PNZ:How have the events gone so far?

SW: I ran pretty bad in the first 3 side events I’ve played, but managed to team up with Jackson Zheng in the $500 buy in teams event and we got 2nd for 15k, so I’m up a little for the trip. That’s the 3rd teams event I’ve got 2nd in over the last 6 months, so it’s a little tilting not to win one! I’ll be playing day 1c of the Main Event tomorrow.

PNZ: Last year was a big year for Full Tilt on Australasia, first they snag
you, then MonsterDong { Jonathan Karamalikis } takes down Sydney, how is it
being on the “Full Tilt Red Pro” team.

SW: It’s good, all of the Australian guys are really nice and lots of fun, so I’ve felt very welcome.

PNZ: Now you’re all together in Melbourne are there team dinners? Do you talk
poker? What’s this months hot topic? I heard it’s 8 bet – calling? No?
Really?

SW: There haven’t been any team dinners this trip although there was one the last time I was in Sydney with all of the Australian pros, at that dinner talking about poker hands in too much detail was actively discouraged if anything!

Unfortunately I missed the Full Tilt party as I was on the final table in the teams event when it was on…

PNZ: Did anyone else approach you, was it all champagne wining and dinning
trying to sign you?

SW: I got approached by a lot of agents, rather than directly by any sites. I hired one pretty quickly and he helped me to get the Full Tilt deal.

Full Tilt were the only site I wanted to sign for as it’s by far my favourite site to grind cash games on, Rush poker is my favourite way to grind out hands and none of the other sites have that.

PNZ: Have you meet Phil Ivey? Do you get to call him “Boss” or “Boss Man”?

SW: I haven’t, and I sure as hell hope that the first time I do isn’t on one of my tables in the Main…

Gus Hansen, Erick Lindgren, and Howard Lederer are probably the biggest name guys I’ve briefly meet on this trip, as they both did a talk at the Full Tilt Poker academy which I also had to do a talk at.

PNZ: What are you allowed to tell us about the deal? What do you get? / Have to
do?

SW: I’m not sure what I’m allowed to tell you… but I will say that I get looked after well. The main things I have to do are play a lot on their website, do some media stuff (interviews, etc) and keep showing my face at live tournaments. It’s also important to keep getting good results obviously.

PNZ: What are your plans leading up to Vegas and The World Series?

SW: After the Aussie Millions I plan on grinding a lot of hands online, rather than playing too many live tournaments. I’d like to learn some mixed games before Vegas so that I can play events with less than 2000 entries which all of the NLH events seem to have! I’ve even been playing a little 2-7nl single draw when I get bored of Hold’em, but I’m still pretty awful.

PNZ: How’s cash going for you so far in 2011?

SW: It’s going very well. I put in some good volume before coming to Melbourne and had a +30 buy in upswing in the space of a week, over about 25,000 hands, which was an excellent start to the year.

PNZ: Full Tilt is the home of Rush Poker, do you play a lot?
You tweeted about 8 tabling it!? Is that even possible to play well? If so
give us some Rush strategy.

SW: I love Rush Poker, not having to table select makes it so easy to sit down and start a session, especially when I like to play multiple small sessions in a day rather than one long one. I wrote an article in the latest Australian Pokernews magazine on Rush poker which has a lot of tips if you want some strategy.

I find 4 tabling Rush a little slow still, 6 tabling (which you have to do by mixing up limits since you can only play 4 at any one game) is what I prefer, 8 tabling is definitely doable but it’s pretty intense… There are a couple of Korean Red Pros, ex gamers, who seem to 8 table rush for 15 hours a day which is pretty insane.

PNZ: With the Aussie Millions Main Event about to get under what are the chances
of a Kiwi taking it down again? Who should we be railing?

SW: It’s definitely a possibility but considering how many Kiwi’s there are compared to Aussies and other countries in the field it is unlikely. Jackson, Cole, Koray and myself are the Kiwi’s most likely to take it down. A guy I play with a lot online called Michael Ip, who hasn’t played many live tourns, is also playing and he’s worth keeping an eye on.

PNZ: Run us through how you intend to play a big tournament like this. What are
the early stages all about for you, the middle stages, the bubble and then
once you’re in the cash…

SW: I don’t have a set plan. Poker is about adjusting depending on a lot of variables such as your table image, effective stack sizes, etc. Sometimes I’m capable of playing very loose and laggy, other times I might nit it up. In general though I am very active and play a ton of hands, and play aggressively at all stages of the tournament. Because I feel like I have a postflop edge on most players in a tournament, I feel like I can play profitably even when playing a lot of starting hands that other players might fold. The main events of big live tournaments have quite deep structures, and even most of the live and online MTT pros are pretty bad once they have more than 40 Big Blinds…

PNZ: Last but not least Shout outs, pretend this is Mai FM, who do you want to
thank for what was a great 2010?

SW: Thanks to everyone who gave me support and sent me messages of congratulations while in Vegas, and all the other tourns since, it is very appreciated! Knowing people are railing me and hoping I do well probably makes me play less spewy… which is always a good thing!

Follow Simon’s tweets from The Millions on PokerNZ.com’s home page.

Satellites to qualify:

PokerStars

Download the PokerStars software here

PokerStars is running daily satellites to the Aussie Millions qualifiers from now until January 6  2011. Buy-ins start at $7.50 and go all the way up to $530, and you can even play FPP satellites. To register, open the PokerStars lobby, click ‘Events’ and ‘Special’.

Weekly Satellites

The $530 Aussie Millions satellites run every Sunday at 02.30 ET, from December 19-January 9, 2011.

The $33 3xTurbo Aussie Millions satellites run each Monday and Thursday at 05.40 ET from December 13-January 6, 2011.

One prize package for every USD$12,592 in the prize pool will be awarded. The more players that enter, the more prize packages you can win.

PokerStars is also offering a seat-only qualifier each Wednesday at 05.40 ET from 15 December-January 5, one seat will be awarded for every USD$10,648 in the prize pool.

Don’t forget that you can also buy in directly to any of the weekly satellites, without having to win a seat in a qualifier tournament.

Cake Poker

Download the Cake Poker Software

Cake Poker has satellite seats to the Aussie Millions running EVERY day of the week up until DEcember 19th. They have satellites from as little as $1.10 up to $374.

This Sunday you could win a seat in the tournament as part of their $14000 prize package.

Each package includes:

• $10,600 AUD NLH Main Event seat.
• A ten night stay at the luxurious Crown Promenade.
• Entry to the Aussie Millions Welcome Party.
• Entry to the Aussie Millions Freeroll (pot to be determined).
• Entry to the Aussie Millions Farewell Party, Sunday, January 30th
• $2,500 cash to help with travel expenses.
• Official Cake Poker gear pack.

Full Tilt Poker

Download the Full Tilt Software here

Full Tilt Poker is offering a prize package worth over US$16,000, which includes a 2011 Aussie Millions Main Event seat, 11 nights’ accommodation at the Crown Metropol Hotel and a travel allowance. Aussie Millions prize package winners will also be able to participate in exclusive Full Tilt Poker activities during the event, including poker instruction from members of Team Full Tilt.

Players can win a prize package by taking part in a series of Freeroll Qualifiers. Round 1 Freerolls are running daily through January 6th, 2011, at 03:30 ET for players in Australia and New Zealand, and 05:30 for players around the world.

Dan Sing returns with another tale from the trenches at the Aussie Millions at Crown Casino, Melbourne

After a nice deep 10 hour sleep and a Lucky Chans Yum Cha Breakfast with my travel buddies Richie Lancaster and Jeff Putt (The yum cha not the sleep) it was time to battle.

Despite being one of the shorter stacks at my table I had a relatively fortunate table draw with only one gun on my table who was seated in the cut-off to my BB. He’s a super aggressive UK pro raising four times and orbit and happened to be called “Dan Carter”. We shall call him “Dan Carter(not)”.

http://www.pokerpages.com/players/profiles/70190/dan-carter.htm

Seated to my left was a middle aged Chinese man who was very short stacked had shipped his stack in twice in the first 3 hands winning both races and one time tabling Ts8s finding a great spot against 66. In the same hand I open folded 44 only to see a 4 hit the turn. I usually mock people who tell you these kind of stories as the action would never have seen them in the hand in the first place not to mention the fact that they would certainly not have managed to see the turn unless the third player in the hand checked down to bust a player.

Looking at this in print it reads as stupid as it sounds….

In the next hand before the action came to me I could see the Chinese guy was going to shove again. He had already peeked at his cards and had his stack in hand. I look down at KK and slightly over min raise. Sure enough he announces “Orrrr Ing” and for the first time in 3 shoves he has a decent hand showing AQo. His two double ups mean he has about 70% of my stack now which I graciously add to my chips as the board bricks out.

In deep stack events i usually like to set myself short term goals and my first short term goal today was to double up and make the money. I didn’t have enough chips to chip up around the bubble so I make 2 significant folds when we are getting close.

FOLD # 1 – my stack 80K blinds 1500/3000

UTG I have AhKh and raise to 7500

A pretty handy young player shoves all in for 30K
DC(not) re shoves for 100K – surely an isolation raise.

This is not what I would call a particularly big fold but it is a nice hand to have to lay down. i open fold.

Tabled hands AcKs vs AdKd

Chop Chop Chop Meh.

FOLD # 2 – my stack 75K blinds 2000/4000 ante 500

Fat Aussie Boy with 160K raises to 10500
DC(not) with 100K re raises to 32000

Action to me in the SB. I have JJ. My thought process here is that Fat Aussie Boy is likely to be stealing the blinds. It is also likely that DC(not) knows this and is basically calling him out with the 3 possible scenarios not being so bad ie. playing the flop in position, being forced to fold to a shove, calling a shove if he really has it.

If I shove here and do a bit of acting they could both fold bringing me up to 125K – nice work for no show down. Added to this I have only tabled KK AKs AQ AK since the start of the day.

The problems I have with this are:

1. Both Fat Aussie Boy and DC(not) are good enough that I am not getting any reliable information from them as to the strength of their hands.
2. One of them may really have a hand.
3. One of the Poker News reporters just came over to ask me how a hand (which i wasn’t involved in) played out for the live reporting blog. Random as that sounds, what it means to a player like DC(not) is that even if he didn’t know me before and perhaps profiled me as a fish or a Nit at that stage, the journo has now somehow managed to give me “poker kudos” so DC(not) will now give me credit for being able to make that play with a less than premium hand to which he may call a lot lighter.
4. They both have more chips than me.
5. I can probably pick a better spot.
6. We are close to the money.
7. We are close to the money.
8. If I bust here this would be a pretty short story.
9. In the back of my mind I can hear Mike King’s voice saying “Nothing stupid Dano…”

I ask myself “what would Lee Nelson do?” and in reality I know that Lee would have figured all this shit out 3 minutes ago and his hand would be in the muck by now.

I toss the jacks and Fat Aussie Boy folds. Hmmmm.

——————

Almost at the Bubble – blinds 2000/4000 ante 500 The Wooosaaahh effect.

I have basically shut shop being essentially card dead and not wanting to contest pots this close to the money with my stack size. After the blinds have passed through me I am down to 60K which I know I can ride till the bubble bursts.

The aggresors are raising every pot as you do around the bubble and I pick up AsKs UTG.

I raise to 11K and Fat Aussie Boy reraises to 25K.

I immediately know that open folding my AhKh earlier was a mistake. All it told Fat Aussie Boy it that I can make big folds which is what he is expecting me to do here.

I should jam it here however we are at hand for hand so I elect to call and see the flop first.

Fat Aussie Boy knows all of this. The only thing he doesn’t know is the true strength of my hand.

The flop peels out Jack high and I am forced to give up the hand. The double up spot ended up costing me a chunk of my stack.

Woooosaaaaaahhh.

——————–

Who brings a knife to a gun fight?? blinds 3000/6000 – a succession of Kill Phil poker plays.

A few hands earlier a young skinny American kid with an oversized ego is moved to our table and is conveniently seated between Fat Aussie Boy and DC(not). He has 100K and is taking up too much of the felt with his chips 8 inches in from the edge with his shirt, 1st generation i-pod and snacks tucked in behind them ON the table. The table immediately dislikes him as his first play is to announce raise, then string raise to 12100 to which the dealer tosses him back his 100 which he complains about trying to justify his need for that extra 100 chips to be in the hand. Cammmmaaan shut the %$#@ up already.

He is the kind of player that Dennis Huntly would make probably make cry on the table. For those of you who don’t know Dennis, earlier in the day he upset a young interweb nerd alert on his table when contesting a pot after telling him to “come back when you start shaving.”

As Kudos to Dennis we’ll call our boy Kindergarten Crybaby (KC). We’ll also call Fat Aussie Boy FAB now as I do not battle him again and no longer feel the need to mock him.

It was clear that FAB -160K, KC-100K and DC(not)-120K wanted to battle for the blinds despite being on the bubble with thirteen tables in play.

