Final Table Set, Trickett In Control
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After a long day packed inside Studio 3 and it’s poker-made TV set, the cameras and lights have finally been switched off as day one of the Event 8: $100,000 Challenge has been paused for the night.
We’ve seen your poker tournament, and we’ve raised it.
That is the motto of the Aussie Millions, and in the case of today’s event, it nearly delivered! Just a few weeks ago in the sunny Bahamas, the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure hosted their own $100,000 Super High Rollers and managed to set a thirty-eight player field. With numbers of twenty-three and four over the past two years here at the Aussie Millions, no one really expected that we would flirt with the number that turned out at the PCA.
However, everyone underestimated the highly skilled – and highly bankroll heavy – players that were here in Melbourne, Australia as a record-equalling thirty-eight players lined up on the felt today.
WSOP bracelet holders Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, John Juanda, Erick Lindgren and Joe Hachem, alongside youngsters Jonathan Karamalikis, Jay Kinkade, Andrew Feldman, Justin Smith and Alexander Kostritsyn all took a seat. Throw in yesterday’s Full Tilt Poker $25,000 Shootout Invitational Champion and runner-up in David Oppenheim and James Bord, and the field was well and truly stacked.
With an AUD$3,800,000 prizepool set – which courtesy of the exchange rate, still manage to best the PCA prizepool by roughly $20,000 – everyone was gunning for top spot and the AUD$1,525,000 first prize.
Amazingly action was fast and furious as six players were shown the door before the first break, as the aforementioned players all found themselves on the rail throughout the day. Right from the outset it would be Sam Trickett who shone the brightest and never let the chip lead go as he continually built his stack – at a point surging into the seven-figure club – to end the day as the overall chip leader.
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Benyamine | France | 363,000 |
| 2 | Tony Bloom | England | 148,000 |
| 3 | Chris Ferguson | USA | 89,000 |
| 4 | Sam Trickett | England | 961,000 |
| 5 | James Obst | Australia | 571,000 |
| 6 | Jeffrey Lisandro | Australia | 454,000 |
| 7 | Erik Seidel | USA | 619,000 |
| 8 | David Steicke | Hong Kong | 622,000 |
With a final table of eight set, and only six players guaranteed money, the action on tomorrow’s final table is going to be some of the most heated every seen in the Crown Casino.
The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will again be on the floor providing all the live coverage from 2:00 pm EST, as we look to crown the Event 8: $100,000 Challenge Champion for the 2011 Aussie Millions!