The 2012 Melbourne Poker Championship boasts 10 official tournaments ranging from the $200 No Limit Holdem Megastack to the $1,100 No Limit Holdem Main Event. Plus there are daily satellites on offer from $65.

This years Melbourne Poker Championships will feature two major championship events with the $550 Joe Hachem Deepstack 9 kicking things off as the opening event. Already well established this Joe Hachem Deepstack Events feature a repechage format like the Melbourne Championship Main Event and offer fantastic value for the poker player. The $1,100 Main Event itself features a great structure that produces worthy champions. Last years winner Brendon Rubie proved it was no fluke when he backed up his win with victory in the Aussie Millions Opening Event. These combined events are sure to bring the best players in the Country to fight it out for the huge prize pools up for grabs.

Returning to the schedule in 2012 are the ever popular events, the $200 MegaStack No Limit Holdem, a $340 7 Game Mixed Event H.O.R.S.E/NLHE/PLO and $550 Pot Limit Omaha (Double Chance Format), No Limit Holdem Bounties- ($500 per Bounty), No Limit Holdem- 6 Handed Events.

New to the schedule is a $400 Turbo terminator event, with $100 for every player eliminated the action is sure to be fast and loose. Also a first on any Australian Championship schedule is an “Ante Up!” event. In this format the one blind stays at the minimum while the antes are raised every level. With a $200 entry and the last event on the schedule this event is sure to attract plenty of interest. There is also a new twist on an old favourite with this years teams event open to teams of two OR three players. Team-mates will change after each orbit on their table with no team-mate allowed to play more than one consecutive orbit.

