The former World Series of Poker Main Event seventh-place finisher, Alex Lynskey, has taken down the World Series of Poker Circuit Main Event at The Star Sydney, and the 2019 Aussie Millions looks likely to break their live satellite record.
When The World Series of Poker descended on Australia for the World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific (WSOP-APAC) bracelet events back in 2013 & 2014, it had all the verve and vigour of a run over cat.
Maybe they should have shunned Melbourne and set up shop in Sydney.
The World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) at The Star Sydney has been a tremendous success with Aussies coming out in their droves to pay homage to the greatest poker institution in the world.
The AUD 2,200 (USD 1,500) AUD 2,100,000 (USD 1,500,000) Main Event pulled in a crowd of 1,191-entrants, beating the guarantee by AUD 282,000, and an Australian at the top of his game took it down after seven scintillating days of poker.
Alex Lynskey was the headline act coming into the final table after finishing seventh in the WSOP Main Event for $1,500,000, and ninth in the $5,300 partypoker Caribbean Poker Party for $150,000 recently, so it was no surprise that he ended up on top.
It was a final table bereft of experience except for the 2009 Aussie Millions fifth-place finisher Sam Capra, and the new WSOPC Star Sydney AUD 20,000 (USD 14,300) High Roller winner, Luke Martinelli, who fell in fifth and fourth place respectively.
Lynskey took on Matt Pongrass in heads-up action and needed all of his big-time experience, and a little bit of luck, to overcome a 29.1m v 6.5m chip deficit.
The pivotal hand saw Lynskey call an all-in with ATo only to run into KK, but an ace on the flop handed Lynskey a lifeline. Lynskey used that momentum to take the chip lead, and he never lost it, ending the event when his pocket treys rivered the third trey when all-in versus Pongrass’s pocket sevens.
In addition to the $303,705 first prize, Lynskey wins a seat into the WSOP Global Casino Championship and a shot at a WSOP bracelet. The win sees Lynskey move to $3.7m in lifetime live tournaments earnings good enough for sixth place in the Australian All-Time Live Tournament Money List after leapfrogging Kahle Burns, Mel Burns and Michael Addamo.
It’s his third most significant score, in 2017 he finished runner-up to Joseph Di Rosa Rojas in the $2,620 No-Limit Hold’em The Marathon for $426,663, so this win has been coming.
Final Table Results
1. Alex Lynskey – $303,705
2. Matt Pongrass – $188,188
3. Rahul Rastogi – $138,113
4. Luke Martinelli – $104,359
5. Sam Capra – $79,638
6. John Sormi – $61,298
7. Barry Forrester – $47,736
8. Justin Layden – $37,570
9. Cameron Chen – $29,976
Aussie Millions Expecting Big Numbers
From Sydney to Melbourne, and the 2019 Aussie Millions kicks off January 15th with Crown Casino’s Tournament Director, Joel Williams, feeling confident that they could beat last year’s record 800-entrant field in the AUD 10,600 Main Event.
Speaking to PokerNews, Williams stated that in 2018, over half of the 800-strong field earned a seat playing in a satellite, and they are on course to beat that number.
“Satellites have been running, and players have already shown up in droves. Support for the 2019 series is also at an all-time high with local players already ensuring internal satellites currently sit almost 25% in front of this time last year. Given Crown Poker generated a whopping 422 Main Event seats in 2018 via local satellites, this is particularly pleasing and will almost certainly translate into another huge Main Event field in 2019.”
There are few other ‘firsts’ for the 2019 Aussie Millions.
The Big Blind Ante features in eight events, and there will be an AUD 25,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) High Roller on February 3rd.
Here are some of the schedule highlights:
Jan 15 – AUD 1,150, AUD 1,000,000 GTD Opening Event.
Jan 25 – AUD 25,000 Challenge
Jan 27 – AUD 10,600 Main Event
Jan 27 – AUD 50,000 Challenge
Feb 1 – AUD 100,000 Challenge
Here is the schedule in full.
