The Aussie Millions is punching people in the stomach and hugging the life out of them in equal measure this week, and in today’s update, we bring you news of the winners of Events #1 & #3.
Melbourne’s Aussie Millions is the fillet steak right now. Every other tournament in the world is either peas, mushrooms or chips. Between now and the first week in February the Crown Casino is under the spotlight, and its opening song was as loud as you can get.
Event #1: AUD 1,150 No-Limit Hold’em Opening Event is a record breaker after 1,752-entrants made it the largest $1k event ever held in the Summer Hemisphere. The top prize went to Jason Pritchard. The ANTON Championship ring went to Muhammad Asad.
The Sydney resident came from behind to bank $158,344 after carving out a three-handed deal with Pritchard and the UK’s Matt Edwards. Although Asad would later tell PokerNews that he wasn’t a fan of the deal because he felt confident enough to win it, he entered negotiations as the man with the lowest chip count.
Jason Pritchard – 9,170,000 chips
Matt Edwards – 4,590,000
Muhammad Asad – 3,825,000
After the financial discussions had ended Pritchard {who eliminated half of the final table field} took $205,200, Edwards $140,400 and Asad $147,600 with AUD 14,908 left in the middle.
Asad was the only player to add to his haul thanks to two river saves. In the first hand, Asad eliminated Edwards 22>K8. Edwards flopped trip eights to take a massive lead, but Asad rivered a set to remove the man from Good Old Blighty. The final hand of the tournament saw Asad get it in chasing a flush against the top pair and open-ended straight draw of Edwards, and once again Fifth Street came to the winner’s rescue.
Final Table Results
1. Muhammad Asad – $158,334*
2. Jason Pritchard – $205,200*
3. Matt Edwards – $140,400*
4. Didrik Mantok – $67,622
5. Pierce McKellar – $44,995
6. Kim Macnaught – $32,065
7. Ning Bernstein – $26,765
8. Justin Bernstein – $22,885
9. Tou Ta Wei – $19,007
*Denotes a three-way deal.
Justin Liberto Wins Event #3: AUD 1,150 No-Limit Hold’em Shot Clock Shootout
Justin Liberto has added an ANTON Championship ring to his World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet after taking down Event #3: AUD 1,150 No-Limit Hold’em Shot Clock Shootout.
I can’t share the field size with you, because, well, I can’t find it – but I assume it was as healthy as a someone with white poo after the American only banked $26,078 for the win.
The reigning Aussie Millions Main Event winner, Toby Lewis, also made the final table finishing eighth. The man from the South of England arrived in Melbourne after trips to the Bahamas, and LA saw him profit in the $25,000 PokerStars Player’s No-Limit Championship (PSPC) finishing 135th for $35,000, and bubbling the final table of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Gardens Poker Championship for $85,270 – so at least Lewis covered his flight costs.
Back to our Shootout champion, and the Aussie Millions triumph was his tenth tournament win. Liberto won his WSOP bracelet in 2015 after taking down the $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Handed event beating 1,043 entrants for $640,711. Liberto also made the final table of the Millionaire Maker in 2013 (4th) and 2018 (5th).
Final Table Results
1. Justin Liberto – $26,078
2. Adam Kane – $21,989
3. Jordan Westmorland – $14,018
4. Kuo Chen Hung – $11,358
5. Christian Noite – $9,036
6. Cooper Smou – $7,438
7. Sarah Bilney – $6,109
8. Travis Endersby – $4,781
9. Toby Lewis – $3,452
