Tobias Garp raised to 300 and Michael Vartan made the call in the big blind. They saw a flop and Vartan check-called the 400 chip bet from Garp.
The turn was the and both players checked. The river brought the and Vartan led for 500 and was raised by Garp to 1,550. Vartan thought for a moment before giving it up. Vartan is looking for a good showing here today after an unsuccessful Aussie Millions campaign so far, but he's going to have to do it the hard way as he's already down to 2,250.
This morning has seen a flurry of activity. Amongst the recent spate of eliminations we've seen two more notables hit the rail. Both Andrew Demetriou and Bruno Portaro will be looking for something else to do this afternoon, other then playing in this tournament.
On a flop of Billy Sukkar got the last of his 4,600 stack in the middle holding against an opponent's . Sukkar was already three steps towards the rail, when a miracle hit the turn, forcing him to turn turtle and sit back down in his seat. The river secured the double for Sukkar; he's now up to 9,400.
We've lost Antonio Casale from today's tournament. He held pocket queens but ran into his opponent's pocket kings. Three diamonds hit the flop and with Casale holding the , he held plenty of outs but it wasn't to be as the board bricked out.
Chris Chronis has been eliminated from today's tournament.
Three players limped a flop. On the flop a player in early position fired 200, which Lisa Walsh raised to 600, Chris Chronis then pushed all in for 900 and the early-position player folded, leaving Walsh to make the call.
Walsh called and tabled for an up and down straight draw, while Chronis for a flopped two pair. The turn was all clear, but the river made Walsh a straight and sent Chronis to the rail for an early day.
Some of the notables who are having one last crack at Aussie Millions glory in today's field are Andrew Demetriou, Dennis Huntly, Chris Chronis, Gary Benson, Graeme Putt, James Obst, Michael Pedley, Neil Channing, Peter Aristidou and Tony Dunst.
Today's tournament is a one-day event, and with a healthy field expected the structure is quite rapid to encourage plenty of action. Players will start with a 5,000-chip start bank and only have 30 seconds to act on each hand. Each level is 40 minutes in duration.