2018 Aussie Millions

$10,600 Main Event
Day: 2
Event Info

2018 Aussie Millions

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
q10
Prize
1,458,198 AUD
Event Info
Buy-in
10,600 AUD
Prize Pool
8,000,000 AUD
Entries
800
Level Info
Level
31
Blinds
80,000 / 160,000
Ante
20,000

Holz Shows Up Late, Chasing Recent Champs Barer and Engel

Level 12 : 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
Fedor Holz
Fedor Holz

At last year's Aussie Millions at Crown Melbourne, Fedor Holz put together a legendary run, pairing a third-place finish in the $100K Challenge with a fifth-place finish in the Main Event for a total of nearly A$700,000 in cashes.

This year, things looked quiet on the Holz watch as there was nary a sight of him in the tournament area through the first three starting days of the Main Event. Perhaps he took Sam Greenwood's Twitter barbs as a challenge, or perhaps he always planned on fashionably late arrival.

Either way, Holz beat the buzzer with a Day 2 registration and got to work right away, He doubled up just a few minutes in after backing into a flush against an opponent who made the nut straight and couldn't find a river fold to Holz's check-raise.

The German legend had nearly triple the starting stack in under an hour, and it looked like the start of another tour de force. However, it would prove a swingy day, and though Holz hit heights around 150,000, he would only put 71,100 in the bag. He has work to do on Day 3, but that doesn't mean anyone will feel comfortable seeing his name on their table draw.

Holz's late registration was part of the final push during the opening level play that pushed the tournament to a record number of 800 runners, creating a prize pool of exactly A$8 million. Even at the ripe old age of 21, the Aussie Millions is doing the opposite of slowing down.

A couple of former champions have built big stacks and put themselves in prime contention among the 160 players remaining at the close of Day 2. Ari Engel (2016) and Ami Barer (2014) both had strong showings. The former bagged 334,000 and the latter 202,400,

Engel got a turn jam through in a huge pot late, inducing a player to fold trip kings on a three-flush board.

While that was happening, loquacious British star Sam Grafton was putting the finishing touches on his monster Day 2 at the neighboring table. He busted a player with aces against ace-king and then got a five-bet shove through on Max Young to finish with 419,000.

"You're gonna tell people about this some day," he boasted to his tablemates. "You're gonna tell them I played with Sam Grafton that year he won the Main Event here."

The chip lead, though belongs to Aussie Najeem Ajez (522,100). He sent Kitty Kuo packing when she couldn't find a fold with nines, five-bet shipping into Ajez's queens.

Najeem Ajez
Najeem Ajez Leads After Day 2

Marc Macdonnell, Ludovic Geilich, Kahle Burns, Matt Salsberg, Mike Del Vecchio, Martin Jacobson and Mel Judah were some other recognizable names to advance.

The remaining players return at 12:30 p.m. local time for Day 3, set to play 1,200/2,400/400 and hit the money with 88 players left. Come back to PokerNews to follow all of the live updates.

Main Event Day 3 Seat Draw

TableSeatPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
71Aaron LimAustralia188,20078
72Mel JudahAustralia47,80020
73Gareth PepperAustralia121,50051
74Daniel NeilsonAustralia208,10087
75Dean BlattAustralia206,10086
76Ken DemlakianAustralia99,90042
77Yin LiuChina92,30038
78Daniel LaidlawAustralia57,80024
      
81Martin FingerGermany80,00033
82Nino MarottaAustralia92,00038
83Sean RagozziniAustralia102,90043
84David LeasAustralia201,70084
85Najeem AjezAustralia522,100218
86Kishore KumarAustralia124,60052
87Sam GraftonUnited Kingdom419,900175
88Nicholas HowardUnited States97,70041
      
91Brendan HurtigAustralia132,80055
92Ari EngelCanada334,000139
93Qiu WenjianChina137,40057
94Tristan BainAustralia123,20051
95Louis SalterUnited Kingdom69,20029
96Anthony LuongAustralia66,90028
97Beau PalmerAustralia226,00094
98Raphael TenenbaumAustralia73,00030
      
101Sherif DeriasAustralia68,10028
102Julian PowellAustralia41,30017
103Duncan PackingtonAustralia210,10088
104Eli LoewenthalUnited States81,90034
105Marton CzuczorHungary37,60016
106David StonehouseUnited Kingdom112,10047
107Harry DemetriouUnited Kingdom141,40059
108Jarred GrahamAustralia146,10061
      
251Zdravko DuvnjakCroatia84,60035
252Kah Boon TehMalaysia131,50055
253Stefan HuberSwitzerland155,10065
254David HanlonAustralia37,50016
255Haoran ZhangAustralia143,20060
256Nicholas WrightAustralia187,30078
257Duff CharetteCanada238,40099
258Craig MasonUnited States19,7008
      
261Gary TomesAustralia92,50039
262Jesse SylviaUnited States31,70013
263Duy HoUnited States471,700197
265Corentin HillionFrance123,70052
266Jamie SadlierAustralia87,50036
267Rinaldo PiastrinoAustralia143,10060
268Ross GrammerAustralia222,00093
      
