2013 Aussie Millions

Players are now on their first 15-minute break of the day.

Martin Finger opened for 2,500 from the button and received calls from Andrew Robl and John Juanda in the small and big blind respectively. Two checks on the flop put action on Finger and he continued for 3,500. Robl, who is featured prominently in the new book Ship It Holla Ballas!, then woke up with a check-raise to 8,000, Juanda folded, and Finger made the call, bringing about the turn.

Robl took a few moments before tossing out 12,000, and a resigned Finger wasted little time in send his cards to the muck.

With 18,000 in the pot and a flop of , Tobias Reinkemeier bet 9,000 from the small blind only to have Igor Kurganov raises to 23,000 from the button. Reinkemeier thought for a long time before releasing his hand, and Kurganov continued to roll as he is now up to 200,000.

Igor Kurganov raised to 2,300 from the hijack seat, and Jason Mercier called from the big blind. The flop came down , and both players checked.

The two players also checked the turn and river. Mercier showed the and Kurganov the . Mercier won the pot.

We haven't heard much from Fabian Quoss nor Eric Liu here in the early goings, but the two did just play a decent-sized pot together.

It happened when Quoss opened for 2,500 from under the gun and cleared the field to Liu, who three-bet to 7,500 from the button. The blinds folded, the appeared on the flop, and Quoss check-called a bet of 8,000. The German then checked for a second time on the turn, but he ended up snap-folding when Liu came out firing 18,000.

Igor Kurganov has been on a roll over at Table 19 and appears to be the early chip leader.

We caught the action in a recent hand with 40,000 already in the pot and a board reading . Jurganov had just bet 16,000 from the small blind to put the pressure on Jason Mercier in the hijack. The latter thought for about 30 seconds, and then folded his cards. We didn't catch the juicy stuff, but it still gave us the chance to update you on both their stacks.

Lynn Gilmartin spotted Oliver Speidel in the 2013 Aussie Millions Main Event registration line, back in the Crown Poker Room to defend his title.

Back in 2006, John Juanda topped a field of 10 players to win the A$100,000 Speed Poker Million Dollar Challenge right here at the Crown during the Australian Poker Championship (now called the Aussie Millions) to win A$1,000,000. It was a glorified Sit n’Go tournament featuring Phil Ivey (10th), Tony G (9th), Michael Sampoerna (8th), Ralph Burd (7th), Tony Bloom (6th), Barry Greenstein (5th), Mike Sexton (5th), Jason Gray (3rd) and Jeff Lisandro (2nd).

Speaking of Bloom, he’s had quite a bit of success here at the Aussie Millions. Back in 2004, he won the Main Event for A$426,500, and then won a ring in the A$1,500 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo event a year later for A$24,650, not to mention his runner-up finish in the A$5,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em tournament for A$32,000 that same year. Then, in 2009, Bloom made his presence known in this very event by finishing as runner-up to David Steicke for A$600,000.

His $100,000 Challenge success continued in 2010 when he placed fourth for A$200,000, and then again in 2011 when he finished runner-up again, this time to Sam Trickett. That performance earned him A$975,000 and made him perhaps the most storied player in the $100,000 Challenge that has never claimed the title. Could this be his year?

In a recent hand (that happen just before the level went up) between Juanda and Bloom, who’re both receiving massages, the former opened for 1,600 from the button and the latter defended from the big blind. The flop saw Bloom check-call a bet of 2,400, and then he promptly checked the turn. Juanda took the opportunity to bet 6,300, but this time Bloom woke up with a check-raise to 17,500. Juanda gave up on the hand and Bloom was pushed the pot.

Gus Hansen opened for 1,300 under the gun and was met by a three-bet to 3,000 by Chris "Genius28" Lee from the button. The blinds folded, Hansen called, and the flop fell . Hansen proceeded to check-call a bet of 4,200, and then both players checked the turn.

Hansen checked for a third time on the river, and Lee thought for about 30 seconds before betting 10,600. Hansen double checked his cards and then sent them to the dealer.

Despite that hand, Lee is still up above the starting stack, as is Hansen.