Aussie Millions, Event #1 Day 2: Matthew Ephraums Crowned Champion
Day 2 of Event #1 of the 2010 Aussie Millions saw 193 players take the felt hoping to win the first championship ring of the series and the $200,025 AUD first-place prize. This $1,100 buy-in no-limit hold'em event saw 1,143 (919 unique and 224 who repechaged) players take to the felt, making history by being the largest tournament field ever in Australia. Just 108 players would make the money, and after 17 hours of play, a winner was crowned.
The final table was set after Tony Hachem was eliminated in 11th place. He took home just over $9,000 for his efforts. The next to go was Sam Vakili, whose 8♣8♦ looked good against Anthony Kingston's 2♣2♥ before the flop brought the 2♠ in the window. He didn't catch up and was eliminated in 10th place — good for $11,430 AUD.
DeucesCracked's Aaron Wilt was eliminated in ninth place ($13,716 AUD), and shortly thereafter, Jim Mastorakos went away with the eighth-place prize money of $22,860 AUD.
Anthony Kingston's 10♣10♠ were no match against Trung Tran's A♥A♣ and he was sent to the rail in seventh place, collecting $34,290 AUD. Brad Rawiller fell in sixth place ($45,720 AUD), also to the hands of Trung Tran. Minutes later, Tran picked off another victim in Glenn Croft when his A♥6♥ went up against Tran's A♠Q♦. Croft walked away with $57,150 AUD.
Tran couldn't keep up the steam and was eliminated in fourth place ($74,295 AUD) by Matthew Ephraums. Play slowed up quite a bit when it got down to three players. After nearly 15 hours from the start of play, Brent Thomas was out in third place ($97,155 AUD), and action was heads up.
Brendan Edmonds was sent to the rail in second place by Matthew Ephraums when Edmond's J♦10♦ was no match for Ephraums' A♣10♣. Edmonds collected $142,875 AUD for his efforts and Matthew Ephraums will be in the history books for winning this event. He took home $200,025 AUD, the championship ring, and the title.
Event #2 $550 AUD PokerPro No-Limit Hold'em
At the same time that Event #1 was running in the Crown Poker Room, Event #2 kicked off. The field was capped at 90 entrants, and quite a few notables showed up. 2009 Aussie Millions champ Stewart Scott, Jonathan Karamalikis, Matthew Pearson, Michael Guzzardi, David Steicke, Andrew Jeffreys, and PokerNews' own Heath Chick were among the field.
The title was won by Andrew Hinrichsen, who tabled aces against Paul Schenbri's A♣J♣ on the final hand. Schenbri took home $8,550 AUD for his efforts. Hinrichsen's win earned him his second championship ring of the 2010 Aussie Millions series and $12,825 AUD.
Event #2 Results
1. Andrew Hinrichsen - $12,825 AUD
2. Paul Schenbri - $8,550 AUD
3. Shannon Vandenberg - $6,300 AUD
4. Chris Brammer - $4,500 AUD
5. Glen Goldberg - $3,600 AUD
6. Michael Dix - $2,925 AUD
7. Michael Guzzardi - $2,250 AUD
8. Gary Benson - $1,800 AUD
9. Suzy Khoueis - $1,350 AUD
10. Kalan Shuttlewood - $900 AUD
Be sure to check out the Live Reporting page for all of the action live from the felt here in Melbourne, Australia at the 2010 Aussie Millions Poker Championship and make sure you follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.
