The beginning of a new era. That’s what Day 1C of the Aussie Millions Main Event was. There were approximately 328 entrants and added with the 329 from the first two Day 1 flights, a total field of 657 players have entered the Main Event so far, with registration open until the start of Day 2.
That’s an increase on the 629 players of last year and that’s the first increase in field size since 2010’s field of 746 was an improvement on 2009’s 681. So, with the Aussie Millions joining the APPT in 2014 and the hard work of the Crown Poker Room, an incline has begun after a three-year decline.
With most of the big names pros only arriving in Australia a few days ago it’s not too surprising that Day 1C was packed with notables names at pretty much every table.
There were frequent visitors to the Aussie Millions such as Phil Ivey, along with first-time visitors like Viktor Blom. It wasn’t Ivey’s day as he got all his chips in holding A♦ J♦ on a K♦ Q♥ 5♦ flop and couldn’t catch up against Jimmy Nistas’ A-K. Blom, on the other hand, was able to bag up some chips and will head into Day 2 with 88,500
The field wasn’t only made up of professionals though, as recreational players such as disability nurse Anita Le were out there mixing it up with some of the best players in the world. In spite of Le being nervous playing in such a big event in which she won entry to via a freeroll, she had a great start to the day. Unfortunately Le wasn’t able to survive Day 1C, but we are sure she will always remember the time she had her shot at the pros.
If there was a player in the field that was Le’s opposite it was probably professional poker player Jeff Rossiter. It’s been a massive few years for Rossiter as he has been firmly in Australia’s poker spotlight. He survived Day 1C with 74,600 and will be looking to improve on his 3rd place finish in this event back in 2011.
The red spade was well represented on Day 1c, with Team PokerStars Pros Daniel Negreanu, Jason Mercier, Isaac Haxton, Bryan Huang, Celina Lin, Angel Guillen , Raymond Wu and Randy “nanonoko” Lew all at the felt. Negreanu wasn’t able to survive the night as he made a set of twos and was all in against an opponent with pocket rockets. A third ace for Negreanu’s foe fell on the river and he was sent home.
Of all the team pros it was Jason Mercier who bagged up the most chips as he finished with 132,200. Mercier just recorded his first cash in Australia in yesterday’s $25K Challenge and will be looking to make the Main Event the second Aussie result on his resume.
In the end 176 players survived Day 1C, with 2008 APPT Sydney champion Martin Rowe on top with a stack of 228,200. Could Rowe add another APPT title to his resume with an Aussie Millions Main Event victory? It’s only early days, but you gotta start somewhere.
The survivors from Day 1C combine with those from Day 1A and 1B on Wednesday from 2:30pm local time. It looks like there will be 344 players at the felt and the plan is to play six 90-minute levels. Don’t forget that registration is still open until the beginning of Day 2, so there might also be a couple of late entrants.
Be sure to check out the live reporting blog at the top of the Aussie Millions page for chip counts, Day 2 seating draws and all that important stuff. Make sure to join us at the PokerStars Blog tomorrow for more action.
For now, it’s goodnight from the Crown Poker Room in Melbourne, Australia!
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