Huge turnout for Day 1c of the 2012 Aussie Millions

Posted by Steve Ruddock on Jan 24, 2012 Posted in Aussie Poker News, Tournament News | No Comments »

Well, it looks like I was dead wrong with my prediction that Day 1c of the 2012 Aussie Million Main Event would attract only 200 entrants, and that attendance would be down some 25% year-over-year! While the Aussie Million Main Event did not reach last year’s attendance total of 721 players, Day 1c drew an impressive 317 entrants, putting the final tally at 657 players.

The 317 players who registered for Day 1c of the tournament was 43 more than last year’s tally on the final day (274 players registered for Day 1c in 2011) and a huge swath of big name poker pros were amongst the crowd –if you were an amateur taking part in the Aussie Millions it appears that Day 1a was your best bet.

Among the players in attendance on Tuesday were Phil Ivey, Jason Mercier, Melanie Weisner, JC Tran, Tony G, last year’s champion David Gorr, Mike Sowers, Dan Shak, Joe Cheong, Erik Seidel, Daniel Negreanu, Joe Hachem, Brandon Adams, Sam Trickett, Toby Lewis, Chris Moorman, Victor Ramdin, Sorel Mizzi, and Roberto Romanello to name just some of the well-known players in the field.

One of those players, Phil Ivey managed to land in the Top 5 on the leader-board, finishing the day with 184k in chips. Finishing just outside the Top 10, in the #11 spot was poker pro Melanie Weisner, who recently joined Lock Poker’s Team LockPRO ELITE roster.

Of the original 655 entrants only 309 managed to survive their Day 1 starting flight, with 68 players from Day 1a, another 92 players from Day 1b, and the 149 players from Day 1c.

Here is a glimpse at the chip-leaders from Day 1c heading into Day 2 of the event on Wednesday:

1. Robert Lam — 198,400

2. Robin Ylitalo — 192,600

3. David Sonelin — 186,200

4. Phil Ivey — 184,000

5. Chad Awerbuch — 161,000

6. Jason Koon — 156,300

7. Michael Pedley — 146,300

8. Daniel Foote — 139,300

9. Fady Alam — 136,700

10. Aage Ravn — 122,900

And here is a look at the Top 10 chip-counts from all three starting flights entering Day 2:

1. Brett Watson — 257,400

2. Robert Lam — 198,400

3. Robin Ylitalo — 192,600

4. James Dempsey — 189,000

5. David Sonelin — 186,200

6. Phil Ivey — 184,000

7. Ilir Beluli — 182,700

8. Paul Sing — 177,100

9. Chad Awerbuch — 161,000

10. Jason Koon — 156,300

Even with the final tally now in, the Aussie Millions has not yet announced the payout structure for the 2012 Main Event. Based on recent history, the Aussie Millions has moved to more top-heavy payout structure, that will likely see the winner of the tournament receive close to $2 million (in 2009 the Aussie Millions awarded a $2 million top-prize based on 681 entrants, and even with well over 700 in subsequent years the top-prize has remained at $2 million).