25 Jan 12

Aussie Millions Day 2: Ivey in Second Place Heading Into the Money

With just 75 players remaining in contention at the Aussie Millions Main Event, we are almost in the money with the top 72 finishers guaranteed AU$15,000. There's AU$1.6 million up top for the winner with several big names gunning for the title.

Phil Ivey
Phil Ivey builds a stack on Day 2
Image source: PokerNews
  
Day 2 of the 2012 Aussie Millions Main Event saw 314 survivors from the opening days return to the felt at Melbourne's Crown Casino. After a fast and furious day, just 75 remain to return for Day 3 and play through the money bubble.

Main Event Day 2 highlights

• 75 remain, 72 paid - The field of 659 has been whittled down to just 75 players across ten tables. The prize payouts begin with 72 remaining, meaning that we're thrown right into the bubble action on Day 3 tomorrow.

It could potentially be a short day for Patrick Lui and James Sin tomorrow. They return on Day 3 with just 1.75 and 2.5 big blinds respectively and have to fade three eliminations before making the first AU$15,000 payout.

• Show me the money! - One of the bigger stories to kick off Day 2 was the announcement of the prize pool distribution. With 72 paid, all players at the final table will be guaranteed AU$170,000 with the top two finishers becoming millionaires and a prize of AU$1.6 million for the eventual champion.

Aussie Millions Main Event Payouts
Place Prize (AUD)
1st $1,600,000
2nd $1,000,000
3rd $610,000
4th $405,000
5th $300,000
6th $230,000
7th $170,000
8th - 9th
 $125,000
10th - 12th
 $100,000
13th - 15th
 $75,000
16th - 18th
 $60,000
19th - 24th
 $45,000
25th - 30th
 $35,000
31st - 36th
 $30,000
37th - 40th
 $25,000
41st - 56th
 $20,000
57th - 72nd
 $15,000

• Ivey & Co. - Phil Ivey hasn't messed around since his return to tournament poker and is currently second in chips as we head into the money. He steadily chipped up throughout the day to end with a little over three times the average stack. That said, he is quite a way behind chip leader Tim O'Shea, who won a monster pot with a straight versus two pair in the final level of play.

Other notable names remaining in the field include David Steicke, Michael Tureniec, Kenna James and Grant Levy.

Aussie Millions Main Event

End of Day 2 Chip Counts
Place Name Chips
1st Tim O'Shea
 921,000
2nd Phil Ivey
 778,500
3rd Aage Ravn
 708,500
4th Jason Koon
 667,500
5th Oliver Speidel
 540,000
6th Patrick Healy
 521,000
7th Yann Dion
 495,000
8th Mohammed Kowloon
 477,000
9th Rob Angood
 470,500
10th Janis Lesiwski
 463,500
Players:  74(659) Prize pool: AU$6,570,000
Blinds: 2,000/4,000/500 Average Stack: 267,162