The Crown Casino’s Australian Poker Championships, better known as the Aussie Millions, has become a firm fixture on the calendar of the discerning poker professional and enthusiastic amateur alike. This year was no exception. Already into its 12th year, the Aussie Millions is the fifth-largest poker tournament in the world, and 746 players from across the globe made the trek Down Under to stump up the A$10,500 buy-in, creating a juicy A$7.46 million prize pool.
Of these, 233 players took their seats for Day 1A and the dealers shuffled up and dealt. The day belonged to Betfair pro Sorel Mizzi, a rivered full house putting him at the top of the chip counts with a stack of over 112,000 as the action drew to a close. Gus Hansen finished the day on a respectable 53,900, while seasoned pros Barry Greenstein and Dan Harrington were also amongst those who made the cut.
Days 1B and 1C saw the remaining 513 players battle it out at the baize, and the field was eventually whittled down to a more manageable 294 over two days of play. Stewart Scott was one of the 143 players to fall by the wayside on Day 1B, his Pocket Sevens – along with his hopes of a second Aussie Millions title – crushed at the hands of Florian Grund’s Pocket Jacks. Other notable eliminations included Erik Seidel, Chris Ferguson, and Clonie Gowen as well as Aussies Grant Levy, Tony Dunst, David Saab and cricketer Shane Warne.
Whilst over half the field had been eliminated by the time Day 2 dawned, the remaining 296 players were still 266 places off the money and another three-day grind away from the possibility of a final table. The starting action was brutal and several recognisable faces were amongst the early casualties, including Erick Lindgren, Lee Nelson and Tony G. Of the 296 players who started Day 2, just 83 were left standing as play drew to a close.
Sorel Mizzi’s excellent call on the last hand of Day 3 saw him start Day 4 third in chips, just behind Betfair team mate Annette Obrestad who was sitting pretty on a stack of 1,711,000. Leading the pack was Australian Kosmas Dratsas with 1,792,000 in chips. Party Poker qualifier Tyron Krost sat second in chips with a stack of 1,869,000, closely followed by another Party qualifier, Denmark’s Frederik Jensen on 1,754,000.
After 5 days and 13 hours of solid play, 746 players had finally been whittled down to just two, Australia’s Tyron Krost and Denmark’s Frederik Jensen. As everyone rushed to get a close view on what would likely be the final hand of the 2010 Aussie Millions Main Event, the dealer burned and turned, placing the 7 ♥ on the board. Jensen now needed a six and a six only to stay alive. The river card was the 2♣ , setting off wild celebrations from amongst the partisan home crowd. For the second year in a row, the championship would remain in Australia.
For an in-depth coverage on Crown Casino’s Australian Poker Championship, SUBSCRIBE to the online edition of Baller today – from as low as $2.99 per month!
