Day 1 Flight 2 of the 2016 Aussie Millions Poker Championship Event #1 $1,150 No-Limit Hold'em drew a total of 172 players Thursday, bringing the total up to 332, and putting the event well on the path to surpassing its $1 million prize pool guarantee with two starting flights still to come.
Two-time European Poker Tour Main Event finalist Xuan Liu and 2014 WSOP APAC Main Event champion Scott Davies both took their second shot at the event to no avail.
2013 World Series of Poker Europe Ladies Event bracelet winner Jackie Glazier took her first kick at the can. However, the Aussie was felted early and was soon joined by 2012 WSOP November Niner Jacob Balsiger and Australian Poker Hall of Fame member Leo Boxell on the rail.
A Writer and Producer on hit American TV shows Weeds and Entourage, Matt Salsberg, and 2015 WSOP November Niner Federico Butteroni both built contending stacks into the late levels. However, Butteroni got short and busted in the last ten minutes of play while Salsberg slowed down and bagged short.
By the time twelve 40-minute levels were through just 26 players remained with Ferenc Riech leading the pack. The German built a big stack midway through the day and used it to put a ton of pressure on his opponents through the late levels, ascending into the chip lead as the night wore on.
This group and the 26 survivors from Flight 1 will battle it out for a seat at the nine-handed final at 12:15 p.m. on Sunday with survivors from the next two flights set for Friday and Saturday also joining them.
As a repechage event, players eliminated from previous flights may re-enter any of the remaining flights.
While the event continues with the third of four starting flights set for 12:10 p.m. local time Friday, PokerNews' live coverage will shift to the final table of Event #2 $2,500 H.O.R.S.E. beginning at 1 p.m. Friday.
Coverage of Event #1 will resume with the fourth and final flight set for 12:10 p.m. local time Saturday.
Michael Kanaan raised to 3,200 and was called by Ferench Riech on the button as well as the player in the big blind. On the flop , only Riech called Kanaan's continuation bet worth 5,000 and the Aussie then fired a second barrel worth 11,000 on the turn.
Again Riech called and Kanaan's 21,000-bet on the river was met with an almost immediate shove. The Aussie gave it some thought and then flashed aces into the muck.
Najeem Ajez has been eliminated in a three-way all in with pocket threes when another three was among the first three community cards. Three!!!
The full betting action is unknown, but the of Ajez ended up being the third-best hand preflop in a showdown against pocket kings and the of Don Mishra.
The board ran out and the three aces of Mishra won the big pot.
Furthermore, only one out of three players registered is left with 58 out of 172 remaining and bagging and tagging will take place after three in the morning.
Fred Ranchhod opened from early position and was three-bet by Ziga Janskovec to 2,600. Jackie Glazier pushed all in for 3,325 and Ranchhod as well as Janskovec called. "I feel super confident that I gonna come back tomorrow," Glazier joked.
On the flop , Ranchhod got the remainder of his stack in as well for around 4,000 chips and Janskovec called it off with the . Ranchhod held while Glazier's flush draw with was no good. Both the turn and the river blanked and Janskovec knocked out two opponents.
Louis Salter grabbed most of the chips of the first player out after flopping top set and cracking a pair of aces. The opponent hung around with seven big blinds for a while before eventually surrendering.
One table over, Xuan Liu had a day to forget. Forced out of a bigger pot early on she now got into a raising war and the remaining stack went into the middle of the table. Liu showed but failed to improve against the of her opponent after the board ran out .
The second of four Day 1 flights for the 2016 Aussie Millions opening event will kick off inside the Crown Exhibition Hall across the street from the Crown Poker Room just minutes from now.
Wednesday's first flight drew some 160 players with 26 surviving through to Day 2 and even more are expected this evening.
Players will begin with 10,000 chips and plans to play twelve 40-minute levels with a short break after every three. Registration is open through the first six levels. As a repechage event, players can re-enter any of the remaining flights if they bust out.
The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be on hand for all the action from start to finish sometime around 3 a.m. Friday morning and you can follow along right here.