Aussie Millions: The $100,000 Challenge and "SirWatts" Wins Event 7
Things are still rolling along at the 2010 Aussie Millions in Melbourne. The Crown Poker Room is continually packed with poker players and it seems like more show up every day.
Just 24 players ponied up the $100,000 buy-in to play in the 2010 Aussie Millions $100,000 Challenge. Tony G, Gus Hansen, Erick Lindgren, Howard Lederer, Barry Greenstein, David Steicke, Phil Ivey, and Tom "durrrr" Dwan were among the players, along with local Internet young guns Jarred Graham and Jonathan Karamalikis.
There was a unique structure associated with this event. The blinds, which are 60 minutes long, would begin at 500/500 and there would be no antes throughout the event. Also, players would only have 30 seconds to act for every decision, and they would be playing pot-limit hold'em preflop and no-limit hold'em after the flop.
There was talk about playing down to a winner Saturday night, but tournament directors decided to cut the night short after the ninth level of play, which ironically ended just after the remaining players combined at the final table. The top five players of this event will cash, with first place raking in $1.2 million AUD.
This is how the final table stacks up:
Seat 1: Bill Jordanou - 195,000
Seat 2: Phil Ivey - 328,000
Seat 3: Tony Bloom - 227,000
Seat 4: Jonathan Karamalikis - 508,000
Seat 5: Howard Lederer - 141,000
Seat 6: Dan Shak - 453,000
Seat 7: Tony G - 200,000
Seat 8: Barry Greenstein - 388,000
Jonathan Karamalikis, winner of 2010 Aussie Millions Event #5, will be leading the field when the eight return on Monday to play down to a winner.
Aussie Millions Event #7
Event #7, the $1,150 No Limit Hold'em w/ Rebuys event, saw 108 players hit the felt. A total of 356 rebuys/add-ons were made, creating a prize pool of $464,000 AUD. The top ten players of the event got paid, with first place taking home $129,920.
First-place honors went to Mike "SirWatts" Watson. The final table of the event was not an easy one, with the likes of James Obst, Stewart Scott, Gary Benson, and German PokerStars Pro Florian Langmann seated there.
Ex-cricketer Shane Warne was the last to arrive but the first to go when his queens ran into Gary Benson's kings. Nicolas Faure was eliminated in ninth place and Stanley Hou in eighth place when Stewart Scott rivered a queen-high flush to send Hou packing.
Seventh place went to Antonio Fazzolari, also at the hands of Scot,t and Manny Stavropoulos was eliminated in sixth place. This was the point in the tournament when Watson turned it up a notch, accumulating chip after chip on his way to the win.
Stewart Scott went bust in fifth place just after the dinner break and James Obst's battles with Watson ended when his deuces ran into SirWatts' kings. Watson took care of Florian Langmann next and it wasn't long after that that Gary Benson fell as well.
Watson had close to $2.5 million in career tournament winnings prior to this win. He's no stranger to the live tournament circuit, as he already owns a World Poker Tour title and now he can add an Aussie Millions championship ring to his collection as well.
Event #7 Results
1. Mike 'SirWatts' Watson - $129,920 AUD
2. Gary Benson - $92,800 AUD
3. Florian Langmann - $64,960 AUD
4. James 'Andy McLEOD' Obst - $46,400 AUD
5. Stewart Scott - $37,120 AUD
6. Manny Stavropoulos - $27,840 AUD
7. Antonio Fazzolari - $23,200 AUD
8. Stanley Hou - $18,560 AUD
9. Nicolas Faure - $13,920 AUD
10. Shane Warne - $9,280 AUD
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