Aussie Millions Highlights
Day 2 Completed
2019 Aussie Millions
Aussie Millions Highlights
Day: 2
Artur Coren Bags Big in Second Opening Event Starting Flight
After Fedon Phaedonos bagged 169,500 yesterday in the first flight of the Opening Event, he was going to be the man to beat when the second starting flight got underway today at 6:10 pm.
And with two players bagging over 200,000 it was Artur Koren who emerged as the overall chip leader after 12 levels of play, bagging 262,500 chips after a field of 191 was whittled down to just 24.
Coren has a strong pedigree here in Melbourne, finishing 14th in the Main Event in 2016, 18th in the Main Event in 2017 and then last year finished 15th for combined cashes of AUD$245,000.
Since his last visit to Australia, he has recorded a deep run in the WSOP Main Event where he finished 48th for USD$156,265.
Other big stacks include Vishal Maini (200,000) who was seated next to Koren at the table, as well as Wayne Clinch (193,000) and Gautam Dhingra (179,300) who clashed late on resulting in Clinch soaring up the chip counts.
"I opened the button and [Dhingra] three-bet," Clinch told PokerNews as he was bagging up. "I flatted on the button with 
. The flop came 
with two clubs. He checked and I bet. He then check-raised and I re-raised all in with my straight and flush draw and he called.
"He had 
and I hit the flush on the river!"
Among the other players to bag were last year's Australian Poker Young Achievement Award Winner Kahle Burns, who will have to work hard to run up his stack of 17,300 come Day 2, and Jonathan Karamalikis who is better positioned with a stack of 46,600.
The Crown was beginning to buzz with players from all corners of the world, but the likes of WSOP champion Joe Hachem, Marc Macdonnell, Josh Abady, Sorel Mizzi, Sam Cohen, Scott Davies, Andreas Klatt and Paul-Francois Tedeschi will all have to return if they're going to make Day 2 of the AUD$1,150 Opening Event.
Here's a full list of all the players advancing to Day 2:
| Name | Chip Count |
|---|---|
| Artur Koren | 262,500 |
| Vishal Maini | 200,000 |
| Wayne Clinch | 193,000 |
| Gautam Dhingra | 179,300 |
| William Overmire | 132,700 |
| Muhammad Asad | 116,100 |
| Qi Hu | 86,700 |
| Neri Stone | 86,100 |
| Eiji Matsumura | 61,500 |
| Sean McConnille | 60,800 |
| Hamish Crawshaw | 59,700 |
| Ren Vahili | 50,100 |
| Netanel Amedi | 49,400 |
| Wan Y Gan | 46,600 |
| Jonathan Karamalikis | 46,600 |
| Julius Colman | 42,000 |
| Steven Chew | 36,300 |
| Daniel Simons | 36,000 |
| Sheng Ye | 32,400 |
| David Y Wang | 31,900 |
| Qiang Fu | 31,800 |
| Travis Endersby | 31,300 |
| Kan Lin | 22,500 |
| Kahle Burns | 17,300 |
Stay tuned to PokerNews for more highlight coverage from the first week of Aussie Millions action, with the H.O.R.S.E. final table kicking things off tomorrow at 1 pm, and the third flight of the Opening Event getting underway tomorrow at 6:10 pm.
Big Names Make the Final Table of Event #2: AUD$2,500 H.O.R.S.E.
There were big names everywhere you looked as the second event of the 2019 Aussie Millions kicked off today as the mixed game players took centre stage for the start of Event #2: AUD$2,500 H.O.R.S.E.
The field of 54 was an increase on the 2018 tournament which was won by Salvatore Ribbera who took home AUD$39,700.
And after 14 levels of play, the tournament is down to its last eight players with plenty of big names still in contention. They include former WSOP Main Event final tablist Billy 'The Croc' Argyros and Australian Poker Hall of Famer and former Aussie Millions champion Lee Nelson headlines the final table. After final tabling the Main Event in 2001 and 2002, he took down the Main Event for AUD$1,295,800 in 2006.
