GSN’s coverage of the 2010 Aussie Millions continued on Saturday night as part of the network’s poker block. The one-hour episode, which began at 9:00pm ET, featured 15 players remaining in the AUD $100,000 High Roller event, including a star studded feature table.
Paul Khoury and Grub Smith had the call of the action from the Crown Casino in Melbourne. Whereas past episodes of the Aussie Millions on GSN have focused almost exclusively on pros of Full Tilt Poker, the show’s sponsor, producers branched out this time around. Among the beneficiaries of the expanded coverage was Bill Jordanou, who committed his chips pre-flop with A-J and ran into the wired pair of eights of Roberto Romanello. Jordanou spiked an ace on the turn and doubled up.
PartyPoker front man Tony G, who bought everyone in the house a drink earlier in the evening, and Howard Lederer checked a flop of J-9-9 to see a six on the turn. Lederer, holding Q-10, bet 30,000 and Tony G min-raised to 60,000 with pocket sixes for a boat. Lederer wisely got out of the way and Tony G continued to add to his stack. The European has been relatively quiet for much of the broadcast of the High Roller Event, a far cry from his antics on the PokerStars sponsored “Big Game,” which airs nightly during the week on Fox.
Lederer raised to 24,000 with A-10 and Romanello, holding pocket nines, raised the pot to 84,000. Lederer called and the flop came 2-2-J. Romanello moved all-in for an extra 6,000 and Lederer called despite holding air. The turn came a harmless seven, but Lederer hit a 10 on the river to send Romanello out. The Full Tilt Poker pro moved to fourth in chips as a result.
Pre-flop, Tony G made it 23,000 with A-8 of spades and Lederer came along with K-10. The flop came Q-4-10 with two spades and the action went check-check to an offsuit seven on the turn. Lederer bet 35,000 and Tony G tossed in a button to receive 30 seconds of extra time before electing to call. The poker bad boy hit lightning in a bottle on the river when the deuce of spades peeled off, giving him the nut flush. Lederer bet 60,000, Tony G moved all-in over the top for 92,000, and Lederer folded despite the discounted price to call. The pot was worth 244,000.
GSN coverage of the Aussie Millions does not display the value of the pot. In addition, bet, call, and raise amounts are only displayed for a few seconds, making the action difficult to follow. In the final hand of the night, Phil Ivey took center stage. The 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event November Niner raised to 25,000 pre-flop with A-9 and Masa Kagawa re-raised to 85,000 with Big Slick. Ivey moved all-in over the top for 185,000 and Kagawa called for his tournament life.
Ivey hit a nine on the flop to take the lead for good in the hand and send Kagawa out in ninth place, setting up the eight-handed final table that will air next Saturday on GSN at 9:00pm ET. The group will feature Ivey, Tony G, Lederer, and Tony G.
GSN’s Saturday night poker block begins at 6:00pm ET. Starting on August 14th, the Aussie Millions will be replaced with the Full Tilt Poker Doubles Championship:
High Stakes Poker, Season 4 – 6:00pm ET
High Stakes Poker, Season 5 – 7:00pm ET
High Stakes Poker, Season 6 – 8:00pm ET
Aussie Millions – 9:00pm ET
High Stakes Poker, Season 5 (repeat) – 10:00pm ET
Million Dollar Challenge – 11:00pm ET
Aussie Millions (repeat) – 12:00am ET
High Stakes Poker, Season 4 (repeat) – 1:00am ET
High Stakes Poker, Season 6 (repeat) – 2:00am ET
