2013 Aussie Millions is Under Way!
The man who finished as the overnight chip leader was Michael “The Big Sicko” Guzzardi. The Melbourne native ended Day 1A with the welcomed problem of trying to fit 252,600 chips into a single, plastic chip bag!
The eagerly anticipated 2013 Aussie Millions is under way and if the opening event is anything to go by this year's festival should be bigger and better than ever before.
The 2013 Aussie Millions will feature 26 events between January 17 and February 3, the first of which started yesterday. Event #1 is a AUD$1,100 no limit Hold'em tournament that is being played to a repechage format - essentially a re-entry format. This format was used in the corresponding event at the 2012 Aussie Millions and it helped create a massive prize pool thanks to attracting 946 runners.
Although the 2013 edition has only completed the first of its three starting flights, it is on course to smash the 2012 attendance because yesterday 323 players poured into the Crown Poker Room inside the Crown Casino, Melboure on what is traditionally the least attended start day! We would expect the final number of buy-ins to exceed 1,000.
The man who finished as the overnight chip leader was Michael "The Big Sicko" Guzzardi. The Melbourne native ended Day 1A with the welcomed problem of trying to fit 252,600 chips into a single, plastic chip bag! Guzzardi is a regular in the biggest tournaments Australia has to offer and his is certainly a major threat in this particular event now he is in possession of a big stack. Guzzardi's largest live score tops the scales at AUD$112,000 which he was awarded for finishing third in the ANZPT Melbourne Main Event in October 2012, an amount that would be eclipsed should he go all the way in this tournament.
Other players who had a great opening day include the second placed Ryan Smith and his 217,500 chips - the only other player to pass the 200,000 chip barrier. Ashley Warner's 187,200 stack was enough to see his name displayed in third place, whilst Ryan Hong (174,200) and former European Poker Tour Prague champion Martin Finger (162,900) round out the top five Day 1A finishers. The 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event champion and Aussie favourite, Joe Hachem, finished Day 1A with 133,900 chips and that stack size sees him just outside the top 10 counts.
Aussie Millions Event #1 Day 1A End-of-Day Top 10 Chip Counts
1st Michael Guzzardi - 252,600 chips
2nd Ryan Smith - 217,500
3rd Ashley Warner - 187,200
4th Ryan Hong - 174,200
5th Martin Finger - 162,900
6th Alexander Spachman - 154,300
7th Seong Lee Ang - 150,900
8th Milan Gurung - 150,500
9th Danny Mountt - 136,800
10th Eddie Ti Ke Tran - 136,200
Prices quoted in copy are correct at time of publication but liable to change.