Thursday 03-May
10:10am Step 1 Satellite – Main Event (Turbo, 1 in 5 win) $65 (50+15)
12:10pm JHDS Supershot (Turbo, 1 in 5 Win) $130 (110+20)
2:10pm JHDS Supershot (Turbo, 1 in 5 Win) $130 (110+20)
4:10pm JHDS Supershot (Turbo, 1 in 5 Win) $130 (110+20)
6:10pm 1 Joe Hachem Deepstack 9- Flight 1 $550 (500+50)
10:00pm Step 1 Satellite – Main Event (Turbo, 1 in 5 win) $65 (50+15)
Friday 04-May
10:10am JHDS Supershot (Turbo, 1 in 5 Win) $65 (50+15)
12:10pm 1 Joe Hachem Deepstack 9- Flight 2 (Repechage) $550 (500+50)
2:10pm Step 1 Satellite – Main Event (Turbo, 1 in 5 win) $65 (50+15)
4:10pm Step 1 Satellite – Main Event (Turbo, 1 in 5 win) $65 (50+15)
7:10pm Step 2 Satellite – Main Event (1 in 5 Win) $250 (220+30)
10:00pm Step 1 Satellite – Main Event (Turbo, 1 in 5 win) $65 (50+15)
Saturday 05-May
10:10am JHDS Supershot (Turbo, 1 in 5 Win) $65 (50+15)
12:10pm 1 Joe Hachem Deepstack 9- Flight 3 (Repechage) $550 (500+50)
2:10pm Step 1 Satellite – Main Event (Turbo, 1 in 5 win) $65 (50+15)
4:10pm Step 1 Satellite – Main Event (Turbo, 1 in 5 win) $65 (50+15)
7:10pm Step 2 Satellite – Main Event (1 in 5 Win) $250 (220+30)
10:00pm Step 1 Satellite – Main Event (Turbo, 1 in 5 win) $65 (50+15)
Sunday 06-May
10:10am Step 1 Satellite – Main Event (Turbo, 1 in 5 win) $65 (50+15)
12:10pm 2 MegaStack No Limit Holdem $200 ($170+30)
12:30pm 1 Joe Hachem Deepstack 9- Day 2
4:10pm Step 1 Satellite – Main Event (Turbo, 1 in 5 win) $65 (50+15)
6:10pm 3 No Limit Holdem Teams -Non Stop Turbo $300 (260+40)
10:00pm Step 1 Satellite – Main Event (Turbo, 1 in 5 win) $65 (50+15)
Monday 07-May
10:10am Step 1 Satellite – Main Event (Turbo, 1 in 5 win) $65 (50+15)
12:10pm Step 1 Satellite – Main Event (Turbo, 1 in 5 win) $65 (50+15)
2:10pm 4 7 Game Mixed Event H.O.R.S.E/NLHE/PLO $340 (300+40)
4:10pm Step 1 Satellite – Main Event (Turbo, 1 in 5 win) $65 (50+15)
7:10pm Step 2 Satellite – Main Event (1 in 5 Win) $250 (220+30)
10:00pm Supershot – Any $550 Side Event (Turbo- 1 in 5 win) $130 (110+20)
Tuesday 08-May
10:10am Supershot – (Turbo- 1 in 5 win any $550 Event) $130 (110+20)
12:10pm Step 1 Satellite – Main Event (Turbo, 1 in 5 win) $65 (50+15)
2:10pm 5 Pot Limit Omaha (Double Chance Format) $550 (500+50)
4:10pm Step 1 Satellite – Main Event (Turbo, 1 in 5 win) $65 (50+15)
7:10pm Step 2 Satellite – Main Event (1 in 5 Win) $250 (220+30)
10:00pm Supershot – Any $550 Side Event (Turbo- 1 in 5 win) $130 (110+20)
Wednesday 09-May
10:10am Supershot – Any $550 Side Event (Turbo- 1 in 5 win) $130 (110+20)
12:10pm Step 1 Satellite – Main Event (Turbo, 1 in 5 win) $65 (50+15)
2:10pm 6 No Limit Holdem Bounties- $500 per Bounty $550 (500+50)
4:10pm Step 1 Satellite – Main Event (Turbo, 1 in 5 win) $65 (50+15)
7:10pm Step 2 Satellite – Main Event (1 in 5 Win) $250 (220+30)
10:00pm Supershot – Any $550 Side Event (Turbo- 1 in 5 win) $130 (110+20)
Thursday 10-May
10:10am Supershot – Any $550 Side Event (Turbo- 1 in 5 win) $130 (110+20)
12:10pm Step 1 Satellite – Main Event (Turbo, 1 in 5 win) $65 (50+15)
2:10pm 7 No Limit Holdem- 6 Handed $550 (500+50)
4:10pm Step 2 Satellite – Main Event (1 in 5 Win) $250 (220+30)
6:10pm 8 Melbourne Poker Championship Main Event (Flight 1) $1,100 (1000+100)
10:00pm Super Satellite – Main Event (Turbo, 1 in 10 win) $130 (110+20)
Friday 11-May
10:10am Step 1 Satellite – Main Event (Turbo, 1 in 5 win) $65 (50+15)
12:10pm 8 Melbourne Poker Championship Main Event (Flight 2-Repechage) $1,100 (1000+100)
2:10pm Step 1 Satellite – Main Event (Turbo, 1 in 5 win) $65 (50+15)
4:10pm Step 1 Satellite – Main Event (Turbo, 1 in 5 win) $65 (50+15)
7:10pm Step 2 Satellite – Main Event (1 in 5 Win) $250 (220+30)
10:00pm Super Satellite – Main Event (Turbo, 1 in 10 win) $130 (110+20)
Saturday 12-May
10:10am Super Satellite – Main Event (Turbo, 1 in 10 win) $130 (110+20)
12:10pm 8 Melbourne Poker Championship Main Event (Flight 3-Repechage) $1,100 (1000+100)
2:10pm Terminator Qualifier (Turbo,1 in 5 win) $100 (80+20)
4:10pm Terminator Qualifier (Turbo,1 in 5 win) $100 (80+20)
7:10pm APPT Step 2 Satellite -(1 in 5 win) $160 (140+20)
10:00pm Terminator Qualifier (Turbo,1 in 5 win) $100 (80+20)
Sunday 13-May
10:10am Terminator Qualifier (Turbo,1 in 5 win) $100 (80+20)
12:10pm 9 Turbo Terminator- $100 per KO $400 ($360+40)
12:30pm Melbourne Poker Championship Main Event Day 2
2:10pm APPT Step 2 Satellite -(1 in 5 win) $160 (140+20)
4:10pm APPT Step 3 Satellite 10K Start Bank -(1 in 8 win) $700 (625+75)
6:10pm 10 NLH- Turbo Ante Up! $200 ($170+30)
Monday 14-May
2:10pm Melbourne Poker Championship Main Event Day 3

What started as 208 players has slowly been whittled down to just 27 on the penultimate day of play at the PokerStars.net 2012 ANZPT Sydney Main Event.

