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Aussie Millions over and out! The hardest thing about the Aussie Millions is that when it is finished you have to wait another twelve months to experience that atmosphere again. This year’s Aussie Millions was certainly the best one I have attended and it was the closest you will ever get to a perfect tournament. Hats are off to Jonno Pittock and all the team at Crown Poker for running a magnificent event. I also wish to acknowledge that if anyone worked as hard as the Crown Poker staff, it was the PokerNews.com team who reported every event from the poker room at Crown. I watched them as they worked long hours, from late morning to early morning every day. Good on you Kirsty, Heath, Lynn, Tim, Garry, Don, Georgia, Lando and the rest of the gang. You all do a fabulous job in every major tournament and I’m sure all poker enthusiasts appreciate your efforts. Congratulations to Tyron Krost who beat a field of 746 players, a number of them seasoned professionals, to capture the coveted title of Aussie Millions main event champion. Tyron takes home $2,000,000 cold Aussie cash. We were all hoping that the trophy would stay here in Australia and Tyron didn’t disappoint us. Below are the results for the remaining events which were played after last week’s edition went to press. Event 9: $10,500 Aussie Millions Main Event Tyron Krost - $2,000,000 Event 13: $5,300 Heads Up Championship Kyle McMurphy - $75,000 Event 14: $1,100 NLHE Teams Event Mel Judah & Mick Guttmann - $30,520 Event 15: $10,500 Pot Limit Omaha Erik Seidel - $120,000 Event 16: $1,100 No Limit Hold'em Vincent Van Der Fluit - $53,816 Event 17: $1,150 NLHE/PLO Mark Segal - $70,720 Event 18: $10,500 H.O.R.S.E. David Bach - $102,600 Event 19: $2,200 6-handed No Limit Hold'em Kristian Lunardi - $118,580 Event 20: $550 No Limit Hold'em Turbo Roland Hawkins - $28,875 Our next major stop down under is the city of churches. ANZPT Adelaide is already underway with the main event due to start next Tuesday, 9 February. There are three flights for day one, so even if you can make it there by Thursday 11 February before noon you can have a crack at it. I’m trying to juggle my own schedule so I can participate and I hope to see you there. May your pocket aces always hold up.  AUSTRALIAN OPEN OUTSHINED BY AUSSIE MILLIONS  Every January, the Aussie Millions poker tournament is staged at the same time as the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis. This year, whilst at the Aussie Millions I have noted big crowds of spectators trying to catch a glimpse of the superstar poker players such as Phil Ivey, