Dempsey Day 1b Chip Leader; Dwan, Obrestad, & James on to Day 2!
The 2012 Aussie Millions Poker Championship continued on Monday with Day 1b of the Main Event. The second of three starting flights attracted 187 players, and combined with Day 1a’s 153 entries, the total field for two days is 340. While many pros will until Day 1c to enter, which is expected to be the biggest of the three starting days, there were plenty of big names in action on 1b.
Jonathan Karamalikis, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, and Masa Kagawa were the three pros eliminated from the $100,000 Challenge the day prior that opted to give the Main a go on Monday, with only Kagawa failing to survive. They were joined by notables David Bach, Annette Obrestad, Kenna James, and James Dempsey, all of whom made it through to Day 2.
Dempsey had an up-and-down day, dropping to just 6,000 chips at the dinner break; however, things turned around for him shortly thereafter as he ran it up to over 100,000 in the next level! "Just printing. Just Printing!" he said when asked how he did it. By the end of the night, Dempsey claimed the chip lead with 189,000.
Dwan was another player who had some post-dinner success. That is when Ryan Hong moved all in with 
and was up against the 
of Dwan, who had repeatedly bested his foe in previous matches. This time Hong was willing to flip, but he was no match for Dwan as the board ran out 
. With that, the man known as “durrrr” chipped up to over 80,000.
In addition to Dempsey and Dwan, two former champs were in action on Day 1b including 2009 Aussie Millions champ, Stewart Scott, and 2010 victor and recent Tournament of Champions winner, Tyron Krost. Both managed to survive the day, Krost finishing with 56,400 while Stewart bagged 38,400.
While Dempsey emerged as the Day 1b chip leader with 189,000, he still trails Brett Watson, who finished Day 1a with 257,400. Others who finished toward the top of the chip counts included Ilir Belului (182,700), Kenna James (151,400), Nabil Edgtton (148,300), Paul Wilde (146,500), Octavian Vogele, Emad Maaree (112,500), and Dwan (107,400)
Not everyone was did so well on Day 1b. Tom Koral, Jackie Glazier, Jamie Pickering, Vesko Zmukic, Marvin Rettenmaier, Simon Watt, Mel Judah, and Shawn Buchanan were among the players who hit the rail throughout the seven levels of play.
Jeff Rossiter, who finished third in the Main Event last year, was eliminated in heart-breaking fashion with just 20 minutes left in the evening. It happened when the board read 
, and Rossiter bet 6,700 from middle position. His opponent in the hijack then raised to 17,000, Rossiter then moved all in for about 30,000 total, and the hijack made a reluctant call.
Showdown
| Rossiter |   |
| Hijack |   |
Rossiter had turned the king-high flush and needed to dodge a heart on the river to survive. Unfortunately for him, the 
spiked to put an end to his run.
By the time players bagged and tagged for the night, 92 players had survived. They, along with the 68 players who survived Day 1a, will move on to Day 2 on Wednesday, but there is still one more starting day to get through, that being Day 1c.
Action is set to kick off at 12:30 p.m. local time, and of course PokerNews will be on hand to capture all the action.