Tony Dunst brought it in for an early position raise to 3,500 before picking up Ken Wong on the button and the player in the big blind who both called to see a flop of .
The big blind checked his option before Dunst continued for 5,200. He was called in two spots and the fell on the turn.
The action was checked around and the dealer presented the river.
The big blind checked, Dunst checked, and then Wong took the betting lead with a barrel for 21,100. The big blind quickly folded and the decision was back on Dunst. He looked back at his cards and thought about it for over a minute before finally raising his eyebrows and throwing his hand away.
David Steicke was one of the players that bought in early this morning, but he did not run his stack up to be a contender for the money.
Steicke has just been eliminated after running into in a blind battle where he was the big blind. The board ran out and Steicke said his goodbyes.
This for sure isn't the last that we've seen of Steicke here at the 2017 Aussie Millions, though, as he's made the final table of the $100,000 Challenge that plays out on Saturday. He'll be one of seven players battling for three prizes. You can read up on that tournament right here on PokerNews.com.
Pratyush Buddiga moved all in for around 23,000 from the cutoff and was immediately called by William Haughey on the button. The action fell on Julian Stuer in the big blind who also moved all in for his last 16,000 or so chips.
Haughey:
Buddiga:
Stuer:
The board ran out king high to see Haughey take down the entire pot with a higher kicker to Buddiga and eliminate both him and Stuer to move up to over 200,000 in chips.
Dutchman Bas de Laat was seen sitting behind a stack just shy of 200,000 and was friendly enough to tell us how that had come to be.
De Laat told us he had busted Spain's Ana Marquez in a pot where he had a flush while she had trips. Besides taking Marquez's last chips, he also won a pre-flop all in with queens to tens for sixty big blinds.
The prize pool information has just been released by the Aussie Millions tournament organization. A total of 725 entries into the event have made for a AU$7,250,000 prize pool to be divided over 80 players.
A min cash is worth AU$15,000 while winning it all will again net the winner AU$1,600,000. Here's the breakdown:
Position
Prize
Position
Prize
1
AU$1,600,000
10 - 12
AU$115,000
2
AU$1,000,000
13 - 18
AU$80,000
3
AU$620,000
19 - 24
AU$60,000
4
AU$440,000
25 - 30
AU$40,000
5
AU$335,000
31 - 36
AU$30,000
6
AU$270,000
37 - 48
AU$25,000
7
AU$210,000
49 - 64
AU$20,000
8 - 9
AU$155,000
65 - 80
AU$15,000
Here's a look at the prize pools and first place prizes throughout the long and rich history of the biggest event on the Southern Hemisphere:
A player in middle position opened the action with a raise to 2,500 and New Zealander Jack Efaraimo, sitting to their direct left, three-bet to 7,500.
Ryan Pignatelli cold four-bet all-in from the big blind and after the original raiser got out of the way Efaraimo called so fast his chips left skid marks on the felt.
Jack Efaraimo:
Ryan Pignatelli:
Efaraimo was ahead and as the at-risk player, he needed to stay that way to survive.
The board ran out and a visibly elated Efaraimo fist pumped and scooped in the pot. Pignatelli had over 250,000 at the start of the hand and took the hit good-naturedly, tapping the table and dropping to around 190,000 while Efaraimo climbed over the six-figure mark with a stack of 110,000.
Upon request, Marc Macdonnell told us how it came to be he had a stack worth 230,000 in front of him - well more than double average.
Macdonnell opened the button and the big blind defended. The player check-called 2,000 on before leading for 4,000 on the turn. Macdonnell, with in the hole, raised to 11,500 and his opponent called. A completed the board and the big blind shoved for about 50,000. Macdonnell called with his full house and the big blind showed .
It appears Jennifer Tilly is our runaway chip leader after spiking a set of jacks and setting the trap against her tablemate.
We arrived as the monster pot was brewing, with around 70,000 already in the middle, and the cards spread . Tilly was in the cutoff and checked it over to the player on the button who announced he was all in with enough to cover Tilly’s 133,900.
Tilly snapped it off for her tournament life and the two players revealed their hands.
Tilly:
Opponent:
Tilly’s flopped set was in front but she still had to fade a river spade to stay alive. The rolled off to signal safety for Tilly as she secured the biggest pot of the tournament so far.