We spotted Samantha Abernathy walking through the poker room on her way to her table. We waited for her to get installed, fold her big blind and managed to grab a few words with her.
"I'm very excited!" said Abernathy, "I'm a little nervous just with all the buzz that's going around. It's a weird moment to sit down!"
Abernathy shot to fame with a third-place finish in this event two years ago, taking home $437,543 the year Ari Engel took down the title, and she said that it holds a special place in her annual poker calendar.
"I think about it through the whole year! There's always this looming feeling about this stop...in a good way of course. It's diferent to any other stop."
During her trip to Melbourne, Abernathy has managed to squeeze in a trip to the tennis as well as several media opportunities.
"I went to see the Men's Semi-final, but I've also had to deal with jet lag. There were a couple of media stuff with Kiss FM and the Herald Sun."
However, now she's seated in the Main Event, she says here eyes are firmly on the prize.
"I want to run deep. I really do. I'm feeling it again this time around!"
Michael Del Vecchio appears to be the early chip leader after having more than doubled his stack. Below are further assorted counts including Lily Kiletto, who recently joined the field.
The cards of the short stack were already in the muck while Corey Zarb dragged in the pot with after having rivered top pair on the board of . According to the dealer, the player at risk had been all in for 7,175 with pocket jacks only to see his hopes of a comeback destroyed on the river.
Here are some updated chip counts from the Main Event field as the players go on their second 15-minute break of the day. When they return the blinds will remain the same (100/200) but there will be an additional 25 ante.
The player in the cutoff limped and the button called. Kristen Bicknell and Max Silver called from the small and big blind respectively. The flop came . It checked to the cutoff who bet 200 and Bicknell was the only caller.
The turn was checked by both players. The river was checked by Bicknell, who then folded to a river bet of 1,000.
Meanwhile, the cutoff on another table raised to 500. Daniel Neilson called on the button and Steven van Zadelhoff called in the big blind. The flop of checked to Neilson who bet 800. Van Zadelhoff then check-raised to 2,700 forcing both players out.
After a raise in early position and a call from Dave Heskin in the cutoff, a player three-bet to 1,400 on the button and the others tagged along. The flop got checked by all players.
On the turn, Heskin bet 3,000, the player on the button moved all in for a little over 17,000, the third player folded and Heskin called it off.
David Heskin:
Button:
The button was drawing dead, knocked the felt and already left the table before the river was dealt.
Christopher Soyza won the Accumulator Event of the Aussie Millions in 2015 and 2016 while Andrew Locke won his first Aussie Millions ring just a few days ago here at the Crown Casino in Melbourne. Both clashed in a hand just now with the better end for Locke.
Picking up the action on the turn, Soyza bet 2,500 and Locke called. After the river, Soyza made it 5,500 to go and Locke shoved for another 8,200 on top. Soyza reluctantly called and mucked his cards when Locke flipped over the for the nut flush.
The good start of Pierre Aoukar was canceled out some time ago and he didn't get to see the end of level two, as Daniel Laidlaw took his seat only a minute after the Aussie had been eliminated. Aoukar's were still tabled for top pair on the board , but he was unable to beat the of his opponent to join the rail.
Michael Gathy and Dinesh Velupillay have built their stacks, while Michael Kanaan entered the competition.