29th – AU$35,000), and Liv Boeree (28th – AU$35,000) all hit the rail in the early goings.
Team PokerStars’ Boeree fell in Level 21 (8,000/16,000/2,000) in a button-vs-small blind battle. Boeree was all in and at risk for roughly 400,000 or so with and dominated by Patrick Crivell's . The jacks held as the board came , and Boeree hit the rail.
The start-of-the-day chip leader, Salvatore Fazzino, no doubt had high hopes at the start of the day, but those hopes were dashed in Level 23 (12,000/24,000/4,000) courtesy of Sorel Mizzi.
In what would be Fazzino's final hand, Mizzi opened for 48,000 under the gun and received a call from Darren Rabinowitz in the cutoff. Denny Lewis then came along from the button and Fazzino, who had dwindled to a short stack, moved all in for 344,000 from the small blind. Mizzi made the call, the other two players folded, and the cards were turned up.
Mizzi:
Fazzino:
Mizzi was ahead with the big pocket pair, and that meant Fazzino's best shot at survival was to catch either an ace or spades. Unfortunately for the Perth contingent on the rail, their man was left drawing to running aces when the flop gave Mizzi a set. The turn was the final nail in the coffin, and after the was run out on the river for good measure Fazzino took his leave in 14th place for AU$70,000.
The final seven will have the day off on Saturday and then return on Sunday to play down to a champion. Who will capture the southern hemisphere’s most prestigious title and the AU$1.6 million first-place prize? You’ll have to wait and see. In the meantime, check out this video on how to eat a Tim Tam:
![[user101598]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
. He's off to collect AU$100,000, which is just enough to get him into the neighboring $100,000 Challenge.
, and the Canadian fired out 90,000. Balsiger check-raised to 225,000, only to have Barer re-raised to 390,000.
flop delivered O'Dea a gutshot Broadway draw, but there was no need to worry as the 
blanked on the turn followed by the 
on the river.
and dominated by Patrick Crivell's 
. The jacks held as the board came 
flop gave Mizzi a set. The 
turn was the final nail in the coffin, and after the 
was run out on the river for good measure Fazzino took his leave in 14th place for AU$70,000.