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After battling through a difficult field of 659 players at the Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia, the final table has been determined in the 2012 Aussie Millions Main Event, with Bjorn Li holding a slightly more than 1.3 million chip lead over Oliver Speidel.

Saturday’s play brought back the final twelve men in the event, each guaranteed a minimum payday of $100,000 (Australian) just by walking in the door. Leading the pack was Yann Dion with 2.67 million in chips, but he was closely followed by Li (2.471 million) and Mohamad Kowssarie (2.23 million). While these men were the players in true contention for the title, the eyes of the railbirds were particularly on two men, 2006 Aussie Millions champion Lee Nelson (1.651 million) and a short stacked (699K) Phil Ivey.

Those who came to watch Ivey had a short stay in the Crown on Saturday afternoon. Within thirty minutes of the opening of Day Five play, Ivey was headed to the cash out cage. After a raise from Dion, Ivey popped a three bet in to 140K. After a moment of thought, Dion pushed his remaining stack in, with Ivey making the call for less.

Ivey would prove to be in a difficult spot, his A-Q dominated by Dion’s A-K, but the board would provide some fun. Three deuces came on the flop, leaving potential for a split pot, and the eight on the turn didn’t change that. Once a nine came on the river, however, Dion’s Big Slick was better than Ivey’s Big Chick, knocking Phil Ivey out in twelfth place.

Nelson would fare better, although it didn’t start off well for him. After doubling up Mile Krstanoski, Nelson bided his time as Patrick Healy assumed the chip lead after he doubled up through Dion. Nelson would find his way back into the fight after eliminating Karim Jomeen in eleventh place, putting him in the middle of the pack with ten players left.

The former Aussie Millions champion would reach his high water mark against Li, taking a pot of over one million chips to push his way to 2.1 million. He would lose most of those chips, however, when he was coolered by Speidel. After an opening raise from Speidel and a three bet from Krstanoski, Nelson four bet the pot to 305K. Speidel almost immediately pushed all in, forcing Krstanoski out and eventually drawing a call from Nelson. Speidel’s pocket Kings were way ahead of Nelson’s pocket Queens and, after an uneventful board, Nelson was knocked down to under 300K in chips.

After a couple of double ups, Nelson was among the final nine but could push no further. On his final hand, Nelson and Speidel hooked up again, this time with Speidel holding pocket eights to Nelson’s A-K. The board proved to be interesting – 6-5-4-3-7, a straight – but the eights in Speidel’s hand gave him a bigger hand, knocking Lee Nelson out in ninth place.

Down to the final eight, the players convened for the unofficial final table with Speidel holding a slight lead over Dion and Kowssarie. Kowssarie would take over the lead against Dion, moving up to 4.2 million in chips, while Li (who started the unofficial final table as the short stack) slowly began moving up the board. Over the span of the next four hours, the combatants would jostle for position, playing carefully with a great deal of money on the line.

After this epic tussle, the final table was determined when Li and Daniel Idema locked up in a big hand. After Li made an initial raise to 85K, Speidel made the call and Krstanoski came along for the ride as well. In the small blind, however, Idema moved all in for almost 1.4 million. This didn’t stop Li, as he pushed in his own stack and forced Speidel and Krstanoski out of the pot. In what seemed like a theme during the day, Li’s A-K was in a dominant position over Idema’s A-Q and, once the board came seven high, Daniel Idema was knocked out in eighth place ($125,000).

When the final table convenes on Sunday afternoon (Melbourne time), here’s how the contenders will line up:

1. Bjorn Li, 4.775 million
2. Oliver Speidel, 3.145 million
3. Patrick Healy, 2.995 million
4. Kenneth Wong, 2.33 million
5. Yann Dion, 2.325 million
6. Mile Krstanoski, 2.295 million
7. Mohamad Kowssarie, 1.75 million

With the players packed tightly together, there is no clear favorite for the championship. A slip up by some of the leaders – or an unfortunate beat – can immediately bring back any of the shorter stacked players. It will be an exciting conclusion on Sunday when the champion of the 2012 Aussie Millions is determined.

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