Congratulations to Brendon Rubie, Winner of $1,100 Opening Event ($200,000 AUD)
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It all started last Thursday and after three Day 1 flight’s, a gruelling Day 2 and an exciting final table, Brendon Rubie has been crowned the champion of the 2012 Aussie Millions Opening Event.
This time yesterday, Rubie and dozens of players were set to be playing down to the winner. As the tournament went late into the evening, it was decided that the final table would be coming back today. Within the first hour, the two short stacks at the table had been eliminated, with Sean Robey going home in 10th place before Tamara Volkoff joined him on the rail in 9th place.
Naz Sibaei was the next player to be eliminated, with his demise occurring a couple of hands after he lost a massive pot to the eventual champion. After Sibaei was sent home in 8th place, Sherif Derias was eliminated in 7th place. Next to go was local Manny Stavropoulos in 6th place, with his elimination coming just a few hands before Tam Troung joined the rail in 5th place.
John Thomson was the short stack for much of the afternoon and put in a great effort to make it to 4th place. From there, Rubie began his rise to the top when he picked up a huge pot against Rob Angood who ran his 
into the 
of Rubie. Angood never recovered from there and Rubie would end up dealing the fatal blow that sent Angood home in 3rd place.
The heads-up battle started with Rubie holding a 2-1 chip lead over Wilson and Rubie would hold on to that lead for much of heads-up. The game changing hand of their battle began when Rubie opened the pot for 125,000 and Wilson promptly three-bet to 250,000. When Rubie made the call, a 
flop was dealt. Wilson led for 350,000, Rubie called, and the 
hit the turn. Wilson opted to check this time and then called Rubie’s bet of 325,000. The on the river saw Wilson again check and this time Rubie simply slid out a huge stack of chips. When Wilson made the call, Rubie confidently turned over his 
and Wilson proceeded to look disappointed. Rubie knew he had taken down the hand and even went to the rail to celebrate the victory. Unfortunately for Rubie, Wilson was actually left with a few big blinds and Rubie apologized as he sat back down to continue the tournament.
With only a few hundred thousand in chips, Wilson didn’t have too many options and proceeded to move all in. A couple of double-ups for Wilson and he had a pulse again as Rubie tried to recompose himself.
The inevitable last hand of the evening occurred when Wilson got his stack all in on a 
flop. Rubie’s 
was enough to be well ahead of the 
of Wilson and when the turn and river bricked out, it was all over for Wilson as he was sent home in 2nd place for a hefty $125,000 score.
Not only did Rubie receive $200,000 for his victory, but can now add an Aussie Millions gold ring to his resume and will go down in history as the champion of the 2012 Aussie Millions Opening Event. Check out Rubie's winner interview with our very own Lynn Gilmartin.
That’s all from the PokerNews Live Reporting Team! Make sure to return in a few days as we provide continued coverage of the 2012 Aussie Millions, with our team on the floor to catch all the action of Event 5: $1,100 No Limit Hold’em 6-Handed.