The WPT, EPT and GUKPT tours may dominate their respective scenes, but like the Amsterdam Master Classics in November, January’s Aussie Millions has remained the highlight of many a player’s poker calendar.With Gus Hansen overcoming a star-studded final table that also rocketed Jimmy ‘Gobboboy’ Fricke (left) onto the live scene, an impressive 780 poker fanatics returned this year to create a mouth-watering prize pool of almost seven million bucks and a first place of $1,650,000 that would make even Phil Ivey sit up and think, “Crikey, I wouldn’t mind winning that.”
The venue was the highly acclaimed Crown Casino in Sidney and as per usual, there were an array of tournaments on offer to suit both varying bankrolls and a wide range of skill-sets.
One of the less familiar tournaments was a Mixed Stud game that involved Limit rounds of Stud, Stud Hi-Lo and Razz. Only 96 players took on this unusual combination, but it was Jimmy Fricke who would prove that he was no one hit wonder by taking down the lion’s share of the wonga.
This victory would have been of great satisfaction to Fricke, as only weeks ago, he was involved in a mini-scandal when Howard Lederer accidentally included Fricke in an email exchange regarding Fricke’s request for sponsorship. In this email, not only did Lederer advise his colleague against the idea, but he also insulted last year’s runner-up.
The Professor probably wouldn’t have been too fazed though, as he himself would reap Aussie Millions acclaim, his triumph in the $100k buy-in event netting him a cool $1.1 million and an inevitable feeling of smugness. Also participating in this event was former EPT winner Mark Teltscher, the Londoner who was recently accused of being infamous WCOOP victor TheV0id coming in second for circa $570k.
The Main Event was an equally eventful affair with American legend and multiple bracelet winner Erik Seidel making the final table. However, he faced a steep mountain to climb as chip leader Michael Chrisanthopoulos boasted a stack of just under seven million, more than three times as much as his closest rival.However, Michael was unable to hold onto his monster lead, and when he fell in third, only former car salesman Alexander Kostritsyn stood in the way of Seidel and a first Aussie Millions’ title.
The last hand, however, would fall in the favour of the Russian, Erik Seidel’s A-Q versus J-9 on a J-8-7 Flop failing to improve and forcing him to settle for second place and the one million prize.
Also cashing in this event were Tiffany Williamson, Ramzi Jelassi and Max Pescatori, the latter taking home in excess of $100k for his 10th place finish.
1st Alexander Kostritsyn -- $1,650,000
2nd Erik Seidel -- $1,000,000
3rd Michael Chrisanthopoulos -- $700,000
4th Peter Ling -- $500,000
5th Nino Marotta -- $400,000
6th Antonio Casale -- $300,000
7th Peter Mobbs -- $225,000