Event #8: $100,000 Challenge
Day 2 Started
2011 Aussie Millions
Event #8: $100,000 Challenge
Day: 2
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2011 Aussie Millions
Buy-in
100,000 AUD
Prize Pool
3,800,000 AUD
Entries
38
Level
14
Blinds
15,000 / 30,000
Ante
0
Final Table On The Way
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Welcome back to the Crown Casino for the final table of the Event 8: $100,000 Challenge!
Yesterday saw thirty-eight top-line pros take to the felt on the poker-designed TV set here in Studio 3. WSOP bracelet holders Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, John Juanda, Erick Lindgren and Joe Hachem, alongside youngsters Jonathan Karamalikis, Jay Kinkade, Andrew Feldman, Justin Smith and Alexander Kostritsyn all took a seat. Throw in yesterday’s Full Tilt Poker $25,000 Shootout Invitational Champion and runner-up in David Oppenheim and James Bord, and the field was well and truly stacked.
Unfortunately - regardless of how great the aforementioned, and many others are - only a few can survive in a game of poker, and after ten hours of play, just eight remained once Winfred Yu hit the rail in ninth.
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | BBs | Chip % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Benyamine | France | 363,000 | 45 | 9.5% |
| 2 | Tony Bloom | England | 148,000 | 19 | 3.9% |
| 3 | Chris Ferguson | USA | 89,000 | 11 | 2.3% |
| 4 | Sam Trickett | England | 961,000 | 120 | 25.1% |
| 5 | James Obst | Australia | 571,000 | 71 | 14.9% |
| 6 | Jeffrey Lisandro | Australia | 454,000 | 57 | 11.9% |
| 7 | Erik Seidel | USA | 619,000 | 77 | 16.2% |
| 8 | David Steicke | Hong Kong | 622,000 | 78 | 16.3% |
For nearly every hand yesterday, Sam Trickett would hold the chip lead - at one point surging over the one million mark - to end the day as the chip leader on a table that includes a past winner, multi-WSOP bracelet winners and an online superstar.
With an AUD$1,525,000 first prize on offer, the action is going to be insanely intense as only six of the remaining players will be guaranteed a piece of the AUD$3,800,000 prizepool.
The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be providing all the live coverage from 2:00 pm EST as we crown the Event 8: $100,000 Challenge Champion!
Seat 1: David Benyamine (363,000)
Full Tilt Poker Red Pro
David Benyamine is no stranger to high stakes cash games and big buy-in tournaments. He's a regular in both and holds over $4.7 million in career tournament earnings.
Benyamine's largest tournament score came back in July 2008 at the Bellagio Cup IV. He took second place in the $15,000 No-Limit Hold'em World Poker Tour event for just over $840,000. That score may be his largest, but Benyamine's second largest cash came in the month prior and was worth a little bit more overall. Although he scored a lesser amount of $535,687, it came with a World Series of Poker gold bracelet. The event he won his gold bracelet in came in the $10,000 World Championship Omaha Hi/Lo Split event.
Benyamine's got the experience and the skills to compete with the best of them. He'll come into the final table sixth in chips with 363,000.
Seat 2: Tony Bloom (148,000)
Known as “The Lizard”, Tony Bloom has been on the tournament circuit since 1994 where he managed to register his first WSOP cash of twelve – one of which was a final table.
However it is Tony’s success here in Australia that has seen his career rocket to have earnings of over $2.3 million.
Dating back to 2004, Bloom managed a cash in the heads-up championship before taking down the main event for over AUD$420,000. His return here in 2005 would see him make three final tables – including a victory in $1,500 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo event – before registering a main event min-cash in 2006.
It is the last two years here in Melbourne that has seen Tony soar up in credibility thanks to this very event. In 2009, Bloom finished runner-up to his fellow final tablist David Steicke for AUD$600,000 before amazingly repeating his final table visit last year before falling in fourth.
Obviously one that loves the $100,000 Challenge, Tony is without doubt eager to capture today’s title so he is able to shake the monkey off his back while notching up his third Aussie Millions win.
Seat 3: Chris Ferguson (89,000)
Member of Team Full Tilt Poker
Chris Ferguson will enter the final table as the short stack with just 89,000 in chips, but he has the experience to be able to come back from the bottom of the barrel. With over $8.2 million in tournament earnings, Ferguson is 20th on the all-time money list. Above all of that, Ferguson won the 2000 World Series of Poker Main Event for $1.5 million.
Ferguson's Main Event win only accounts for 20% of his gold bracelet collection. He's won four other WSOP events: $2,500 Seven-Card Stud in 2000, $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo Split Eight-or-Better in 2001, $2,000 1/2 Limit Hold'em, 1/2 Seven-Card Stud in 2003 and $2,000 Omaha Hi-Lo Split in 2003.
