It’s still very early on Day 3 of this ANZPT Melbourne Main Event but that hasn’t stopped players flying out the doors.
The action dramatically slowed down last night as the money bubble approached and we’re seeing the effects of that here today. We’ve already lost a third of today’s 63 entrants as we play down to a final seven.
Aussie Millions reigning champion Manny Stavropoulos is one of the biggest benefactors of the early exits. He knocked out both Liam O’Rourke and Chia-Chang Ku in the early stages. It was back-to-back flips that went the way of Stavropoulos to see him chip up and take the two players out.
The first one saw O’Rourke with A♥ 8♣ against Stavropoulos’s 7â™ 7♥ and O’Rourke couldn’t improve on the K♣ 6♣ 2♦ 10♦ 2â™ run out. Not long after Stavropoulos had the overcards with K♣ Q♦ versus Ku’s 9♥ 9♦ and found a queen as the dealer fanned out 3♣ Q♣ 10♦ 2♦ 7♦ to eliminate Ku. With those two hands Stavropoulos climbs to around 400,000 in chips and finds himself in the current top ten.
Haddad pushed all in for his last 48,000 and Doria made the call from the hijack. Next to act Matusik put in a raise to 200,000 and sent Doria into the tank. Ultimately Doria tossed his hand away and the other two players tabled their cards.
Matusik: A♠A♣
Haddad: A♥ Q♥
Matusik had a stranglehold on the hand but the 6♣ 9♥ Q♠flop gave Haddad some hope. The 2♥ turn brought also brought a flush draw but the 5♦ river bricked off to send Haddad to the rail. That elimination brought Matusik up to 745,000 in chips and he now sits comfortably ahead of the pack.