Ellis Leads Final 36; Antonius, Ivey & Shak Still in Contention
On Thursday, the 2013 Aussie Millions Main Event recommenced for Day 3 action with just 68 players of a 629-player field remaining. Not only were they all looking to make the money at 64, but each hoped to make the final 36 and punch their ticket to Day 4��which will mark the start of six-handed play in the tournament. It only took three levels for 33 players to hit the rail, and during that time Ray Ellis emerged as the chip leader with 1,044,000, though the fearsome Finn Patrik Antonius is hot on his heels with 957,000.
Ellis got a good portion of his chips in Level 16 (3,000/6,000/1,000) in a big pot against Jan Collado. The PokerNews Live Reporting Team caught the action with around 130,000 already in the pot and a board reading 
when Collado bet 62,000 from the big blind and received a call from Ellis on the button. When the 
completed the board on the river, Collado slowly bet 77,000 and Ellis made a quick call by arching his chips into the pot. Collado rolled over 
for ace high, and then Ellis showed down the winning 
.
As far as Antonius is concerned, he won a big hand in Level 17 (4,000/8,000/1,000) in a blind-versus-blind pot. There was around 30,000 in the pot and a flop of 
when he checked from the small blind and Wei Low bet 18,000 from the big. Antonius responded with a check-raise to 60,000 and Low hit the tank for a couple minutes before moving all in for approximately 325,000. Antonius snap-called and Low discovered the bad news.
Antonius: 
Low: 
Even though he got it in bad, Low was still drawing live as a five would complete his gutshot straight draw and either a six or eight would put him in the lead. The 
was not what he needed, and neither was the . Low was eliminated on the hand while Antonius chipped up to 1.2 million.
Obviously not everyone was as fortunate as Ellis and Antonius. On the very first hand of the day, which happened in Level 15 with the blinds at 2,500/5,000/500, Phil Ivey opened for 11,000 from the hijack and action folded to Michael Kane in the big blind. He opted for a three-bet to 24,000, Ivey four-bet to 55,000 and Kane moved all in for 159,000. Ivey snap-called and the cards were turned up:
Ivey: 
Kane: 
Kane looked devastated and he looked on helplessly as the board ran out 
. With that, Kane became the day's first casualty while Ivey got an immediate boost to his stack. Not long after Zoltan Szabo took an incredibly bad beat when he got his stack all in preflop holding 
against the 
of Collado. The 
flop seemed innocent enough, but the running 
turn and river was disaster as Collado went runner-runner to make a straight and send Szabo home empty handed.
While those were both heartbreakers, no one experience more pain that Australian Poker Hall of Famer Gary Benson, who finished as the 2013 Aussie Millions bubble boy. It happened when Benson got his last 50,000 all in preflop and was at risk against Ivey. The hand was halted until action finished at all the other tables, which gave the railbirds plenty of time to circle Table 10 in preparation for the action. When it was time for the cards to be flipped up, Benson rolled over 
while Ivey had him dominated with the 
.
Benson was out of his chair and packing his things when the dealer put out the flop... 
. The crowd awed in disbelief as Benson hit a set to take the lead. Even so, Ivey was drawing very much alive as he flopped an open-ended straight draw. The TV cameras zoomed in while the railbirds' eyes were fixed on the table and overhanging TV screen. The dealer burned and turned the .
That meant Benson needed to avoid an ace, nine and jack on the river to stay alive. Unfortunately for him, and much to the astonishment of the rail, the spiked on the river to give Ivey the straight! Benson turned away from the table to mask his disappointment, but the veteran soon turned back around, wished the table good luck, and then made a gracious exit from the tournament.
Per usual, the in-the-money eliminations came fast and steady after the bubble had burst. Elliot Smith (64th-AU$15,000), Didier Guerin (62nd-AU$15,000), Craig McCorkell (58th-AU$15,000), Adam Schmidt (55th-AU$15,000), David Boyaciyan (53rd-AU$15,000), Michael Harrison-Ford (44th-AU$20,000) and Adam Carlton (42nd-AU20,000).
In Level 17 (4,000/8,000/1,000), 2010 Aussie Millions Main Event champ Tyron Krost, who earned a lifetime of free Main Event buy-ins after winning last year��s Tournament of Champions, moved all in for roughly 100,000 after Shoshiro Karita had opened for a raise in late position. A call was made and the cards were turned up.
Karita:
Krost: 
Krost, who had been working with a short stack for the better part of two days, was in desperate need of some help, but he would find none as the board ran out . Krost was eliminated in 41st place for AU$20,000.
Other notables still in contention include Dan Shak (596,000), Sam Cohen (559,000), Lee Markholt (558,000), Kitty Kuo (507,000), Jay Tan (494,000), Kevin Rabichow (478,000), Minh Nguyen (418,000), Ivey (399,000), Daniel Laidlaw (312,000) and Celina Lin (188,000).
The remaining 36 players will return on Friday at 12:30 p.m. local time for Day 4 action, which will be played six-handed. It��ll likely be a long one as they��ll play down to a final table of six, but the PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be there every step of the way. Who will win the AU$1,600,000 first-place prize and accompanying Chrysler 300C sports car? Join us tomorrow as we get one step closer to finding the answer.
In addition, you can follow our updates to the $250,000 Challenge by clicking here.