The clock ticked just past midnight when it was all over on Day 2 and it was Nicholas Heather who was bagging up the most chips. A massive late half of the night saw Heather accumulate just under a million in chips as he as placed himself in the best position to make a run at the $226,812 first place prize come Sunday.

At the start of the day it was Tobin Ryall who held the chip lead. Ryall continued his great run early in the day and then hit a plateau. He’ll still be with us come the final day, but will return with only 197,000 in chips.

Not faring quite as well as Ryall was the likes of Joel Dodds, Leo Boxell, Tony Hachem, Daniel Laidlaw, Mel Judah, Lee Nelson, Graeme Putt and Justin Cohen as they all hit the rail throughout the day.

It was a similar fate for Team PokerStars Pro Angel Guillen as he never managed to gain any momentum on Day 2. Guillen open-shoved his last 27,000 holding JJ and unfortunately ran into AA. No help came for the player from Mexico and he was sent out the door.

Just a short while after Guillen hit the rail, play went hand-for-hand as the money bubble loomed. The player who would eventually burst the bubble was a familiar face in Luis Arrilucea. Readers may remember that Arrilucea was last year’s runner-up finisher at this very event. It wasn’t the same story this year though as Arrilucea couldn’t win a race holding AK against TT for his tournament life.

After the bubble burst, play was scheduled to last just a few more levels and as expected, the players started hitting the rail one-by-one. A few of the notable players who finished in the money include Dean McIver (53rd), Andrew Mellado (52nd), Todor Kondevski (46th), Suzy Khoueis (38th) and Jim Sachinidis (29th).

While the above players were hitting the rail, guys such as Jim Collopy, Liam O’Rourke, Gordon Huntly and Mishel Annunu started dominating their tables to finish the night with enough chips to scare come Day 3.

One of the big stories to emerge from the night was the success of Oliver Speidel. A huge day saw Speidel eliminate Day 1b chip leader Tam Truong and from then on, he could not be stopped. The 2012 Aussie Millions Main Event champion will start Day 3 with the second biggest chip stack and will be looking to continue his great form of the last few months.

Final Day Seating Draw

Table 1
1-Nicholas Heather-953,500
2-Damien Walsh-343,000
3-Bill Kennedy-91,000
4-John Parker-203,500
5-Kristina Griffiths-186,500
6-Laurence Hall-358,000
7-Liam O’Rourke-495,000
8-Stuart Bellard-275,000
9-Steve Lindeblad-110,000
Table 2
1-Sam Capra-440,000
2-Anthony Aston-188,000
3-Martin Rowe-294,000
4-Gordon Huntly-380,500
5-Peco Stojanovski-195,500
6-Jason O’Brien-166,500
7-Luke Brabin-149,500
8-Erich Stadler-163,500
9-Jim Collopy-638,500
Table 3
1-Luke Downes-283,500
2-Luke Edwards-180,000
3-Craig Blight-353,500
4-Tobin Ryall-197,000
5-Oliver Speidel-797,000
6-Mishel Anunu-434,500
7-Alec Smith-572,000
8-Bradley Lancken-240,000
9-Jason Pritchard-381,000

Sponsored by: PokerStars

The second biggest field in tour history has been slashed from 461 players to 207 after the opening two flights of the ANZPT Sydney Main Event at The Star.

The total number of Main Event entrants is more than both 2010 (446) and 2011 (373) and second only to the inaugural ANZPT Sydney in 2009 (493).

The day 1B field of 246 players – one of the biggest single-day fields ever seated at Star Poker – helped build the prizepool to $922,000 with the winner set to take home $226,812. A total of 54 players will earn a slice of the prizepool.

After yesterday eight 60-minute levels, Tam Truong finished with the biggest stack of 115,700 but that was only good for sixth overall on the chip count. Other prominent stacks at the end of day 1B belonged to veteran Bill Kennedy (108,775) and Sheldon Mayer (99,300).

