Rowe Overall Leader After First Three Flights; Mercier Mashing
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The 2014 Aussie Millions Main Event continued on Tuesday with the third and final starting flight, and leading the day’s survivors is Martin Rowe.
Rowe bagged 228,100 chips and is the overall leader entering Day 2 after winning a massive pot on one of the last hands of the evening. The Aussie moved all in with 
on a board of 
, and an opponent ripped it off with 
for the nuts. The 
spiked on the river, giving Rowe a boat and pushing his stack over 200,000 chips.
Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier is also among the leaders after Day 1c. Mercier flopped a set of threes then turned treys full against an opponent with pocket queens, and made a straight flush against Marvin Rettenmaier the very next hand. Thanks to the late rush, the American, who has never cashed in the Aussie Millions Main Event, bagged 132,200 chips.
Other leaders include Matthew Gabriele (171,000), Jimmy Nistas (176,500), Max Lehmanski (176,400), and Tom Alner (120,000).
A total of 328 players registered on Day 1c, bringing the field size to 657 – three tables more than the 2013 Aussie Millions Main Event. Registration is open until the start of Day 2, so if anyone is willing to gamble they can join the fun.
With the $25,000 Challenge running during the first two flights, dozens of notables waited until Tuesday to join the Main Event. Among the big names to register were $25,000 Challenge winner Max Altergott, Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Dan Shak, and Tobias Reinkemeier. Unfortunately all of those players were unable to survive the day.
An opponent with ace-high floated Altergott on the flop and the turn, and when the German moved all in with two pair on the river, his opponent snap-called with a Broadway straight. Ivey flopped an ace-high flush draw against Nistas, who held top-pair top-kicker, and the turn and river both produced bricks. Negreanu flopped a set of deuces against an opponent’s pocket aces, and the player rivered an ace. And Shak ran pocket aces into Jarod Ludemann’s pocket nines.
Other players who exited on Day 1c were Barry Greenstein, Celina Lin, Jim Collopy, Winfred Yu, Isaac Haxton, Benny Spindler, Tony Hachem, and [Removed:17].
Dan Smith was one of the five players to chop the $25,000 Challenge on Monday, but he bucked the trend, reaching Day 2 with 69,300 chips. Smith fell to 9,000 chips in Level 5 (250/500/75), but quickly mounted a comeback. Smith won a decent-sized pot off of 2010 Aussie Millions Main Event champ Tyron Krost in Level 6, firing out an over-bet on the river, and climbed back to 100 big blinds a few hands later. Krost was later eliminated.
Day 2 will begin on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. local time. The plan is to play six 90-minute levels with a 75-minute dinner break after Level 2. Be sure to check back to PokerNews for live updates straight from the tournament floor.