Here we go with some more updates from correspondent, Shane, in Australia for the Aussie Millions.
Day 1 is often about survival, just looking for the satisfaction of getting through the early stages of a major tournament. Day 2 is a very different beast, not those that are left are all looking to make some moves and get ahead. Day 2 of the Aussie Millions saw 4 of the 7 Carbon Poker qualifiers at the felt looking for glory.
Jonatan “FATSTAKK” Soderstrom
Unfortunately for FATSTAKK the new day didn’t bring any new action. While he at least did finally get a new table the situation for him was much the same. Another move saw him get some time at the TV table under the bright lights but sadly that didn’t help either. Not a single premium hand for two days saw his stack slowly grind down, eventually he was forced to get it all-in with AT. He got a call and his opponent flipped up AK to have him dominated, a position which changed quickly when he flopped a ten to take the lead. Things again changed quickly when a king came down on the river and the reddest Swede I have ever seen was sent to the rail.
Rob “bigdoggy1234″ Ludlow
The little big dog with the big heart kept hanging around on day 2. He played some shortstack poker over these two days that Barry Greenstein would have been proud of. bigdoggy had struggled to get calls for most of day one, begging and pleading for a double up, day 2 was much of the same every time he fired at a pot his opponent got out of the way. After taking one such hand with a shove at the flop he fired out a preflop raise, only this time his opponent fired back and pushed all-in over the top of him. bigdoggy went deep into the tank for few minutes before turning his cap backwards and shoving all his chips in. Bigdoggy showed AQ vs his opponents 77 and we were off to the races. Clearly a greyhound bigdoggy took the early lead catching two aces on the flop, streaking off to the win with blanks on the turn and river. He finally gets his double up!
bigdoggy’s next big hand came up against a young lady. Yesterday’s readers would have already heard of, Haley from Hawthorne. The rather attractive Haley [ed note - Shane did not get a date] has spent plenty of time at the felt with our players and after the next hand she probably wishes she didn’t. She got the last of her chips in with 88 and after tanking for a few minutes bigdoggy called her down with AK. The AK hit and unfortunately I’d be seeing no more of Haley this week and she was sent to the rail with her partner. A few at the table were quite upset with what they thought was a slowroll from doggy. Being the slight underdog in the hand he assures me he wasn’t all that comfortable risking what was almost all his chips in a race. But as we have seen before, this is one doggy that always seems to catch the rabbit. (Yes more greyhound references!)
Bigdoggy’s luck couldn’t last all day and he was eventually our next loss for the day. On a 524 flop he fired his last 35k into the middle getting called down by pocket 3′s. With AT in hand doggy was well behind and clearly a front runner he never caught up and was sent to the rail.
While watching bigdoggy’s table I caught what had to be the hand of the day. A short stack pushed all-in for his last 40k or so in chips and was called down by one of the biggest stacks at the table. Immediately to the left of that stack was another big stack who came all-in over the top. These two older gentlemen had spent most of the day side by side and the original caller clearly had a great read laying down his hand, showing the table his pocket kings as he did so. The bigger all-in showed pocket aces and the folder was quickly patting himself on the back for an amazing lay down. The short stack showed AT and was clearly dominated no matter who he went to the showdown with. This hand was not finished with its twists and turns though as no sooner had the folder started to feel good a king rained down on the flop, with no ace to follow he had in fact folded what would have been a set of kings. Sometimes you just need the extra cahoonas to make the big calls and without them you are left to lament what could have been, this had to be one of those times.
Dustin “DrextheTex” Drexel
Drex had been up and down on day 1, and this was how day two was always going to play out. Never shy to mix it up Drex got into plenty of good spots he just needed some cards to fall his way for a good run deep in the tourney. The luck was mixed from the start back to back pocket jacks saw him steal a pot one hand but then lose the showdown on the next. His biggest hand of the day saw him flop a straight against top pair when his 78 caught JT9 on the flop up against Q5. The straight held up and he was soon the chip leader of our remaining qualifiers with over 120k in chips.
That lead evaporated in the blink of an eye though. Still with over 100k in chips looking at an A44JK board Tex came hard over the top and moved all-in. Unfortunately he was called down and his opponents JJ had rivered a straight and were good, sending the big Tex to the rail. Still on Tex he surely wins the photo of the day with the sweet shot of his mirrored sunglasses, now thats a poker face!
Elliot “ilikebiggirls” Smith
After just running amok in his day 1 throwing chips at nearly every pot, ilikebiggirls needed to find a new gear on day 2 when he sat down with several big stacks including Aussie WSOP bracelet winner Mark Vos. He settled down for a long day patiently waiting for the right spots, which for the most of the day were few and far between. One such spot was ending a tank off with an opponent by throwing a raise at a 55J94 board, his opponent mucked and he showed pocket Q’s. As the day wore on he slowly found his mojo again which made keeping tabs on his rather tricky. I couldn’t even take a bathroom break, coming back to his table I see him raking in another pot. Word is he turned a straight throwing in 20k for good measure only to have his opponent move all in for 66k. ilikebiggirls made the call and was up over 160k. 
That stack slowly dwindled again and he looked to be falling back out of the groove, he needed something special to get his groove back and got it and then some. If one hand defines this tournament for him this just might be it. Back to his raisey daisy self he ran into another reraise. This time he tanked long and hard before eventually putting his tournament life on the line moving all-in. His opponent didn’t waste time putting his chips in making the call and suddenly ilikebiggirls was regretting his move. He cursed as the hands were turned over his K8 was dominated by AT and needed a lot of help. His opponent asked him why on earth he was risking all his chips there and he replied “you weren’t supposed to call!” As the dealer dealt the board ilikebiggirls asked for two 8′s, his prayers were answered with an 8 on the flop and one on the river for good measure, doubling him up nicely.
He turned from the table and yelled “SUCK IT ONE TIME” possibly referring to his suckout… or to his condescending opponent. He had clearly just rattled the cage of the biggest stack at his table who was now steaming with disgust. ilikebiggirls wasn’t finished sucking out though he soon got into another big hand calling an all-in shove over his reraise for 60k going to the flop behind AQ vs AK. KJJ on the flop put him further behind but also gave him some outs, outs which came good with a ten on the turn completing his straight, and delivering another huge suckout. Back with a pile of chips again he returns to his day 1 self, raising nearly every pot, the few times he is called he often has to check his cards as if he hadn’t even looked properly before he raised.
Ever the aggressor ilikebiggirls couldn’t help but get involved in the last hand of the night. The only woman at his table threw a raise at his big blind, he tanks (I’m not sure you can call a 5 minute decision a tank for him now… its just standard) eventually reraising quickly seeing a call. Q5A comes down on the flop and he casually throws 15k at a 50k pot, his opponent tanks but lays it down drawing the ire of her husband as she bags up her chips. ilikebiggirls goes to day 3 with a very healthy 267,500.
The husband lecturing the wife after the last hand is something I always find amusing in the poker room. Players still in the tournament or just getting knocked out always seem to be getting lectured by someone who didn’t get anywhere near as far as they did about how they played hands. How can you criticise someone who did better than you???
Time for a quick drink tonight with the players who have been eliminated and then back to the felt to see how far Elliot “ilikebiggirls” Smith can go.
