Strong Start for Sitbon at Second Aussie Millions
After enjoying success during his first Aussie Millions in 2019, Julien Sitbon hasn't taken it easy in the run-up to his second Championship.
Since registering a third-place finish in a A$2,500 No Limit Hold'em event last year, and apart from a summer spent in Vegas, all of Sitbon's cashes have come in Australia. Not only in Melbourne but in Sydney and the Gold Coast too.
All of this has meant that the Frenchman comes in with a wealth of experience playing against these tournaments.
"I've been in Australia for a while, and it's turned out great so far!" Sitbon told PokerNews "So I'm used to these kinds of fields. I was really excited to play the Aussie Millions before going back to Europe."
Sitbon played in the first Opening Event flight, bagging a healthy stack of 200,000. This left him with three days off that he put to good use, playing the H.O.R.S.E. event, eventually finishing second to Dzmitry Urbanovich.
"It's great when there's a H.O.R.S.E. tournament at a festival because it's a fun game to play. This was a really tough field for me because I'm not used to playing these games. I played one in Vegas two years ago, but I knew these players were good from the moment I sat down."
Despite the quality of players, Sitbon made it to heads-up with a strong chip lead but came up against one of the best mixed game players in the world.
"He was the best player [at the table] for sure. That's no exaggeration. I started with an advantage, but I knew that in H.O.R.S.E. as long as you have three or four big bets it could still change easily. A couple of times it went back to level, and at one point he only had two big bets. Then he came back, but then he went down, and then came back again."
Eventually, the pair agreed to a deal and after playing on Urbanovich secured victory, taking home his first ANTON Jewellery Championship ring, something that Sitbon himself wants to get his hands on after two deep runs in as many years.
"I love visiting Crown because the people are really welcoming and really nice. I'd love to win a ring here because I love coming to Australia. It would be a great souvenir to bring back to Europe.
"So I hope it will happen. If not now, then it will be next year...maybe."