Others returning for day two included Raemin Alexander, Vesko Zmukic, Leo Boxell, Gary Benson, Martin Rowe, reigning ANZ Player of the Year Daniel Chevalier, Graeme Putt, Mel Judah, Dennis Huntly and Lee Nelson along with international visitors Maria Ho and Angel Guillen.

As Ben Blaschke reported in the PMA live reporting blog, Boxell should have had more than his almost 70,000 had it not been for a remarkable lay-down by Ciaran Sharp who folded a set of 9s on an A-8-9 flop after correctly putting Boxell on a set of Aces. Incredibly, having faced elimination had he called Boxell’s shove, Sharp finished the day inside the top 10 with 72,325.

Those who were KOed during day 1B included 2011 Aussie Millions champion David Gorr, Mike Ivin, Josh Barrett, Tim English, Mark Iskander, Ali Khalil, Julius Colman and Haibo Chu.

ANZPT Sydney Main Event day 1B chip count

Toby Ryall 138,500
Nabil Edgtton 125,100
Gordon Huntly 121,400
Rhys Gould 119,600
Toan Nguyen 118,200
Tam Truong 115,700
Nicholas Heather 115,300
Justin Cohen 110,625
William Kennedy 108,775
George Marando 104,950
Sheldon Mayer 99,300
Zhixin Yao 99,150
Gerhard Niess 94,900
Daniel Ibrahim 91,700
Adam Bevis 86,775
Luke Edwards 85,150
Ludovic Citerne 85,150
Tommy Yi 83,700
Jason Pritchard 82,000
Dean Yuen 81,700
Daniel Bang Ortmann 81,400
Did not report 81,225
Jonathan Dangio 81,000
Mishel Anunu 80,600
Suzy Khoueis 78,300
Andrew Li 77,600
Nam Le 75,900
Ben Pockett 75,500
Carl Knox 74,300
Craig Blight 73,000
Ciaran Sharpe 72,325
Quoc Nguyen 71,750
Paul Raseta 71,350
Oliver Speidel 70,900
Daniel Kelly 70,600
Michael Kanaan 70,200
Mario Ljubicic 69,250
Damien Walsh 69,075
Didier Guerin 69,000
James Collopy 68,500
Brent Taunton 67,300
Sam Capra 66,300
Paul Whitehouse 65,800
Mark Griffiths 65,350
Jason O’Brien 64,625
Seyed Nasab 64,050
Joshua Foster 62,600
Mathew Rolfe 61,700
Charbel Boustani 60,150
Luke Brabin 58,875
Michael O’Grady 57,200
Jason Hamilton 57,100
Matviy Bilenky 56,925
Chad Awerbuch 55,450
Raemin Alexander 55,050
Manny Stavropoulos 55,000
Theodor Lothman 54,775
Ian Parnell 54,300
Alec Smith 54,200
Luis Arrilucea 54,075
Brett Daphne 53,500
Did not report 53,425
Stewart Ballard 53,000
Peter Aristidou 52,400
Did not report 51,875
Dale Marsland 51,200
Evan Martin 50,700
Rod Meneses 50,000
Todor Kondevski 49,250
Vesko Zmukic 49,000
Tony Hachem 48,100
David August 47,775
Nick Georgoulas 47,700
Stephane Fontes 47,550
Christian Glissmann 47,300
Erich Stadler 47,025
Alan Bustany 46,900
Leo Boxell 45,700
George Cotaidis 45,400
David Campbell 45,050
Martyn Poytress 44,350
Peco Stojanovski 44,275
David S Lloyd 44,100
