Congratulations David Gorr, Winner of the 2011 Aussie Millions Main Event (AUD$2,000,000)!
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After a long two-week grind in the Crown Casino poker room, the 2011 Aussie Millions marquee event has come to a close with a Main Event Champion being crowned!
Although three events have still yet to be completed, the final hand of the Main Event effectively wraps up another successful Aussie Millions that has definitely lived up to its motto of, We've seen your poker tournament, and we've raised ours.
721 players took to the felt in this year's main event over the three day one flights and just over a third of them would survive to a day two berth with poker superstars such as Team Full Tilt Poker members Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius, Erick Lindgren and Chris Ferguson being just the cream of the crop that turned out to make at the money.
Ivey and Ferguson all found themselves on the rail along with countless of others as we fell just a few places short of the money at the close of play. Returning on day three we were quickly into the money as players jostled for position as the likes of locals Haibo Chu (56th), John Dalessandri (55th), Nik Lackovic (54th), Karib Karib (50th), Michael Guttman (45th), Emanuel Seal (25th) and Matthew Kirk (20th), and internationals Carter Phillips (equal 72nd), Mike Sowers (40th), Lederer (34th), Lindgren (33rd), Gabe Patgorski (32nd) and Elliot Smith (23rd) all were unable to survive to the penultimate day.
As eighteen remained, action would be fast and exciting as Mark Vos (18th), Tobias Reinkemeier (17th), Randy Lew (10th) and Sorel Mizzi (9th) all fell short of a preliminary final table of eight. Although being set early in the night, play was paused after chips were circled round so that the remaining could have a well-earned rest before returning today - one of the most important days in their poker career.
Refreshed and revitalized, the final eight battled to-and-fro with overnight chip leader Randy Dorfman eventually relinquishing his lead before the dangerous Patrik Antonius was sent to the rail in eighth after having his pocket kings outflopped. Small pots brewed and a second dealer was added to speed up play as David Gorr's chip stack surged over the five-million mark as Englishmen Chris Moorman and Sam Razavi found themselves on the rail.
Although arriving at the final table as the man to catch, Dorfman's day was one that never saw him gain any real momentum as he was soon bumped to the rail in fifth place when an ace spiked on the river to crack his pocket tens in a blind-on-blind battle with Gorr. Michael Ryan would see a similar fate with his pocket pair as players went to dinner with chips at one of the most evenest points of the final table.
Eleven hands later we would be at heads up play once Jeff Rossiter called Gorr's river shove only to be shown the nut flush before he mucked. Two men were left - a young up-and-comer from England, and the other a poker stalwart in this region - as James Keys was held in a near six-to-one disadvantage against Gorr. Play would circle round-and-round with the two exchanging chips at a rapid pace as the duel dealers worked extremely hard keeping up with the blistering pace. 100 hands went by with Keys edging slightly closer before a few massive hands saw him capture the lead with his two-pair versus top-pair and gutshot as Gorr was now struggling at a twelve-to-one disadvantage.
The ever resilient Gorr however would fight his way back into the match and eventually snatch the lead back after fifty-three more hand before just four more hands would be all that was needed for Gorr to be crowned the 2011 Aussie Millions Champion and recipient of the coveted crystal trophy, gold bracelet and AUD$2,000,000 first prize.
For someone that holds results dating back to 1998, this is Gorr's first major title, and there is no better way to mark it with a win in his hometown casino and arguably the greatest tournament in the southern hemisphere. Throughout the tournament Gorr displayed great traits of patience, experience and ability beyond his years to zig and zag his way through one of the toughest fields ever assembled down under.
PokerNews would like to congratulate David Gorr on a fantastically played tournament that is without doubt the icing on the cake of a career that has seen him grind out results all around the Australasia region.
For the PokerNews Live Reporting Team, we still have three events (two currently playing, and one starting tomorrow) of the 2011 Aussie Millions that we will be providing exclusive live coverage of. Until then, make sure to stay glued to PokerNews.com for all your poker updates from around the world! And until the next tournament, we hope your aces meet kings, flushes best straights and triple-barrel bluffs go uncalled!