Theakstone Thrives on Day 1b, Eyes Another Deep Run in Aussie Millions Main Event
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Day 1b of the A$10,600 Aussie Millions Main Event attracted 264 players to the felt, virtually copying last year's numbers which eventually produced a record-breaking field. Among the players with vivid memories of the 2019 campaign is Andrew Theakstone who finished in 16th place, notching his first reported live cash.
Theakstone arrived for today's flight and he was able to spin his belongings to a promising 207,300 which catapulted him among Day 1b top stacks—if not into the outright lead. Theakstone had no problem navigating through the seven-level stretch, despite sharing the table with some of the prolific top-shelf grinders such as Seth Davies and Benny Glaser.
While most of the heavyweights competed in another section of the Crown Melbourne poker room (playing the A$50K Challenge), Day 1b still saw dozens of elite players enter the field. Those who finished with solid building blocks included Scott Margereson (144,600) and Alex Lynskey (120,000).
Australian sports legend, former national cricket team captain Shane Warne also joined the contest, which he'd started on a podium where he delivered the shuffle-up-and-deal speech. Warne was squeezed between Kevin MacPhee and Justin Liberto. In the end, neither of the American pros was able to make it through, but Warne found a bag with 29,600.
Guillaume Diaz, Manig Loeser, Sergio Aido, Dzmitry Urbanovich, and Stephen Chidwick were all among the 130 or so players who punched their tickets for Day 2, emphasizing the international popularity of the Aussie Millions.
One final starting day is coming up on Sunday, January 19, at 12:30 p.m. local time. Day 1c is expected to bring the largest turnout, so make sure to come back to PokerNews to keep up with the action.