Poker Web Watch / Dave Allan / 19 January 2009 / Leave a comment

Tristan Heffernan reports on Day 1b from the Aussie Millions in Melbourne with news of the Betfair Pros and qualifiers.

Things really started to heat up for the Betfair Poker team in Day 1a, with 6 entrants taking to the felt, with Annette "Annette_15" Obrestad and John "Kunkuwap" Tabatabai spearheading the assault

Once again the table draw was especially cruel, with four Betfair players seated together at their opening table!

Once again the table draw was especially cruel, with four Betfair players seated together at their opening table! Annica "Keiko" Ivert had another qualifier, Richard "Cockroach" Mace sitting two to her left, who had the pleasure/headache of having Tabatabai seated to his immediate left, and then Obrestad on his left! With four very strong players all seated in close proximity, it was hoped that the table would be broken sooner rather than later.

Phil "Philly" Peters was also in action in Day 1b, and he started off in slow but calculated fashion as he looked to navigate the early going. Stephen "BlindPoet" McLean was the final Betfair representative on the day, and would start to go quietly about his business in the race for the title.

Play seemed to move a bit slower in Day 1b compared to Day 1a, and it wouldn't be until just after the Dinner Break that the nightmare Betfair table would be broken and all players sent in different directions. The respite was shortlived for Mace however - he was to be moved again soon after and once again found himself sitting with Obrestad two to his left! Mace had been able to take advantage of what little time he had at a different table and boosted his stack up to around 47k.

Peters had made his move around this time as well. After doubling through Kings when he made two pair with J5o that his opponent couldn't possibly have seen coming, he was then able to use pocket Kings himself to grab a lot of chips off a very aggressive player on his new table, and he found himself up to 60k.

Tabatabai was the first Betfair player to hit the rail, when he moved his short stack in with a straight draw but ran into two pair and couldn't find the cards he needed to survive.

Ivert was definitely flying under the radar, however by late in the evening she had caught most people's attention as she continued to add to her stack. As play wound down for Day 1b, she would find herself sitting with 81k, placing her 10th among the 102 survivors for the day.

Obrestad had got away to a fast start for the day, and maintained her stack through the night's play to finish with 45k and a good platform for Day 2, being above the 39k average stack.

McLean also finds himself in good position to resume on Wednesday, sitting with 48k. Peters took a hit from his high of 60k but still sits handily with 34k. Mace finds himself in a similar position with 33k.

So five players from Betfair survived Day 1b and will join Sorel "Imper1um" Mizzi in Day 2, with only John Tabatabai having his tournament come to an end. Day 1c will see the final qualifier David "Geeforce" Gent take his place in what is expected to be the bigger field of the three days.

Final chip counts for Day1b:

Annica "Keiko" Ivert - 81k

Stephen "BlindPoet" McLean - 48k

Annette "Annette_15" Obrestad - 45k

Phil "Philly" Peters - 34k

Richard "Cockroach" Mace - 33k

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