Scott Ricotta 43,750
Martin Rowe 43,575
Chris Ayoub 43,500
Darren Potts 43,100
Richard Talaber 42,700
Jing Jie 42,400
Matthew Yates 42,350
Kristina Griffiths 42,150
Dean McIver 42,125
Bradley Lancken 42,050
Ronnie Shabtay 41,100
John Parker 40,150
Martin Drewe 39,550
Anthony Aston 39,350
Tony Sama 39,050
Eric Sclavos 38,800
Did not report 38,425
Stephen Lindeblad 38,300
Omer Silatozija 38,150
Daniel Laidlan 37,200
Nicholas Polias 36,900
John Thomson 36,750
Gary Benson 36,375
Robert Sova 35,675
Minh Hau Nguyen 35,650
Jim Sachinidis 35,200
Sean McMahon 34,900
Manuel Hansimikali 34,550
Louie Elias Srour 34,000
Daniel Chevalier 33,775
Andrew Mellado 33,725
Did not report 33,400
Liam O’Rourke 33,300
Trent Flitcroft 33,200
John Jolly 33,100
Ryan Hong 33,100
Con Angelakis 33,000
Graeme Putt 32,625
Did not report 32,450
Sarah Beard 32,100
Wei Zhu 32,000
Robert Turvey 31,900
Jeff Brian 31,300
Gabriel Cafios 31,250
Stefan Post 31,175
Rined Namrood 30,425
Sebastian Pagana 29,675
Christopher Moutzouris 29,650
Jarrod Holmes 29,475
Guang Yan Yu 29,000
Gary Retallick 28,900
Phillip Hiruwai 27,900
Nurlan Boobekov 27,800
Roy Vandersluis 27,775
Did not report 27,250
Michael Fadersen 27,100
Gaetano Scaravilli 27100
Qi Xu 26,550
Steven Lilley 26,400
Michael Schiffer 26,300
Hung Tu Wang 26,175
Gregory Zabawa 25,125
Kevin Clark 25,000
Laurence Hall 24,925
Edgar Montenegro 24,900
Eric Grigaux 24,775
Trudie Sultana 24,600
Jackson Zheng 24,000
Angelo Hamataj 23,500
Angel Guillen 23,475
Paul Elliot 23,425
Victor Fong 22,650
Michael Mayar 22,650
Billy Argyros 22,600
Simon Jeremy 22,375
Jim Condylis 22,100
Kamel Bekhaled 21,850
Nicholas Lamport 21,700
Alexander Antonios 21,675
Peter Skouteris 21,375
Joel Dodds 21,300
Martin Kozlov 21,000
Mel Judah 19,925
Anthony Wright 19,700
Dennis Huntly 19,650
Adam Agresta 19,600
Peter Apostoleou 19,400
Trevor Saunders 19,300
Jonathan Gamerov 19,200
Michael van Vegchel 19,200
Guy Delahaye 18,850
Shane Eastley 18,750
Adam Brown 17,650
David Hulum 17,300
Mike Comer 17,275
Mark Sarkis 17,200
Xiaobo Wu 17,075
Reza Vakili 17,000
Brandon Huynh 16,875
Alan White 16,800
Hun Wei Lee 16,600
Luke Downers 16,600
Kevin Buckley 15,775
Rana Wilkinson 15,700
Vince Galluccio 15,300
Peter Louskos 15,025
Lee Nelson 14,875
Alan Bertenshaw 14,600
Shaun Elliott 14,200
Robert Bechara 14,050
Maria Ho 13,800
Daniel Iwikau 12,500
Travis Moore 11,475
Aaron Stenlake 11,475
Sefehr Naderi 11,400
Sandy Retallick 11,200
Paul Pedersen 11150
Simon Moshi 11,125
Ryan Boswell 9700
Aaron Lim 9675
Manuel Rodrigues 9400
Andrew Stolz 8800
Did not report 7250
Peter Matusik 7125
Did not report 4650

