With three players to the flop on , it was Paul Michaelis who checked from the small blind. The button bet 2,000, Michaelis check-raised to 6,200, the big blind folded and the button called. Both players checked the on the turn.
Michaelis bet 14,800 on the river and the button snap-called. Michaelis showed for a pair of fours, the button tabled for jacks and fives to win the hand.
James Obst and Christian Harder have been eliminated while Tony Tartaglia, who had spent the last few levels with an above-average stack already, won a big pot after cracking aces to soar further. After the hand was over, Tartaglia walked over to Amanda De Cesare to bring the good news before heading back to his seat with new table neighbor and fellow big stack Paul Michaelis.
In a three-bet pot for 3,500 to the flop, Tartaglia had gotten into a raising war with the player from two seats over and ultimately jammed to receive a quick call and discover the pocket aces of the opponent. Tartaglia still had outs with the and got there thanks to the turn and river run out.
"You're the best dealer in the world!" came an excited shout from the table in the corner of the room.
We moved in to see what prompted such a strong declaration. Three players had their cards face up. Ken Demlakian had and another player had . The two big pairs had been crushed in brutal fashion by the of Tamara Volkoff though, as the board had come , making her a flush.
Volkoff had 53,800 and got paid off by both opponents to drag a monster pot. Demlakian had about 20,000 back and doubled that through the player with queens.
Stephen Graner bet 3,500 from middle position when an under-the-gun opponent checked to him on . The under-the-gun player called and both checked the turn. The river was a and the first player checked. Graner bet 4,500. When his opponent called, Graner instantly mucked, having no apparent interest in a showdown.
It's been a rather quiet day for Manig Loeser, who hasn't been spotted above the starting stack throughout the day. The German is fresh off an incredible breakthrough year, in which he racked up nearly $4 million dollars in cashes. With $5.5 million in lifetime earnings, Loeser currently ranks 16th on the German all-time money list.
On a flop, Loeser bet 3,400 and his opponent check-called. The turn brought the and Loeser moved in for 13,000. His opponent opted to fold to give Loeser some much-needed chips.
A raising war ended with the five-bet shove of James Obst and Cole Swannack called all in for 92,000 to create the biggest pot of the tournament so far.
Cole Swannack:
James Obst:
The flop gave Swannack the lead but he had to dodge all clubs in order to score the huge pot. He did so thanks to the turn and river and left Obst with crumbs.
The small blind completed and called a raise to 2,000 from Manig Loeser. Loeser barreled for 900 and then 1,500 on the flop and turn as hit the felt. The river was and both players checked. Loeser opened and mucked when the was shown down.
After a raise to 2,000 and a call, Tristan Bain three-bet to 6,000 on the button and Scott Davies four-bet to 17,000 out of the small blind. The big blind and initial two players folded, but Bain called and the duo headed to the flop. Davies once more made it 17,000 to go and Bain called after some consideration.
As soon as the fell on the turn, Davies moved all in for more than 40,000 and Bain was sent into the think tank. He tried table chart and even almost squeezed his cards to Davies, who kept his cool and continued to stare at the board without showing any reaction at all. Ultimately, Bain let go and Davies boosted his stack nicely without showdown.
With the levels ticking away, and Day 1b almost over here in the 2018 Aussie Millions Main Event, we caught up with 2005 WSOP Main Event champion Joe Hachem to ask him how important the Aussie Millions is to Australian poker and to him personally.
"The Aussie Millions is Australian poker, basically," said Hachem. "It's the crown jewel. It's our major! I mean, you just have to look at all the people who come from all over the world. It's the major of the southern hemisphere.
"Obviously I've been here since its inception [in 1998] so I'm part of that, and every year I look forward to it. I live in Melbourne, so I'm never anywhere else!"
We asked Hachem what it would mean to him to win the Aussie Millions and he smiled broadly.
"I’ve answered this question many, many times and it’s always the same answer. The Aussie Millions is the notch on my resume that I’m hoping for one day. It would be so sweet to win it in my home casino, in my home city, in my home country!"
, it was Paul Michaelis who checked from the small blind. The button bet 2,000, Michaelis check-raised to 6,200, the big blind folded and the button called. Both players checked the 
on the turn.
river and the button snap-called. Michaelis showed 
for a pair of fours, the button tabled 
for jacks and fives to win the hand.
flop, Tartaglia had gotten into a raising war with the player from two seats over and ultimately jammed to receive a quick call and discover the pocket aces of the opponent. Tartaglia still had outs with the 
and got there thanks to the 
and another player had 
. The two big pairs had been crushed in brutal fashion by the 
. The under-the-gun player called and both checked the 
flop, Loeser bet 3,400 and his opponent check-called. The turn brought the 
and Loeser moved in for 13,000. His opponent opted to fold to give Loeser some much-needed chips.
flop gave Swannack the lead but he had to dodge all clubs in order to score the huge pot. He did so thanks to the 
turn and 
river and left Obst with crumbs.
hit the felt. The river was 
and mucked when the 
was shown down.
flop. Davies once more made it 17,000 to go and Bain called after some consideration.
