Congratulations to Gerasimos Deres, No-Limit Hold'em - Bounties Winner (AUD$80,500)!
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The $1,650 Bounty tournament began while most eyes were focused on the Aussie Millions Main Event final table underway a few floors above the poker room. By the time they returned on Day 2 play out the final table, James Gorr had already had 16 hours to celebrate his Main Event victory, and it was the Aussie Millions closing party raging overhead.
No worries for Martin Kozlov. He just turned the final table into his own private party. He was running the table, hanging out with his rail, and having a great time, at least until Gerasimos Deres decided he should be the guest of honor. Jarred Solomon eliminated the first player, Milan Gurung, building himself to third in chips. Then he got aggressive with 
, and Kozlov was there to catch him with 
. After dispatching Solomon in seventh place and absorbing his stack, Kozlov had close to half of the chips in the play.
Gerasimos Deres kept his sights on the chip leader the whole time, however, even when the rest of the table thought it was a battle for second place. Deres out-flipped Lindy Thornton to send her home in sixth, then eliminated Shao Liu in fifth. Deres might have made a run at the top spot had Kozlov not caught fire at just the right moment. Jai Kemp picked up aces, but Kozlov flopped a set. He deserved an Oscar but won Kemp's stack instead, busting him in fourth place and further increasing his chip lead.
Australian legend Mel Judah started the final table as the short stack (and the only surviving bounty) but managed to hang on to his chips through several all-ins. Finally he succumbed to Kozlov in third place, adding AUD$40,000 to his $3.25 million in lifetime tournament earnings. Kozlov had a big lead heads up until he ran 
into Deres' 
. Deres spiked a four-flush to take a slight lead and bring an abrupt halt to Kozlov's party. Deres relentlessly chipped away at Kozlov's stack until he finally secured the title, the ring, and AUD$80,500.
This is Deres' biggest tournament score to date.