The man with the long hair, weathered leather jacket and famous cowboy hat has a tall mountain to climb in front of him, but if anyone can build from nothing, it's Ferguson. He once turned a starting bankroll of $0 into $10,000.
Seat 4: Sam Trickett (961,000)
Arriving at the final table as the clear chip leader, Sam Trickett is without doubt the least well-known player in the final eight.
However, his 2010 was one of the best of any up-and-coming player as he collected six WSOP cashes including two final tables in a $5,000 No Limit Holdem and the $25,000 No Limit Holdem Six-Handed.
A fourth place in the PokerStars EPT Vilamoura Main Event saw Trickett close out the year with over $1 million in earnings.
Hailing from England, Trickett will be hoping to see his already impressive poker CV finally get that breakout tournament win that is without doubt around the corner.
Seat 5: James Obst (571,000)
Arriving at the final table fourth in chips, James “Andy McLEOD” Obst is no stranger to a final table.
Developing his skills on the virtual felt before he was officially allowed to play poker, James literally crushed souls raking up hundreds of thousands of dollars of winnings before taking a hiatus only to come out of ‘retirement’ to continue crushing everything he played.
Although his results are predominately live based, over the last twelve months he has been slowly notching up results away from the computer beginning with an Aussie Millions final table a year ago for an AUD$46,400 score. James then snagged a runner-up result in the $10,000 High Rollers at the Victorian Poker Championships for AUD$60,000 before falling just one place short in the PokerStars ANZPT Melbourne Main Event for AUD$124,000.
However James would finally get his maiden live tournament victory just several weeks ago when he emerged victorious in the PokerStars APPT Sydney $15,000 High Rollers for AUD$150,000.
A final table at the recent PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $100,000 Super High Rollers, combined with some extremely hot live and online form over the previous few months will see James be a force to be reckoned with come this afternoon as he looks to collect the biggest score – but probably not the last – of his poker career.
Seat 6: Jeffrey Lisandro (454,000)
Level 9
: 5,000/10,000, 0 ante
With over $4.6 million in career tournament earnings and five World Series of Poker gold bracelets, Jeffrey Lisandro is no slouch. On the all-time money list, Lisandro ranks 66th and is second overall on the Italy all-time money list.
Just last year, Lisandro netted his fifth WSOP gold bracelet when he won the stacked £5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event at the WSOP Europe for £159,000. Lisandro's largest cash came in 2006 at the WSOP Main Event. He placed 17th that year for over $659,000. His biggest win ever, cash wise, came in May 2005 at the WSOP Circuit event at Harrah's Lake Tahoe. He won $542,360 for that win.
Lisandro comes into the final table fifth in chips with 454,000 and will be looking to add this win to his amazing poker resume.
Seat 7: Erik Seidel (619,000)
Level 9
: 5,000/10,000, 0 ante
Member of Team Full Tilt Poker
Erik Seidel is the most decorated player at this final table. He holds the most careeer tournament earnings with $10,697,534 and a whopping eight World Series of Poker gold bracelets! On the all-time money list, Seidel sits in 11th place. He'll jump past Phil Hellmuth into fourth place on that list if he can come out victorious at this final table.
Already this year, Seidel's earned himself over $340,000. At the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, Seidel took third place in the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event for $46,560. He also placed fourth in the $25,000 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller for $295,960.
Seidel sits third in chips to start play with 619,000, not too far behind David Steicke in second place.
Seat 8: David Steicke (622,000)
Level 8
: 4,000/8,000, 0 ante
Although a relative stranger to the general world of poker, it is here in the Australasia region that David Steicke has become somewhat of an icon since he took to the felt just a handful of years ago.
With his iconic Clark Kent-esque glasses, bright and colorful clothing and bubbly personality, Steicke's arrival on the poker scene in late 2007 was one of notoriety.
Kicking off his career with a third-place finish in the PokerStars APPT Macau High Rollers Event, Steicke proceeded to final table an event here at the Aussie Millions before notching three WSOP cashes – including a final table – before finishing off 2008 with a repeat visit to the APPT Macau High Rollers final table.
However it would be a late decision to play an event during the 2009 Aussie Millions that would see him etch his name in poker history as he became the first Australian to win the $100,000 Challenge after besting Tony Bloom heads up for a AUD$1,200,000. He followed his maiden high rollers win with another in late August before making another Macau-based final table in the APT Main Event. Finishing the year off with another title, 2010 would see Steicke register two Aussie Millions final tables, two WSOP cashes and four final tables in Macau – including another victory.
For Steicke, a win here would mark the biggest of his career, but just returning to the final table is a feat in itself as he has done so twice in two years facing some of the best players the tournament circuit has to offer.