Channing in Oz

There are few tournaments on the poker calendar that have the staying power of the Aussie Millions, but every year, poker fanatics arrive on Ozzie shores in their droves, all eager to stump up the $10,500 buy-in and replicate the achievements of winners past.

This week, a total of 746 pitched up at the Crown Casino in Melbourne, an improvement on last year’s 681 field in which local hero Stewart Scott prevailed to win the A$2 million first prize. Searching for gold this time around are the likes of Phil Ivey, John Juanda, Jeff Lisandro, Barry Greenstein and Tony G, as well as British hopes Karl Mahrenholz, JP Kelly, Keith Hawkins and recent WSOP finalist James Akenhead.

Also flying the flag and representing the London faithful is Black Belt Poker’s Neil Channing. Drawn on the feature table, Channing faced tough company with Casey Kastle, Erik Seidel, Annette Obrestad and a big Vegas and Internet Limit player who called himself Crazy Mike.

“Crazy Mike soon appeared to be in the top three most annoying people I'd played with,” reported Channing. “I let him bluff me twice and went down to just 11,000 from my 20,000 starting stack. I steamed a little bit and decided to three-bet him with 8-6 off-suit. I then floated on the flop and raised him on the turn of a A-K-8-T board, committing about 5,000 of my remaining chips. He called me a total nit and folded. I didn't show.”

Having risen to 31,000 with K-K versus Kastle’s missed draw, Channing quickly broke the 48,000 mark with an average of 26,000, but just as he was beginning to pick up pace, K-K ran into A-A to bash him back down to 11,000. “I worked my bollocks off to get my stack up and was raising 70 percent of hands at the time,” continued Channing. “He was in a squeeze spot too, fml.”

But despite this loss, Channing’s fortune did show signs of changing when he pushed with Q-6 and managed to crack aces to stay alive. “The woman didn’t take it too well,” revealed Channing. “She spent the next three hours whining and kept making comments while I was in pots and about to act. I had to call the floor to complain. With 25 minutes to go I was very frustrated. This woman had gifted Annette about 35,000 and all she could do was moan about a few thousand the bad beat with me had cost her. In one hand I called a raise from a tight guy with T-9 of diamonds. As I did, durrrr stopped to chat to me and shook my hand. The woman went all in for about 1,000 and it was 7,000 for me to call after the other guy folded. I was getting 2:1, durrrr had touched me and now I could knock out this miserable woman. I called, she showed 3-3 and I rivered a 10. I told her I wouldn’t usually call but I'd done it out of spite.”

Following this amusing kafuffle, Channing’s day continued to improve with a lucrative final 45 minutes which saw him finishing the day with 57,400 and in 18th position out of the 120 that survived. “Such a tough day,” concluded Channing. “I felt I played my best, but now I really need to get some sleep.”

With Day 1C also drawing to a close, Day Two is just around the corner and Channing will be in confident spirits having survived a turbulent opening few levels. Whilst the likes of Joe Hachem, Chris Ferguson, Chris Moorman and former International bowler Shane Warne fell at the first hurdle, the remaining field is still rife with big names with Sorel Mizzi perhaps the most notable pace-setter with 112,300. Pierre Aoukar is the chip leader with 171,700

But with a renewed confidence, Neil Channing will be hot on their heels for the remainer of the comp, keen to add some more silverware to the trophy cupboard. To see if Channing can become this year’s Aussie Champion, keep your eyes peeled on Black Belt Poker for further updates.