271Farhad MohajeraniIran157,60066
272Michael SmithCanada98,00041
273[Removed:321] SharifkazemiUnited Kingdom70,40029
274Tung NguyenAustralia141,10059
275Brandon AgeloffUnited States126,30053
276Anthony HachemAustralia290,900121
277Edel MaherAustralia56,10023
278Rory YoungAustralia160,00067
      
281Rob RaymondAustralia70,30029
282Michael HahnUnited States136,20057
283Ludovic RiehlFrance191,40080
284Kim AuAustralia106,40044
285Artur KorenAustralia147,60062
286Ashley WhitfieldUnited Kingdom69,10029
287Jonas LauckGermany189,00079
288Kahle BurnsAustralia201,50084
      
291Taylor BlackUnited States107,90045
292David LoonstraAustralia41,10017
293Ashley SleethUnited States34,90015
294Matt RolfeAustralia279,900117
295Saijes MundadanAustralia41,00017
296Tim WeiAustralia112,90047
297Jack O'NeillUnited Kingdom159,80067
298Liam O'RourkeIreland243,900102
      
301Matthew MossUnited Kingdom188,60079
302Tony TartagliaAustralia123,60052
303Peter MordauntAustralia65,00027
304Paul MichaelisGermany37,30016
305Panayotis FlourentzouAustralia110,50046
306Matt SalsbergUnited States133,40056
307Xiangxiang NiChina276,500115
308Gurpreet LubanaCanada198,50083
      
311Espen SolaasNorway207,90087
312Ize BourneAustralia32,10013
313Arne RugeGermany204,90085
314Sarah BilneyAustralia55,70023
315Xiaojun ZhangAustralia187,00078
316Lee ArmstrongAustralia284,400119
317Yosuke SekiyaJapan88,40037
318Michael TchongAustralia190,40079
      
321Con KrousoratisAustralia197,00082
322Justin VictorAustralia148,50062
323Mike Del VecchioUnited States104,50044
324[Removed:415]Australia219,10091
325Fedor HolzAustria71,10030
326Joseph FoletiAustralia74,80031
327Andreas KlattGermany59,30025
328Tobias HausenGermany159,00066
      
332Barry LongAustralia47,50020
333Bobby ZhangAustralia150,10063
334Casey KastleSlovenia94,00039
335Antonino CascioAustralia249,000104
336Aki PyysingFinland271,600113
337Daniel HachemAustralia198,90083
338Timothy MitchellUnited Kingdom52,60022
      
411Hung-Sheng LinTaiwan124,00052
412Vincent ChuaAustralia128,30053
413Martin JacobsonSweden92,20038
414Arif MustafaAustralia284,900119
415Jan PetterssonAustralia455,500190
416Joseph AbdulnourAustralia121,80051
417Martin RoweAustralia129,40054
418Jack BrownAustralia114,10048
      
441Robert LieuAustralia108,80045
442Takao ShimizuJapan154,60064
443Scott DaviesUnited States87,40036
444Ludovic GeilichUnited Kingdom218,20091
445Ami BarerCanada202,40084
446Milton TrickeyAustralia171,70072
447Benjamin RichardsonAustralia178,50074
448Darwin LaiHong Kong147,40061
      
451Michael EganAustralia164,40069
452Chen An LinTaiwan205,40086
453Eddie PuiaAustralia160,90067
454Dennis HuntlyAustralia94,40039
455Jonathan KaramalikisAustralia147,60062
456Rody KakaAustralia30,60013
457Lukas SoucekCzech Republic56,60024
458Julian StuerGermany120,00050
      
461Giuseppe ReinaAustralia64,70027
462Nick SolomosAustralia233,70097
463Chi Thinh NguyenVietnam73,00030
464Hon Cheong LeeHong Kong58,90025
465Chris KostoulasUnited States228,70095
466Glen CymbalukCanada265,300111
467Brian PayneAustralia190,90080
468Jason PritchardAustralia80,00033
      
471Cale TreacyAustralia176,20073
472Tu LanChina132,00055
473James BroomAustralia319,500133
474Federico ButteroniItaly103,70043
475Johan SchumacherBelgium265,600111
476Marc MacdonnellIreland296,700124
477Joshua AbadyUnited States83,10035
478Adrian IndovinoAustralia93,60039
      
481Paawan BansalIndia98,10041
482Darryl LapthorneAustralia61,00025
483Matthew WakemanAustralia198,00083
484James HopkinsAustralia429,500179
485Max YoungUnited States120,10050
486Szymon WysockiPoland397,300166
487James RomeroUnited States25,00010
488Alessandro FurneriItaly223,40093
      
491John ParkerAustralia195,10081
492Kabeelan RajamurthyAustralia82,70034
493Craig ZwiesAustralia112,30047
494Frank PezzanitiAustralia480,000200
495Peter AristidouAustralia48,40020
496Chul-Hyon ParkAustralia371,300155
497James ClarkeUnited Kingdom155,30065
498Toby LewisUnited Kingdom144,40060

Tags: Ami BarerAri EngelFedor HolzNajeem AjezSam Grafton