Payouts

1 $226,812
2 $144,754
3 $80,214
4 $62,696
5 $48,405
6 $39,185
7 $29,965
8 $23,511
9 $17,518
10-12 $11,525
13-15 $9220
16-18 $7837
19-21 $6454
22-24 $5532
25-27 $5071
28-36 $4610
37-45 $4149
46-54 $3688

By Poker Media Australia

He’s played, cashed in and won tournaments all over the world but until now, ultra-popular Melburnian Dennis Huntly had never saluted the judge on home soil.

That all changed when the clown prince of Aussie poker took out the $440 ANZPT Sydney PLO title at Star Poker, outlasting a field of 89 players to pocket a first prize of $10,680. This was the first time he cashed in a non-Hold’em format of the game.

Huntly, who started 2012 in fine firm with 31st in the Aussie Millions Main Event, owns two major trophies – coincidentally from the same tournament; the 2009 and 2012 NZ Poker Champs High Stakes events.

It was a case of pizza and PLO (and almost certainly a few Vodka Red Bulls) as Huntly turned the final table into a party that ended when he sent local player Tommy Yi to the rail as runner-up for $7120.

Others to snare a slice of pizza at the final table included Simon Palmer, Albeir Moussa, Andrew Stergiotis and Ludovic Citerne while Andrew Mellado, who placed seven spots above Huntly in the Aussie Millions Main Event earlier this year (24th) placed seventh.

ANZPT Sydney Event 6: $440 Pot Limit Omaha results

1 Dennis Huntly $10,680
2 Tommy Yi $7120
3 Simon Palmer $5162
4 Albeir Moussa $3382
5 Andrew Stergiotis $2492
6 Ludovic Citerne $1869
7 Andrew Mellado $1602
8 David MacLean $1335
9 Liem Tran $1068
10 Marcus Pritchard $890

By Poker Media Australia

The 2012 Aussie Millions Main Event has come to an end and once again the title will remain on home soil with Australia’s Oliver Speidel capturing the title and $1.6 million in prize money.

Oliver Speidel has been a force throughout the entire 2012 Aussie Millions championships, with a second place in the $1,100 No Limit Limit Shootout event and a sixth place finish in the $1,650 No Limit Holdem Bounty Feature event. He carried that form all the way through the Aussie Millions Main Event throughout the past five days, to enter the final table this afternoon with the second biggest stack in the room.

It would be the only time that Speidel would trail as he took control of the final table and dominated proceedings from the get go.

It started with the early elimination of Yann Dion in 7th place. The talented Canadian got his last chips in preflop with 7♠7♥ but ran into Speidel’s Q♥Q♦ to become the first casualty of the day.

Bjorn Li went from overnight chip leader to 6th place finisher as his aggressive game was ultimately his undoing. Li’s A♣Q♦ couldn’t get past the 3♦3♠ of Mohamad Kowssarie as we were quickly down to five.

Speidel was in control and eventually someone had to make a move to regain some momentum. West Australian Patrick Healy tried with A♠K♦ on a 9♣8♣4♥ flop, but his timing was awry as Speidel had flopped two pair with his 9♥8♠. Healy was almost drawing dead, as the turn and river bricked to eliminate him in 5th place.

Speidel’s stack continued to climb, as did the payouts, as the players started to reach life changing sums of money. It didn’t deter Speidel who continued to apply well-timed aggression with some equally well-timed cards. He picked up K♥K♦ at the right time as Kowssarie played back at him with A♠2♥. Again Speidel’s hand held and with Kowssarie’s elimination in 4th place, Speidel was surging towards the title.

Another Aussie, Mile Krstanoski fought valiantly and was unlucky to be eliminated next. Speidel moved all in from the small blind with 9♠8♣ as Krstanoski made a great call in the big blind with a dominant K♥8♥. Krstanoski was looking good to double up but Speidel spiked a nine on the flop which was enough to take it down and leave Krstanoski on the rail in 3rd place.

Speidel held a commanding chip lead over Kenneth Wong and, as was the nature of the entire final table, he didn’t take long to wrap things up.

In a hand that was six-bet preflop, Wong was unfortunate to see his 9♣9♥ had run smack bang into the A♠A♣ of Speidel. Incredibly another big pair for Speidel, and once again, everything fell his way as the board ran out 8♥K♠10♠4♣7♥. Wong was gallant in defeat with a cool one million dollars in prize money as consolation.

For Oliver Speidel it was a perfect day of poker that we all dream of. He played well, caught good cards and ran well. He has also proven himself to be a player of enormous talent, picking up his first Aussie Millions gold ring and an APT title last year. He now adds the most coveted title in Australasian poker and will go down forever in history as an Aussie Millions champion.

Final table payouts
1st Oliver Speidel (Australia) – $1,600,000
2nd Kenneth Wong (Hong Kong) – $1,000,000
3rd Mile Krstanoski (Australia) – $610,000
4th Mohamad Kowssarie (Sweden) – $405,000
5th Patrick Healy (Australa) – $300,000
6th Bjorn Li (Hong Kong) – $230,000
7th Yann Dion (Canada) – $170,000

By Poker Asia Pacific

The Crown Players party at Analdo and Sons was filled to capacity on the evening of the 19th January with VIPs and players to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Aussie Millions and to induct the four new members of the Australian Poker Hall of Fame.
The formal induction was graciously received by the massed spectators who were pleased to see four outstanding players accepted into the Hall of Fame.