Hand # 1

Folded to FAB in the SB who raises to 15K
KC announces all in
FAB folds

Hand # 2

Folded to KC in the SB who raises to 13K
DC(not) announces all in
KC folds

a few hands later after FAB steal blinds:

KC raises to 13K
DC(not) announces all in
KC calls

DC(not) shows JJ / KC shows QQ

Boom! ship ship

KC now has 250K DC(not) has 13K

DC(not) then ships his last 13K in with AJ only to be called by the BB with Q7 as the board runs out Q 5 6 4 3

On another table a player with less than 1BB cashes – and that’s how the bubble burst. Ch-Ching.

I fall victim to the Crybaby on tilt. Blinds 3000/6000

After three embarrassing plays and one poor attempt to float a player KC has donked off 200K and is down to 50K.

I look down at As9s and shove for 37500

it is folded to KC in the SB who reshoves for 50K

He turns over K6o – wtf is heard from the rail.

I think you can work out the rest.

Window card Ace followed by 4 6 K 8

Of course I LOVE the call just not the result.

I finish 81st out of 1143 down a few Heinekins and rail for Jeff “The Butcher” Putt who manages 24th, a sterling effort only to be busted by US pro and bracelet winner Vanessa Selbst.

We continue the revelry with Kiwi boys Steve “Smitty” Smith who also cashed deep and Phillip Wilcocks (2nd ANZPT Gold Coast and final table APPT Cebu) until 8 security guards escort Philip off the premises for being “too intoxicated”. Legend.

No poker for me today but I do believe Jeff is shouting Emperor Crab for dinner.

Thanks to all for the good luck wishes it all helps and even if I didn’t believe in luck knowing that my posse if railing me from a far makes me try not to play like an idiot and keep cool till after school.

Aussie Millions 2010

As you can see, I’ve been incredibly busy and the poor old Poker NZ site has been left to it’s own devices for a while.

Anyway, I’ve been lucky enough to have some updates from the Aussie Millions from none other than NZ poker legend, Dan Sing.

I’m hoping over the next few days we’ll get more updates as he battles his way through the tournaments for his shot at the Aussie Millions!

Here’s Dan….

Event one $1100 repecharge brought in a huge field of 1143 players.

I started the day pretty rough and within no time my 10k starting stack was down to 8k after raising with AK / AJs / 99 with no less than 2 callers and having to lay down after missing the flop completely.

After a couple of hours I had profiled my table. There was really only 2 guys that I had any respect for, no name pros just solid players. One of them had no pot management skills and was pot betting every street if he had raised pre regardless of the board and built an impressive stack without having to show down any hands.

I made a mental note to stay out of his way until I had a monster or a concealed hand and hopefully take a big pot off him. He was also chucking back the bourbon and cokes and eating the stinkiest salami sandwich so i figured it was only a matter of time before Jim Beam would start playing his hands for him.

I decided to get creative in hands when he had either folded or looked like he was going to as the rest of the table was pretty soft and the only other decent player had managed to short stack himself trying to bluff a fish when he missed a big draw. He should have known better but I guess it was the only way he could win the hand. The fish was a 40+ hairy chested loud mouth sporting the big gold watch and fat gold chain and didn’t know how to fold top pair on a draw heavy board. He was my best spot to value bet to death.

After he limped into a pot I 3 bet with 65 off. The blinds folded and he made the call. The flop comes down A 7 8 rainbow. He checks and I throw a 60% pot bet out. The gin card 9 hits the turn. He checks and I check behind.

The river comes a deuce and he checks and I bet full pot. He overthinks the play thinking the seeming overbet and check on the turn meant I C bet the flop with KQ or similar and calls. I showdown and he mucks. I am almost 100% he called me there with 2nd pair. His player profile would certainly roll the ace if he had it to try and show some disgust for the hand.

For the first time I was above starting stack and from here i managed to grind it up to 18k before getting stuck in a huge pot.

at the 150/300 blind level, Jim Beam min raises to 600. The button who is a young looking Asian smiley kinda guy who we shall call the Bali Bomber makes the call and so does the SB. I am in BB with what Brooke refers to as “Faces” ie Fake Aces – A4 and make the value call and we head 4 way to the flop with about 2500 in the pot.

Flop J 6 4 rainbow.

It’s checked around to the button and the Bali Bomber fires out a 1000 bet. His tells are pretty elementary so I raise it to 2100 figuring he folds complete air and calls if he has a draw.

An unexpected thing happens and the pre flop raiser Jim Beam calls and so does the Bali Bomber.

