Hia Leads Final Nine in Event #4: A$1,150 Pot Limit Omaha

Will Shillibier

Event #4: A$1,150 Pot-Limit Omaha was always going to be a popular event at the 2019 Aussie Millions. So much so that by the first break it had attracted 188 entries, and by the time registration closed at the end of Level 6 the final number of entries was 288, ever so slightly up on last year's 284.

The plan for today was to play 18 levels or down to a final table, and they did so with 15 minutes left in the day.

Leading the way is Christine Hia who is well clear of the rest of the field with a stack of 856,000 from the starting 10,000.

Hia will be the only player over the 100 big blind mark when play resumes at 1pm tomorrow. Sitting 29th on the Malaysian all-time money list, Hia last cashed in the Aussie Millions Pot Limit Omaha event back in 2015, finishing 20th for A$2,500.

This year, however, she will have here eyes set on taking home a much larger chunk of the prize pool.

Here's how the final nine players are seated for the final table tomorrow:

Seat	Name	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	Michael Seymour	Australia	171,000	21
2	Johan Dalessandri	Australia	260,000	33
3	Dylan Kii	Australia	395,000	49
4	Paul Hockin	New Zealand	302,000	38
5	Peter Brasile	Australia	70,000	9
6	Christine Hia	Malaysia	856,000	107
7	William Mitchell	Australia	230,000	29
8	Ryan Hong	Australia	322,000	40
9	Michael Hahn	United States	273,000	34

Both Johan Dalessandri and Ryan Hong have final tabled this event for the second consecutive year. Hong managed fifth for A$22,050 while Dalessandri finished third for A$36,225

A total of 32 places were paid. Players who busted before the money included defending champion Andrew Lock, 2006 Aussie Millions Main Event champion Lee Nelson, Joshua Abady, Dzmitry Urbanovich, Anthony Hachem and Sam Higgs.

Notable finishes in the money included Michael Soyza (21st - A$2,805) and Sorel Mizzi (15th - A$3,985).

The remaining nine players have all guaranteed themselves A$7,085 but will be aiming for the A$70,115 first prize.