Tournament coverage Poker

Ivey stars at Aussie Millions

Written by Pai Yao

This article first appeared in the Mar/Apr 2012 issue of World Gaming magazine.

Since the Australian Poker Championships were re-launched as the Aussie Millions in 2003, the tournament has been an overwhelming success. The tenth anniversary event, which took place in January 2012, was no different. Held at Crown casino in Melbourne, Australia, the Aussie Millions is Asia’s largest poker tournament. Oliver Speidel walked away as the main event champion with a cool AU$1.6 million (US$1.7 million). Just as big a story was Phil Ivey’s Aussie Millions campaign. Ivey showed us once again why many consider the great American up there with the likes of Stu Ungar, vying for the title of “greatest ever to grace the felt”.

Ivey continues to show just how good he really is. He not only finished an unlucky 12th in the main event, he also took out the super high roller event. The special event with an AU$250,000 buy-in carried a first prize of AU$2 million. Phil Ivey turned his back on the PCA (PokerStars Caribbean Adventure) this year and spent the time enjoying all that Melbourne has to offer. The annual January clash between the Aussie Millions and the PCA is a bad thing for poker, but that’s a discussion for another time.

The super high roller event featured the likes of Eric Seidel, Daniel Negreanu, Tony Bloom, Patrik Antonius, Gus Hansen and Macau’s very own Winfred Yu. This was one of the greatest fields ever assembled for a poker tournament and it is a credit to those behind the scenes at the Aussie Millions. The best players in the world just can’t get enough of this event.

“It’s great here, there is an international food court just upstairs and I can get anything I want. You won’t get that in Mississippi!” said vegan poker star Daniel Negreanu. He went on to say, “it’s just a great place, there is so much to do. You just have to get out to watch a live tennis match at the Australian Open.”

The large field of 659 hopeful poker players from all over the globe sat down to battle it out for the title of Aussie Millions main event champion. Australians had a bad record in this tournament during the “noughties”, but recent years have made up for it. The main event victory of 26-year-old banker and Melbourne local Oliver Speidel chalked up the fourth win in a row for the host country.

“I’m pretty emotional right now. You don’t get many chances in a live multi-table million dollar tournament, and to walk away with a million dollar score – it’s just crazy”, said Speidel.

The runner up was Kenneth Wong from Hong Kong who also became an instant millionaire, pocketing AU$1 million. With just a bit more luck we might have had our first Chinese winner of this tournament.

2003 runner up and local stalwart Leo Boxell has been playing poker in Australia for over 20 years, and loves this tournament. “I have been playing here from the inception, long before this tournament became the Aussie Millions. The game has changed, there are a lot of younger players and it is far more aggressive. It’s a real challenge,” said Boxell.

Top row from left: Yann Dion (Canada), Mile Krstanoski (Australia), Crown Director of Poker Jim Preston, Crown Tournament Director Christian Vaughan, Mohamad Kowssarie (Sweden). <stro /><p id=Bottom row from left: Patrick Healy (Australia), Bjorn Li (Hong Kong), Kenneth Wong (Hong Kong), Oliver Speidel (Australia).” src=”http://www.wgm8.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/aussie_millions_3.jpg” height=”372″ width=”574″ />Top row from left: Yann Dion (Canada), Mile Krstanoski (Australia), Crown Director of Poker Jim Preston, Crown Tournament Director Christian Vaughan, Mohamad Kowssarie (Sweden). Bottom row from left: Patrick Healy (Australia), Bjorn Li (Hong Kong), Kenneth Wong (Hong Kong), Oliver Speidel (Australia).

Dan Smith was another millionaire crowned at Crown when he overcame 22 other players in the high roller AU$100,000 buy-in event. He overcame the likes of Mikhail Smirnov and Tony G to take the title. There was a host of smaller events to keep all players happy, with buy-ins starting from AU$1,000. Those who wanted to win their way into the main event were offered a vast array of satellites, where for a small investment they could turn their dream into reality.

Players not only enjoyed the poker they also enjoyed one of the region’s great cities at the perfect time of year to visit. Players chose from Crown’s three fantastic casino hotels: Crown Towers, Crown Promenade and Crown Metropole. Warm weather is a constant feature of Melbourne in January so award winning al fresco wining and dining is always on the menu. There is also the Australian Open tennis, international cricket, horseracing and quality golf courses for those who love their sport. It’s only a short flight from Melbourne to enjoy many other amazing sites on the world’s oldest continent.

The Aussie Millions will continue to evolve. Australia is embracing herself as part of Asia, as we have seen with the Australian Open tennis tournament and the Ironman Asia-Pacific championship, both held in Melbourne. This cultural turnaround has been long overdue, and will see Australian-based international sporting events increasingly thought of as home events for Asian competitors. More poker players from the region will take the annual trip to Melbourne as the Aussie Millions firmly establishes itself as the “Asian poker major”, and next year there won’t be an inconvenient clash with Chinese New Year.

All the chips, AU$1.6 million cash, the champion's bracelet and the trophy. What more could you ask for? Oh, pocket Aces on the last hand of heads up play.

All the chips, AU$1.6 million cash, the champion’s bracelet and the trophy. What more could you ask for? Oh, pocket Aces on the last hand of heads up play.

Crown casino has always catered well to international guests and they will be making a huge effort to attract even more players “down under” for 2013, especially those from neighboring Asian markets such as Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and of course mainland China.

World Gaming is hoping to soon have some fantastic news on how our readers can win their way into Asia’s largest poker tournament, so stay tuned for more information in WGM and on our website wgm8.com.