This hand is starting to smell worse than his sandwich.

In the first instance he didn’t do his usual C bet after raising pre which initially I put down to the fact that we were 4 way to the flop and he wasn’t going to risk wasting chips in a hand he couldn’t win. In theory someone had to have something.

The pot is now over 9k.

There are 2 things going through my head here. Either he is making what he thinks is a value call with 2 overcards which would be retarded or he has flopped a monster. I can’t be sure that he really has it as there was enough in the pot when i check raised the Bomber for him to take down with a repop. As far as the Bomber is concerned I can no longer put him on a particular draw. My initial thoughts was that maybe has had a a gutshot with 78 suited or maybe he has A6 and is trying to spike 2 pair or trips. When he makes the call on the flop he announces “ok gamble” which is always handy…

The evil turn.

The turn card brings the 4c putting 2 clubs on the board.

My hand has improved out of sight. If Jim Beam has JJ or 66 i have to find out now or I may get stack committed on the river.

I lead out for 4500 leaving me 11k. Almost 40% of my stack is now in the pot.

Jim Beam then moves all in and has me and Bali well covered.

The Bali Bomber makes the call.

I am pretty sure that he has filled up so I elect to fold and live to fight another day.

They showdown and sure enough the dirty bastard has 66. The Bali Bomber loses his smile as he turns over 5c3c and is drawing to 2 outs for the straight flush on the river which bricks sending him to the noodle bar.

I try block the hand out of my mind on one hand patting myself on the back for making a good fold on the other hand giving myself an uppercut for battling that spot.

Dirty Short Stack Ninjas

I have been card dead for a while and haven’t played a hand. As a result my stack has dwindled to 7k.

We are now at 300/600 and there are a few stacks less than 3k on the table.

I’m in the BB with K9o

A short stack has limped UTG so has the button and SB completes and I consider shoving here but decide the short stack calls me so I check.

Flop K 6 4 with two spades

I check, the short stack leads out 800 into a 2600 pot. Everyone else folds and I call.

Turn 7h

I announce all in.

He calls and turns over As7s

The river bombs a spade giving his the nut flush and I am down to under 4500. Nice

I decide I can let one orbit of blinds pass through me before it is shove time. Which is exactly what happens.

I get down to 3k. My love rug friend 4 bets UTG and I look down to QQ. The chips go in and he shows 44. The Queens hold up and I’m back to 7K.

I finally find the cards at the 400/800 level

The only other decent player tripled up his tiny stack in a 3 way pot having shipped his last 2600 into the pot from the BB after a raise and a call.

The flop comes down J 4 2 all hearts. The preflop raiser checks and the next player moves all in.

In a retarded play he turns over AsQs

The all in player rolls over T4o and things get better for him with the T hitting the turn bringing hip back to 8k.

3 hands later he is in the cut-off and I am SB. it is folded to him and he open shoves for 8k.

I look down at AA.

BOOM

I’m back to 15k.

A few hands later I pick up AdKd and a player raises to 3k. I shove for 15k. He has about 30k and makes the call tabling AQ off.

BOOM I’m up to 32k.

The next hand is being dealt. I am UTG and limp in with AsTs whilst stacking my new found wealth.

It is folded to the button who also limps. He is a new player to the table and is a painful Brit wanker and I really want to bust him. The BB is also a new player, an older lady with a 30k stack.

The old ladies all play the same. Super nit and married to big hands.

The small blind folds and Supergran checks.

Flop

T T 6

She checks i check Brit Prick leads out for 2000.

Supergran raises to 5000.

I pretty much know what everyone has. The Brit guy has position and a whole lot of fuck all. Supergran has a ten of sorts but doubtful T6 to be raising there.

I am 100% that I have the best hand so have to figure out how to get paid off. I choose to shove all in 32k.

Brit folds and Supergran snap calls with T3.

Ship Ship Ship now I’m up at 70k.

They then break our table which sucks because I was owning it and I get moved to a much stronger table with Tony “Bond18″ Dunst and a few young gun online pros.

With 80 minutes till end of play for the day I pretty much stay out of harms way. I have to lay down to shoves after i’ve opened to steal blinds with AT / KQ and lose a few smaller pots to short stacks when I had dominating hands ie. calling a Short stack shove with Ac9c and losing to his A3 off. I end the day on 45k.

194 players left for day 2. Avg stack 60k.

My pizza should be here shortly then bedtime and battle tomorrow.

