The 2017 Aussie Millions has ended with a complete unknown winning the Main Event, and the Global Poker Index World #1 winning the AUD$100,000 Challenge.
Who is going to have a great 2017?
It’s ok; you don’t have to wet your finger and stick it in the air. The barometer for future success is a good showing at either the Aussie Millions or the PokerStars Championships Bahamas. The PokerStars event belonged to Bryn Kenney. Let’s take a look who owned the Aussie Millions.
We will begin with the ANTON Jewellery AU$100,000 Challenge and a victory for a man who mostly flew under the radar in 2016 despite having a sterling year.
With Fedor Holz running hotter than a Space X engine, and David Peters, somehow managing to eclipse the German’s accomplishments by year end, not many people were talking about Nick Petrangelo.
But they will be.
I am sure of it.
Petrangelo is the Global Poker Index World #1, and he racked up $3.4m in live tournament earnings in 2015, followed by $2.1m in 2016. And if past theories are anything to go by then we can expect him to go on to greater things this year.
The Boston native came into the Melbourne event having already secured a $740,032 payday with a runner-up finish to Lucas Greenwood in the PokerStars Championships Bahamas $25k No-Limit Hold’em High Roller. And he settled into Melbourne life quite nicely with a sixth place finish in the AU$25,000 Challenge.
The World Number One was third in chips at the end of Day 1 of the AU$100,000 Challenge, but by the end of proceedings, he had eaten them all. Partypoker Ambassador, Sam Trickett, bubbled in fourth, Fedor Holz finished third, and Petrangelo picked up the AU$882,000 check after coming from behind to beat the Canadian Mike Watson in heads-up action.
The event drew 18 entrants, and the final day took less than five hours from start to finish.
$100k Challenge Payouts
1. Nick Petrangelo – AU$882,000
2. Mike Watson – AU$529,200
3. Fedor Holz – AU$352,800
Shurane Vijayaram Wins The Aussie Millions Main Event
Shurane Vijayaram has joined the likes of Gus Hansen, Tony Bloom, and Ari Engel as an Aussie Millions Main Event winner after outlasting a field of 725 entrants to take the first prize of AU$1,600,000.
In a story straight out of a Hans Christian Andersen play, it was the first time Vijayaram had ever cashed in a live tournament and qualified for the event after winning a seat in a $130 rebuy event in the Crown Casino.
What makes the story even more remarkable is the stellar final table Vijayaram managed to fight his way through to claim his place in the history books.
Fedor Holz followed up his third place finish in the AUD$100,000 Challenge with a fifth place finish. Australian Jeff Rossiter finished fourth. But it was Ben Heath, a young man who had studied long and hard with Charlie Carrel, who gave Vijayaram his final test when the pair clashed in heads-up action.
Vijayaram began the fight with a commanding 16m v 5.5m chip lead, and although Heath tried his utmost to overturn the deficit, Vijayaram finished the festival off in style:
Vijayaram opened to 350,000 and Heath called. The flop was [9c] [7s] [6h]; Heath checked, Vijayaram c-bet to 400,000, and Heath called. The turn was the [3h]; Heath checked again, Vijayaram bet 500,000, Heath check-raised to 1,390,000, and Vijayaram called. The river was the [Qs]; Heath moved all-in for 3,200,000, and Vijayaram made the hero call with pocket fives. Heath showed [Ks] [8c] for the missed draw.
Final Table Results (AUD)
1. Shurane Vijayaram – $1,600,000
2. Ben Heath – $1,000,000
3. Tobias Hausen – $620,000
4. Jeff Rossiter – $440,000
5. Fedor Holz – $$335,000
6. David Olson – $270,000
7. Luke Roberts – $210,000
8. Peter Aristidou – $155,000
9. Nichols Wright – $155,000
Mustapha Kanit (11th), Artur Koren (18th), and Jennifer Tilly (29th) also enjoyed deep runs. Nick Petrangelo finished 72nd.