According to Hendon Mob, Nelson hasn't been active on the poker scene recently, so it was a surprise to many to see him back in action at the venue of his greatest poker victory.
"Do you want the real answer?" he said when we asked him about his return. "The real answer is that my wife's fortune teller told her that I had to come. That's true!
"She said that I will win at least one tournament here. And it's not 100% it's 1,000% according to her. I've got average chips and final table so obviously, that's a good start."
Many players speak of the efforts the staff here at the Crown go to in making it a pleasant experience, and Nelson stressed that everyone at the venue is, in his eyes, fantastic.
"I feel really comfortable here. I don't know how many final tables I've made here it's probably one of the highest number of final tables. But everyone here is fantastic. They treat you so well, it's such a difference to other properties. They're really in a class of their own."
Leading the final eight players is WSOP bracelet winner Michael Moore. Moore won his bracelet in limit hold'em and he's now aiming for a tournament victory on his third trip to Melbourne.
"I love Melbourne, what can I say. It's my third year and I've cashed every time, but hopefully, I'll win one of these. I've got a third, fourth, ninth...91st. Tomorrow...we're gonna finish it off!
"I was down very low and I threw some hands away that I think anybody here would have just gone with. I hung in there, I started doubling up and hit a rush. Now I'm chip leader!"
Here's how the final seven stack up:
| Seat | Name | Country | Chip Count |
| 1 | Tim Marsters | Australia | 141,500 |
| 2 | Srdjan Brkic | Australia | 83,500 |
| 3 | Lee Nelson | New Zealand | 89,500 |
| 4 | Luke Edwards | Australia | 114,000 |
| 5 | Ashish Gupta | Australia | 39,500 |
| 6 | Billy "The Croc" Argyros | Australia | 131,000 |
| 7 | Michael Moore | United States | 152,500 |
| 8 | Daniel Mayoh | Australia | 58,500 |
Other notable players who failed to reach the final table included Australian poker legend Mel Judah, 2018 bracelet winner Daniel Ospina from Colombia, WSOP APAC bracelet winner Sam Higgs and last year's sixth-place finisher in the this event Mark Betts.
Former Main Event winner David Gorr bust midway through the day, with fellow former champion Richard Ashby narrowly missing out on a spot in the final day's play as he bust in tenth place.
Play was scheduled to conclude when the tournament reached a final table of eight, but the players agreed to play out the final 21 minutes of level 14 before bagging for the night.
That means that the players will return just one place off the money, with a min-cash worth AUD$7,250. Here is a look at the remaining payouts:
| Place | Payout (AUD) | Payout (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $40,095 | $28,817 |
| 2 | $25,515 | $18,338 |
| 3 | $17,010 | $12,225 |
| 4 | $13,365 | $9,606 |
| 5 | $9,720 | $6,986 |
| 6 | $8,505 | $6,113 |
| 7 | $7,290 | $5,239 |
Play resumes at 1pm tomorrow afternoon where they will play down to a winner, and in doing so crown the first champion of the 2019 Aussie Millions.
Opening Event Flight 1 Pictures
Six of the Best: Aussie Millions Main Events
The Australian Poker Championships, more commonly known as the ‘Aussie Millions’ has been held at the Crown Casino in Melbourne since July 1998. From humble beginnings, 2018 saw a record field enter the Main Event, proving the tournament still has the prestige and appeal to poker players from all over the world.
With the Main Event getting underway in less than a fortnight, we take a look at six of the best Aussie Millions Main Events!
From humble beginnings
The very first Aussie Millions Main Event was an AUD$1,000 Limit Hold’em tournament. It attracted a total of 74 entries and was won by Australian Alex Horowitz who defeated Ken Eastwood heads-up to win AUD$25,900.
Third-place finisher David Gorr would go on to win the Main Event in 2011.
Last year, Horowitz was back in action at the Crown and narrowly missed out on adding to his Main Event victory, finishing second in a AUD$1,150 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo side event for AUD$19,160.
