Phil Ivey Wins 2012 Aussie Millions $250,000 Super High Roller

January 28 2012, Donnie Peters

The 2012 Aussie Millions $250,000 Super High Roller began on Saturday and lasted into the early hours of the morning on Sunday. As the sun started to rise in beautiful Melbourne, Phil Ivey shipped the $2,000,000 first-place prize after defeating Patrik Antonius heads up, officially welcoming himself back into the poker world as if he had never left.

It was just a handful of months ago that Ivey disappeared from live tournament poker before returning in November at the APPT Macau. He didn't cash there, but here at the Aussie Millions, Ivey made a couple of really big splashes. First, he placed 12th in the Main Event for $100,000, and then went on to ship the largest score of his career by winning the Super High Roller.

The event attracted 16 players, all of whom ponied up the massive six-figure buy-in to take part in the event. The top three spots were set to be paid and a bubble of $800,000 was in store.

Among the stars taking part in the event were last year's champion Erik Seidel, last year's runner-up Sam Trickett, Tom Dwan, Jason Mercier, John Juanda and Sorel Mizzi. In addition, the event had a handful of businessmen on the felt, including Richard Yong, Paul Phua and Winfred Yu.

The first player eliminated was Dwan, who fell at the hands of Gus Hansen. After the elimination of Nick Wong, Seidel busted during Level 5 with the blinds at 3,000/6,000/500. He was sent out the door by $100,000 Challenge winner Dan Smith after his pocket eights couldn't overcome Smith's jacks.

After Yu bowed out in sixth place and Mizzi in fifth, the largest bubble of the year was set to take place. The two players joining Ivey and Antonius were Daniel Negreanu and Gus Hansen. From that group, the only man not getting a huge chunk of cash was Negreanu, who turned out to be the bubble boy.

On his final hand, Negreanu was all in from the big blind with the during the 25,000/50,000/5,000 level for around 750,000 after Antonius raised to 100,000 from the button. Antonius called holding the and was able to hold up as the board ran out .

Hansen was the next to go, collecting $800,000 for his finish after getting all in on the flop with the against Ivey's . The turn was the to give Ivey a full house and then the river completed the board with the to finish things off.

When heads-up play began, Ivey held a slight lead with 2.2 million in chips to Antonius' 1.8 million. He won a big pot about 45 minutes into the match to extend his lead to seven-to-one before the final hand came up.

Antonius moved all in with the from the button and Ivey made the call with the . Although the flop put Antonius in front, the on the turn catapulted Ivey back into the lead. He held on from there as the landed on the river and Antonius was eliminated in second place. For his runner-up finish, Antonius scooped $1,200,000.

Final Table Payouts

With his win, Ivey leaps over Negreanu into second place on the all-time money list. Even with his long absence from tournament, Ivey took to the Aussie Millions with a vengeance and has put himself right back in position as, what many consider, the greatest player on Earth.

The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be on hand for the final day of the 2012 Aussie Millions Main Event on Sunday. In addition, the final two event of the 2012 Aussie Millions Poker Championship, the $550 Australian Poker Hall of Fame Classic and the $10,500 8-Game Mixed Event, will kick off.

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Comments

donpeters
01-31-2012 14:58

@POKERrunons - Yes, this was just a field of 16 players, but getting to the point in your poker career where you are able to comfortably enter a $250,000 event where you'll be playing against some of the best in the world is a testament to Ivey's skill over the years. When he first began in the game, he was a grinder at small stakes in Atlantic City. He's worked his way up and conquered the best of the best.

I'd also like to add that whether you are a fan of Ivey or not, you must agree that poker needs him to be back playing events, driving the stories worldwide and drawing more and more attention from the fans. Much like Tiger Woods in golf — hate him or love him given all that's happened, poker needs Mr. Ivey.

Also, be sure to check out Rich Ryan's "Five Thoughts: Ivey No Longer a Fan Favorite?" article. Ryan makes some good points about how we can't be so quick to jump and judge. We need to let the facts come out and then make our evaluations from there.

"Let’s not get into a shouting match with one another to see who’s the loudest. Let’s wait for some facts to come out before we judge for or against Mr. Ivey." - R. Ryan

POKERrunons
01-30-2012 04:38

Phil Ivey just won a 16 player sit and go, that's it .. yes of course the $250k buy-in makes it that much more news worthy, but considering the 16 players worth, this truly is just another sit and go. With Ivey having the respect of the "Jordan" of poker, he has a lot more to prove then winning something like this. This wasn't the 6th championship ring, this might be an All Star Game MVP trophy at best with the high standards we set for Ivey. The poker community needs a face like Ivey to come back stronger than ever this WSOP, to show it was right to be a fan of his, that the Full Tilt debacle won't take away from the skill we have all learned to admire. After seeing Phil and the rest of the gangs bi-weekly sponsorship checks from Full Tilt, it must make you wonder, can the great Phil still play with absolutely no fear with his Money Tree chopped down. For what it's worth, I'm just a random person thinking out loud, and I still have respect for Phil, a little more respect for " kid poker " and his insane words against the "shamed" siblings with the occasional c*nt bomb for the duke lol, and after reading about that creep Ferguson, not only does his 60 million in payments make me sick, thinking of ESPN and that awful feature they did on him dancing is down right suicidal , lol .. Well, that's just a run on of mine .. Good work Phil, but hopefully Full Tilt pays the US Players back so you can come out of your US hiding this WSOP, you were missed by fans and competitors who want to play with the Best, and bottom line, no one is bigger than the game, but it sure would be nice to see the unofficial ambassadors seem like the Greats again, not crooks. Thanks Full Tilt.

narucy
01-28-2012 18:24

Mr.Ivey, Please your money in to new full tilt operating funds...