2010/11
Leo Boxell
Poker patriarch and skilled champion for decades, Leo recently won the APPT Melbourne for the 4th six figure payday of his impressive tournament career which totals over $1,100,000 in winnings. Leo and his wife Bev have been familiar faces in Australian Poker rooms and he has found big success in the Crown Casino where he won the Crown championship in 2000 then continued his success once the event became the Aussie Millions with almost $500,000 in winnings.

Danny McDonagh
Be it as a planner, promoter or Director of major tournaments Danny has played an integral role in the growth of poker in the Asia Pacific region. At the helm of every major tournament at the Crown Casino from opening day through the 2007 Aussie Millions this Hall of Fame nominee moved on to become APPT Tournament Director and is now the Director of PokerStars’ extensive live poker operations for Asia Pacific. Danny was a founding partner of pokernetwork.com.

2011/12
David Gorr
In 2011, David bested a field of 721 players to take down the Aussie Millions main event title and $2 million in prize money. David has been a staple player in the Australian poker scene for decades and has been a great ambassador for the game in Australia. He currently sits in 4th place on the Australian all-time money list.

Jason Gray
Throughout Jason gray’s impressive poker career, he has accumulated over $1 million in career tournament cashes including a win at the 2007 Victorian Poker Championships and a second place showing at the 2008 APPT Sydney. Jason is not only a force to be reckoned with at the tournament tables, he is also very comfortable at the BB cash tables as well.

The Chairman of Australian Poker Hall of Fame Maurie Pears thanked Crown, Pokernetwork and all players and Casino staff for their sponsorship, assistance and generosity throughout the year whilst Crown Director of Poker Jim Preston made the formal and popular presentations to an enthusiastic audience.

The APHOF will seek some expansion next year and a more prominent place in Australasian poker internationally. There will be continued inductions to those skilled players who have served the game of poker so well.

David Gorr Aussie Millions 2011 receives congratulations for induction from Maurie and Jim.

Photo Courtesy of Poker Asia Pacific 

Perth native Michael Pedley has won Event 6, the $1,100 NLH-Rebuys at the 2012 Aussie Millions. Pedley has enjoyed moderate success over the years as a recreational poker player, but his greatest successes have come here in Melbourne at the Aussie Millions. In 2008, Pedley won the same event for his first major title securing $168,320. Yesterday however, he would have to be content with only $122,670 for the same title.

The final table of event 6 was easily the most talked about Championship event of the series featuring some of the biggest and best names in modern day poker. The table featured the likes of Tyron Krost (2010 Aussie Millions Main Event Champion), Jonathan Karamalikis, Dan Kelly, Marvin Rettenmaier and Michael Benvenuti.

During the play of the final table, former Main Event Champion Krost was facing an interesting dilemma. He managed to make it down to 4 handed play in Event 6, and scheduled to start at 7pm was the special Aussie Millions 10th Anniversary Main Event Tournament of Champions. This event featured the previous Main Event winners and the winner of this tournament would receive complimentary Aussie Millions Main Event entries for the rest of their life.

In the end however, Krost was eliminated in 4th place and was able to safely take his seat at the TOC table.

Final Payouts Aussie Millions Event 6 $1,100 NLH Rebuys
1- Michael Pedley – $122,670
2- Jonathan Karamalikis – $88,830
3- Dan Kelly – $57,105
4- Tyron Krost – $40,185
5- Mike Watson – $29,610
6- Jim Collopy – $25,380
7- Tony Sama – $21,150
8- Marvin Rettenmaier – $16,920
9- Andrew Scarfe – $12,690
10- Michael Benvenuti – $8,460

By Rob Huxley of Miller’s Guide

English poker pro Tom Middleton has won Event 5 at this year’s Aussie Millions, the $1,100 NLH 6-Max event taking home $84,200 for his 1st place finish. Middleton is no stranger to final tables having a total career earnings of over $500,000 since 2008. 2011 was the breakout year for Middleton which saw him cash for $355,402, however if he continues his metaphoric rise to the top of the leader boards, this year could certainly eclipse that in earnings.

