Addamo beats Katz to win A$50,000 Aussie Millions Challenge

The latest Super High Roller took place at the Crown Casino in Melbourne as the Aussie Millions ANTON Championship ring went to Michael Addamo, who beat Poker Central’s Cary Katz heads-up.

With a massive AUS$1,073,790 top prize, Addamo’s result propels him up the charts for cashes this year, with a massive seven-figure win under his belt already. It also marked the first time that Addamo had won an Aussie Millions event, having previously reached four final table appearances without sealing the deal.

With 82 players taking part, it was Michael Soyza who would be the last player not to cash, with other luminaries such as previous 2020 Aussie Millions event winner Jorryt van Hoof, Dan Smith, Stephen Chidwick, George Wolff, Kahle Burns, Matthias Eibinger, Mikita Badziakouski and Elio Fox also failing to cash. Kristen Bicknell from Canada made the first profit of the event, finishing 10th for A$119,130 and once everyone was at the final table Erik Seidel busted Yong Wang in 9th place for A$159,080. Seidel had put himself back into contention, but no sooner had he done that was his tournament over. Cary Katz took out Seidel and was threatening to take over, grabbing the chip lead, but Sam Greenwood had other ideas.

Greenwood went on a double elimination burst when he busted both the German high roller Rainer Kempe and the similarly highly-respected player Timothy Adams in the same hand.  Adams had pocket jacks, while Kempe had king-queen, but Greenwood sent them both to the rail as he found a set on the turn, then held to reduce the field still further. When Addamo busted Ben Lamb, just four players remained as some serious dust had to settle.

Addamo and Katz were the big stacks, and while Turkish player Orpen Kisacikoglu would last a little longer, Sam Greenwood needed to catch-up.

He could not have picked a worse hand to push all-in and make his move. Greenwood looked down at king-queen, put all of his chips on the line and was called by Michael Addamo… with pocket aces. Greenwood somehow found a flush draw on the flop, and added a straight draw on the turn, but couldn’t find any help on the river, Addamo instead hitting a set of aces to go into three-handed play with the chip lead.

That only grew when Addamo busted Kisacikoglu, and despite some brief rallying from Katz heads-up, Addamo sealed a memorable victory and the first title of his Aussie Millions history, as his twelfth cash was the one that gave him a million-dollar result and the ANTON Championship ring that he will always remember the event by.

For Cary Katz, his latest excellent result strengthens his position as the 15th most successful tournament poker player of all time, now seeing his earnings rise to over $26.6 million – a phenomenal achievement in its own right. It was, however, Addamo’s day and one that the popular Australian player will look back on with great fondness.

Aussie Millions A$50,000 Challenge final table results: