2009 Aussie Millions Event #4, $1,100 LHE: Zach Gruneberg Victorious

Aussie Millions

Just a few short hours after the early-morning conclusion to Event #3, the Crown Casino in Melbourne saw 140 players take to the felt for more fixed-limit poker festivities as Event #4, $1,100 Limit Hold'em, kicked off. Among the crowd was recently crowned champ Mel Judah, who was back at the tables less than eight hours after taking down the championship ring in Event #3. Joining Judah were Dan Shak, Grant Levy, Tony Dunst, Sam Khouiss and dozens more top pros.

Annette Obrestad confided in tablemate James "Andy McLEOD" Obst that Event #4 was her first live limit tourney. The 2007 WSOP-Europe Main Event champ ran good in the early going, but was eliminated short of the money. Other early bustouts included Sorel Mizzi, Jamie Pickering, Tony Dunst and "Alias" star Michael Vartan. Vartan got the last of his chips in the middle on a flop of 1056. Vartan's AK needed help to catch up to John Caris' 99, but the turn and river brought running sevens to send the Hollywood star out for some Melbourne sight-seeing.

The ever-voluble David Saab made it to the dinner break, but a few big hands after dinner left him watching from the rail as the tournament moved down to the bubble. After bleeding off chips for a while, Saab got the last of his chips in the middle on a flop of 524 against Dan Shak. Shak tabled AQ, well ahead of Saab's A8. The turn and river fell JK, and Shak's ace-high was enough to send Saab packing.

Late in the evening, the money bubble drew close, and it was Maya Gellar-Antonius who finished in 19th place, busting at the hands of James Obst and leaving the remaining players in the money. Gellar-Antonius called Obst's preflop raise, then checked the flop of 4s-6d-3c. Obst bet out and Gellar-Antonius called. Obst bet out again on the turn when the 5 hit, and Gellar-Antonius check-raised him all in. Obst snap-called with 78 for the nut straight, and Gellar-Antonius was drawing dead with AK.

After Gellar-Antonius departed, the field went from two tables to one fairly quickly. It took less than two hours for the next nine players to bust, helped along by one big hand that sent Dan Shak and Joshua Wilson to the rail simultaneously. The short-stacked Shak and Wilson found all their chips in the middle on the turn with the board reading 7675. Craig Bergeron had both men covered and dominated with his JJ. Wilson's AQ had more outs than Shak's pocket deuces, but when the river brought the 3, Bergeron took over the tournament chip lead and Shak and Wilson picked up AU $2,100 each for their finishes.

After local favorite Emad Tahtouh busted in 11th place ($2,100), Dean Blatt became the final-table bubble boy. Blatt three-bet Bruno Portaro preflop. Portaro called and exposed A9, thinking that Blatt was all in. Blatt actually still had a 1,000 chip left, but he called it off on the A26 flop, tabling his cracked KK. No king showed on the turn or river, and Blatt was done in tenth place ($2,100).

Craig Bergeron took a slight chip lead into the final table, as the seating assignments and chip stacks looked like this:

Seat 1: Zach Gruneberg - 90,000

Seat 2: Ken Eastwood - 55,000

Seat 3: Grant Levy - 94,500

Seat 4: Jesse Maguire - 112,000

Seat 5: Craig Bergeron - 118,000

Seat 6: Billy "The Croc" Argyros - 18,000

Seat 7: David Bach - 37,000

Seat 8: Bruno Portaro - 117,000

Seat 9: James Obst - 57,500

Billy "The Croc" Argyros came into the table as the short stack, and he wasted no time getting those chips into the middle. Grant Levy raised preflop with 97, and Argyros three-bet all in with AQ. Levy called, and then made the full house as the board ran out 33995. The ever-cheerful Argyros picked up $3,500 for ninth place, his second consecutive cash in the 2009 Aussie Millions.

Soon after, David Bach got his last few chips in preflop as Grant Levy and James Obst both checked down a board of J763K. Levy fired out a bet on the river, Obst folded, and Levy tabled K2 for top pair. Bach showed Q4 for a ton of missed outs on the river, but no real hand as he was finished in eighth place ($4,200).

Bruno Portaro got all his chips in good and exited the tournament in brutal fashion in seventh ($5,600) at the hands of eventual champ Zach Gruneberg. Gruneberg started things off with a raise preflop, Portaro three-bet, and Gruneberg capped it with KQ. Portaro called and the flop came down 58J, and Portaro moved all in. Gruneberg called to see Portaro table JJ for top set. The 9 turn woke the crowd from its slumber, and the 10 river gave Gruneberg runner-runner and sent Portaro home.

At only 18 years of age, James Obst has been a fixture on the tournament circuit for the past several months. He logged his first live cash when he finished in sixth place ($7,700). Obst was crippled and stuck his last few chips in preflop as Ken Eastwood, Jesse Maguire and Craig Bergeron all made the call. The three live players checked around on the 1086 flop, and Maguire fired a bet at the 3 turn. Bergeron got out of the way as Eastwood called. The river brought the A, and both Eastwood and Maguire checked. Maguire showed 109 as both Eastwood and Obst mucked. Maguire's pair of tens was enough to send Obst to the rail and thin the field to five.

Zach Gruneberg picked up a hand at just the right time as he and Grant Levy capped the action preflop as the first three cards came down J72. Gruneberg led out and Levy raised, Gruneberg three-bet, and Levy re-raised for the last of his chips with 44. Gruneberg called with AA, and Levy needed help to stay alive. The board ran out 106, and Levy was done in fifth ($9,800).

Next, Gruneberg crippled Ken Eastwood with a flush, and then found another flush to send Eastwood off in fourth ($12,600). The last of Eastwood's chips went in preflop, with Gruneberg and Jesse Maguire joining him to a KQ2 flop. Maguire and Gruneberg checked, and the turn came down the 10. Gruneberg bet out, and Maguire made the call in the side pot. Gruneberg bet out again when the Q came on the river, and Maguire again called. Gruneberg tabled J5 for the flopped flush, and Maguire and Eastwood both mucked as Eastwood headed to the cashier's cage.

The three remaining players briefly discussed pausing the tournament for some sleep, but decided to play on to a final victor. Not long after Eastwood departed, Gruneberg busted Jesse Maguire in third ($17,500). Maguire's short stack went into the middle preflop with KJ, only to see Gruneberg table JJ to trim Maguire's outs. No help came as the board bricked out ten-high, and the tournament was heads-up for the title and the championship ring.

Zach Gruneberg took a nearly 2:1 chip lead into heads-up play, and it took only about half an hour for him to dispatch Craig Bergeron in second place ($25,200). In the final hand, Bergeron raised preflop from the button and Gruneberg called. Both players checked the Q58 flop, and the turn brought the 2. Gruneberg led out, and eventually all the money went in. Gruneberg showed Q9 to Bergeron's K2, giving Bergeron bottom pair and a flush draw to Gruneberg's top pair. The 10 river was no help, and Bergeron was ousted as the runner-up. After more than 14 hours of poker, Zach Gruneberg slipped on the Aussie Millions Event #4 championship ring and pocketed the accompanying $35,000 in prize money.

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