Middleton’s victory came at the expense of Sydney local pro Joel Dodds who had to be content with 2nd place and a $58,135 pay day. Dodds was looming to take down the title and the Gold Championship ring, however the Englishmans performance was nothing short of extraordinary. At the final 6 handed table, Middleton eliminated four of the five players he was facing, a truly epic steamroller effort.

Payouts Aussie Millions Event 5 $1,100 NLH 6-Max
1st- Tom Middleton – $84,200
2nd- Joel Dodds – $58,135
3rd- Peter Skouteris – $40,450
4th- Craig Cockburn – $30,800
5th- Kosta Mamaliadis – $23,100
6th- Ben Lingenfelder – $15,400

By Rob Huxley of Miller’s Guide

The 2012 Aussie Millions is now in full swing with two championship rings having already been awarded in the past few days. Today will see yet another Aussie Millions Championship ring awarded as play at the final table of event 3 $1,100 NLH Shootout concludes at midday inside the Crown Poker Room.

Leading the charge at today’s final table will be Oliver Speidel who carries to the table the chip lead and enough experience to take down the title. Last year Speidel won a Championship ring at the 2011 Aussie Millions in the $1,100 NLH event, and to make things even more interesting he is joined by Englishman Mark Segal who has also experienced the thrill of winning an Aussie Millions Championship event taking down the $1,100 NLH event in 2010. Mark comes to the table relatively short in chips, but what he lacks in chips he no doubt makes up for in experience.

Without doubt though, all eyes will be on local favourite and female poker sensation, Jackie Glazier who comes to the final table third in chips and looming for a major title. Jackie burst onto the poker scene in early 2010 when she made a deep run in the worlds most prestigious poker event, the $10,000 buy-in World Series Of Poker. Jackie will be railed by a large crowd today hoping she can cement her position in the poker world as one of the best players on the tour.

Seat 1- Eric Sclavos – 34,000 chips
Seat 2- Salman Behbehani – 79,500 chips
Seat 3- Mario Ljubicic – 95,500 chips
Seat 4- Joey Lawrence – 135,500 chips
Seat 5- Mark Segal – 94,500 chips
Seat 6 – Sandeep Pulusani – 128,000 chips
Seat 7- Ashish Gupta – 270,000 chips
Seat 8- Oliver Speidel – 384,500 chips
Seat 9- Matthew Pearson – 74,000 chips
Seat 10- Jackie Glazier – 204,500 chips

By Rob Huxley of Miller’s Guide

American online superstar Dan ‘djk123′ Kelly has taken down the second event at this year’s Aussie Millions, the $1,100 Buy-in Pot Limit Omaha.

While it’s widely known that No Limit holdem is the most popular card game in the world, Pot Limit Omaha is game for those seeking to play cash games at a high level. Pot Limit Omaha (Widely knows as PLO) is generally the one game that garners the largest pots, the biggest action, and without doubt the biggest names in the game. Even though the majority of the international super stars of the poker world are yet to arrive, there is still a very strong contingent of internationals here early to play out the Aussie Millions Series. Players such as Richard Ashby, Tony Bloom, JP Kelly, Vitaly Lunkin and Sam Holden are all here soaking up the Australian sun as well as taking in the early events on offer in the series.

Because Pot Limit Omaha is such a specialised game, the fields are generally smaller, but there is no question that the level of skill of the players in the fields are generally of the highest calibre.

The second event on the Aussie Millions calendar saw 129 players take their seats generating a prize pool of $129,000 with $33,400 up top for the eventual winner.

While the American Kelly may have succeeded in taking down the title of the second Aussie Millions event and the gold ring, there were several high profile Australian Omaha specialists at the final table vying for the title including Billy ‘The Croc’ Argyros, Van Marcus and ANZPT Melbourne Champion Martin Kozlov.

It was Kozlov that eventually managed to find his way into the heads up battle with the American, however in the end the yanks were simply too good on the day.

Aussie Millions Event 2 $1,100 Pot Limit Omaha Results

1st – Dan Kelly $33,400
2nd – Martin Kozlov $25,000
3rd – Van Marcus $18,050
4th – Charles Cuschieri $14,270
5th – Geoffrey Smith $10,800
6th – McLean Karr $8,250
7th – Michael Guzzardi $6,100
8th – Billy Argyros $4,190

By Rob Huxley of Miller’s Guide