With 23 of the best poker players on the planet sitting down on the Crown Casino felt here in Melbourne, Day 1 of the 2009 Aussie Millions Poker Championship $100k No-Limit Hold'em Challenge kicked off Saturday.

A buy-in this big is bound to attract the game's elite, and the strictly ballers-only roster did not disappoint one bit.

Among those dropping the $100,500 AUD to take part were former Aussie Millions champs Alexander Kostritsyn, Gus Hansen and Tony Bloom.

Team Full Tilt pros Erik Seidel, John Juanda and Chris Ferguson also jumped in the fray, and names like J.C. Tran, Nam Le and John Hennigan rounded out the stellar field.

When play got going a little after the scheduled 2:15 p.m. start time, things started slow for most, but "most" did not include the aforementioned Gus Hansen, who played like money ain't a thing.

By the time the first couple of 60-minute levels were done, he was down to less than half the $100k starting stack and seemed destined for an early exit, with the rather strange 30-second time limit rule pushing him further and faster toward the brink of disaster.

Ain't no thing, but a chicken wing on a string.

Hansen would follow soon after, but it was actually 2008 Aussie Millions champ Alexander Kostritsyn who got the gate first, running into the relatively unknown Sandor Demjan's trip queens, then failing to connect with A♠ J♥.

Just as Hansen and Kostritsyn hit the exit, Full Tilt's Phil Ivey made his grand entrance. Showing up almost a full two levels late didn't seem to hurt Ivey's stack too much, but playing a hand with J.C. Tran soon after sitting down certainly did.

After flopping quad deuces, Tran managed to get Ivey to pay off a huge river bet, vaulting him into the chip lead and knocking Ivey's stack down to half its original size.

When the third level of the day started, Phil got dinged with a five-minute penalty for using his cell phone at the table, and the rest of his stack was soon gone unceremoniously.

Tran flopped a set of jacks to crack Aussie Jamie Pickering's kings, sending him to the rail as well, and while he was off and running up to $300k and into the massive early lead, players like Sergey Rybachenko and Samdor Demjan were headed to the rail to join Pickering soon after.

Taking it to the streets.

Tony G and Michael Sampoerna, who finished third here last year, were not far behind and before the fourth level of play was through, they were down to just 15 players and two tables.

Just minutes before the fourth level ended and a 90-minute dinner break ensued, Tran actually found quads again, only this time they weren't his.

PokerStars APPT Macau main event bubble boy and two-time high roller final tablist David Steicke managed to catch the good fortune this time around, and was only too happy to take the chip lead when Tran shoved into his quad nines on the river.

In what has to be determined a slight etiquette breach, Steicke asked to see Tran's mucked pocket threes when the hand was through. The bad blood between the two was evident throughout the rest of the night.

The level following dinner was filled with exactly five double-ups from the short stacks in the room and zero eliminations, but the sixth level of play more than made up for it as John Hennigan got his aces cracked, Andrew "good2cu" Robl found his king outkicked and Patrik Antonius sucked out huge in a $400k pot with jacks against Chris Ferguson's queens to send them all packing.

Judas!

Antonius gave away half of those chips when David Steicke flopped a straight against his own pocket queens a few hands later and after Masaaki Kagawa, Erik Seidel and Nam Le all said goodnight, Steicke went into the final nine with the chip lead.

The decision was made to play a couple more levels before bagging and tagging, and Antonius quickly became the first casualty of the final nine, shoving into a J.C. Tran flopped set with top pair, top kicker.

Jason Gray shoved next with a flush draw that never materialized against David Steicke's big slick and while he said goodbye eighth, Steicke and Tran found themselves neck and neck for the lead, setting up a battle for the ages considering the early personality clash.

A short-stacked Jeffrey Lisandro doubled through Tran minutes later, but got his aces cracked by Steicke's turned trips to bow out seventh.

Play was halted as the eighth level of the day ended with just six players remaining.

Action will resume at 4 p.m. Melbourne time Sunday with six finalists jockeying for spots in a payout structure that will reward just four. First pays $1.2 million AUD, second $600k, third is worth $300,000 and the fourth-place finisher will cash $200,000.

It got a little Steicke Down Under.

When they get going again, Steicke will have the lead on $631,000 and Tran is next on $528,000. A steady day from John Juanda will see him return to the action with $480k, and the surprising Dan Shak will be back on $356,000.

2004 Aussie Millions champ Tony Bloom will bring $181,000 to the party, and unknown wild card Bill Jourdano will be the shortest on $139,000.

PL.com will have all the action from the final six right here and we politely suggest you join us from start to finish.