It only took a few hands before the board came 
. Craig Blight had 
and Ari Engel took it down with 
for the higher straight. Engel was the first to advance to the finals and is now awaiting his opponent, the American will start the showdown for the LK Boutique ring and first-place payout of A$51,230.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
1,049,000
435,000
|
435,000 |
|
||
|
Busted | |
The duel that started with the biggest difference in chips took the longest to finish. Ari Engel scored a crucial double up with 
by turning trips fours and then flipped for the semi final with 
.
Errolyn Strang had shoved with 
and flopped an ace on 
, but the on the turn gave Engel a straight. An insignificant 
river ended the last heads-up duel in favor of the American.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
614,000
614,000
|
614,000 |
|
|
||
|
471,000
471,000
|
471,000 |
|
||
|
450,000
450,000
|
450,000 |
|
|
435,000
435,000
|
435,000 |
|
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
Cameron Couch moved all-in pre-flop holding 
and was called by Greg Cook holding 
. The flop came 
giving Couch the lead. He was confident until the turn card fell, bringing the 
to give Greg Cook a set of Tens. The river card was the wrong repeat, bringing the to give Cook a full house and send him into the semi-finals.
Craig Blight has just eliminated Felix Kramer to progress through to the semi-finals. The pair got it all-in pre-flop with Craig holding pocket Kings and Felix Ace Queen. The board did not improve either player, sending all the chips Craig's way.
Martin Finger is the first player through to the semi-finals after defeating John Apostolidis. His 
was too good for Apostolidis' 
on the 
board.
Errolyn Strang (1) 481,000 vs Ari Engel (8) 133,000
Cameron Couch (2) 294,000 vs Gregory Cook (7) 156,000
Nicolai Kramer (3) 264,000 vs Craig Blight (6) 171,000
Martin Finger (4) 242,000 vs John Apostolidis (5) 229,000
The Mix-Max Event is in the money. Among those to bust before were Yaxi Zhu and Xuan Liu whereas Daniel Strelitz, Martin Finger, Josip Simunic, Nicolai Kramer, Dennis Huntly, Josep Maria Galindo Lopez, Dzmitry Urbanovich and Ari Engel all secured another Australian flag.
Once they reach the last eight, the heads-up stage will commence and the players carry over their accumulated stacks.
The A$1,150 Mix-Max Event #5 has drawn a field of 196 entries and only 25 remain after play was halted last night at 3.30 a.m. in the poker room of the Crown Entertainment Complex in Melbourne. Only the top 18 spots will get paid at least A$2,510 whereas the champion receives A$51,230 and the elusive LK Boutique winner ring.
Among those still in are Polish wonder kid Dzmitry Urbanovich, Ari Engel, Martin Finger, Team PokerStars Pro Yaxi Zhu, Josip Simunic, Opening Event 12th place finisher Tatjana Zizic, Daniel Strelitz and Xuan Liu.
The action recommences at 1 p.m. local time with blinds of 1,200-2,400 and a running ante of 4,000 and the tables are six-handed until only eight players remain. Then, the tournament will switch into heads-up mode to crown the champion. The PokerNews live reporting team will initially focus on the live coverage of the Pot Limit Omaha event and you can follow the updates here.
Event #5: $1,150 Mix-Max No-Limit Hold'em
Day 2 Started