Bigger is better
In 2002, the Aussie Millions was moved to its now traditional January slot in the poker calendar. In addition, the buy-in was also increased to AUD$5,000. The tournament had been averaging around 100 entries, but the increased buy-in knocked that down to 66 entries.
However, John Maver still walked away with AUD$150,000 in prize money, the first six-figure payout in an Aussie Millions Main Event.
‘Every Hand Revealed’
The 2007 Aussie Millions Main Event was made famous by winner Gus Hansen’s book ‘Every Hand Revealed’ in which he documented his win on a hand-by-hand basis.
Hansen kept track of over 300 hands of action during the tournament using a handheld recorder. He ended up outlasting 747 players on his way to winning the Main Event and AUD$1,500,000, defeating internet prodigy Jimmy “Gobboboy” Fricke heads-up.
"I don't know how much that money is. I use a different currency," Hansen joked after his win. "This is my first time to Australia and you can say this has been a pleasant week."
Big Names in Action
These days the festival has a reputation for attracting some of the world’s most well-known poker players, with the likes of Erik Seidel, WSOPE Main Event champion Annette Obrestad and Chris Moorman all recording final tables in the Main Event here in Melbourne.
In 2013, poker fans were treated to not one, but two big names at the final table with Patrik Antonius and Dan Shak squaring off. Sadly, neither player could emulate Hansen’s win and take it down, with the pair finishing in third and fourth place respectively.
The Modern Era
Between 2012 and 2015 the tournament’s entries were hovering in the mid-600s, but 2016 saw an increase to 732 players. This made it the biggest since 2010.
In 2017, the tournament again hit the 700s with Shurane Vijayaram winning the tournament for AUD$1,600,000. Modern legend Fedor Holz finished fifth in the Main Event showing that it still attracts the best and most well-known players.
Record Field
Last year, the tournament surpassed all expectations and hit 800 players for the first time, surpassing the record of 780 which was set in 2010.
Just two Australians made the final table in a tournament with European players occupying the top three positions.
Englishman Toby Lewis won the tournament for $1,458,198 after a three-way deal with Stefan Huber and Espen Solaas.
So what will 2019 bring? Another record field? More international players? A fifth non-Australian champion in seven years?
Stay tuned to PokerNews as we get nearer to live reporting on the 2019 AUD$10,600 Aussie Millions
Today at the Aussie Millions: H.OR.S.E. Event Gets Underway
Yesterday the PokerNews coverage of the 2019 Aussie Millions got underway with Flight 1 of the AUD$1,150 Opening Event.
A total of 18 players advanced from a starting field of 166, but there are four more flights for players to try and advance to Day 2 from.
Today is the second day of our coverage from the Crown Casino in Melbourne from the largest poker festival in the southern hemisphere.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be on hand to bring you exclusive action from the festival, including highlights of all the preliminary events including the AUD$1,150 Opening Event, the AUD$2,500 H.O.R.S.E. and the AUD$1,150 Shot Clock Shootout. There will also be interviews with some of the world's best poker players who have made the trip to Melbourne.
Here's what's going on today:
| Day | Event | Time | Buy-in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16th January | Event 2: H.O.R.S.E. | 12:10 PM | AUD$2,500 |
| Opening Event Day 1 Flight 2 | 6:10 PM | AUD$1,150 |
Last year it was Salvatore Ribbera who took home AUD$39,700 after topping a field of 49 players to win Event #2: AUD$2,500 H.O.R.S.E. and that same event gets underway just after midday local time.
Players in this two-day event will receive 15,000 chips and play 40-minute levels. Play will cease at the end of Level 18, or if a final table of eight is reached beforehand.
Play will then resume tomorrow at 1pm.
There is also the second of five starting flights for the Opening Event. Players will receive 10,000 chips and play 12 40-minute levels. Late registration is open for the first six levels. Subsequent flights are open to players eliminated from previous flights as well as new players.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for more coverage of the 2019 Aussie Millions!
Aussie Millions Highlights
Day 2 Started