Hopefully I can run good tomorrow and make the cash. please please please please mmmm pizza

Stewart Scott $2m richer today

Unfortunately the final table had to shift into a TV studio, so the general public was unable to witness the final table in the flesh, but those who did get to view it certainly got their fair share of poker excitement.

Heading in to the final day it didn’t take long for the first player (Barney Boatman) to fall. He did start off short stacked and Zach Gruneberg despatched him in 8th place, giving him $100,000 for his troubles.

The Brit, Richard Ashby was next to fall only moments after Boatman and joined him on the rail following a battle with Rajkumar Ramakrishnan, putting $150,000 in his pocket.

Zach Gruneberg, the young American freeroller who won his seat from a Cake Poker satellite was next to hit the skids, ending a profitable journey Down Under adding $210,000 to his $35,000 win from Event #4.

Sam Capra was another player who won his seat in a $320 satellite, leaving in 5th place with $300,000.

Rajkumar Ramakrishnan busted out in 4th place to pick up $400,000 after an enduring battle that saw half of the final table’s hands played between the four players.

Just before midnight Elliott Smith went down, taking away $700,000 and leaving Stewart Scott and Peter Rho to go heads up. Rho’s stack of 2.9 million against Scott’s 10.7 million soon took a walloping and Rho walked away with $1m while Australian Stewart Scott took away the bracelet, the $2m and the pride of his nation as he managed to do what Joe Hachem tried to, and bring the Aussie Millions back home.

For full hand by hand run-down, visit PokerNews.com

Zach Gruneberg with his ultimate poker face

When I first came into the poker room, I don’t know what it was, but something about this kid just shone out to me.

His crew were supportive and humble, hes a solid player and it’s going to make a great story! Zach Gruneberg, the youngest in the field that’s left and he goes out tonight with a high chip stack.

Here’s how they finishd up at the end of the day:

Seat 1: Zach Gruneberg – 1,355,000
Seat 2: Barny Boatman – 349,000
Seat 3: Elliot Smith – 1,120,000
Seat 4: Richard Ashby – 658,000
Seat 5: Stewart Scott – 4,520,000
Seat 6: Peter Rho – 2,420,000
Seat 7: Rajkumar Ramakrishnan – 2,050,000
Seat 8: Sam Capra – 1,161,00

The cameras were flying around the room as everyone waited for the bubble to burst.

For those that don’t know, the ‘bubble bursting’ is where the last player who is NOT in the money gets knocked out of the tournament. Once this happens, the bubble has burst and the remaining players are all in the money.

In the case of the Aussie Millions, the top 64 players walk away with at least $15,000.

So with the bubble now burst and the final days ahead of us, you can bet the poker room at Crown will really start to fill up as spectators scramble to see the action.

As Day 3 closed, here’s the top 10 chip stacks

Antonio Casale – 1,513,000
Nico Behling – 1,306,000
Dane Lomas – 1,158,000
Max Pescatori – 1,082,000
Robert Akery – 940,000
Peter Mobbs – 908,000
Maximilian Bracht – 837,000
Michael Chrisanthopoulos – 803,000
Robert Holster – 770,000
Erik Seidel – 752,000

Day one of the H.O.R.S.E. event had the finla table like this:

Seat 1: Joe Meissner — 43,000
Seat 2: Jarred Solomon — 65,000
Seat 3: Van Marcus — 123,500
Seat 4: Leo Boxell — 104,500
Seat 5: David Morton — 38,500
Seat 6: Michael Guzzardi — 98,000
Seat 7: Kerry Stead — 81,000
Seat 8: Anthony MacNamara — 34,500

Mitchell Carle

Using the new PokerPro automated poker tables, event 2 of the Aussie Millions was staged at Crown Casino on Monday with Brisbane player Mitchell Carle taking out the 2nd ring of the series.

Carle is no stranger to the event, taking out 3rd place in the PokerPro event in 2008.

PokerPro’s automated ‘dealerless’ poker tables suit online players better as it’s very much a ‘singular’ game, with less opportunity for spotting ‘tells’.

Each table has 10 players and the smaller field and faster pace of the game meant that it took 83 players less than 8 hours to finish the whole tournament.

Carle got to the final sitting up against Daniel Neilson but was still going head to head with a 3:1 chip stack.

It only took a few hands and Carle emerged victorious, picking up the $25,000 prize with Neilson taking home a handy $16,600 for his troubles. For full play by play coverage of the game, please visit pokernews.com.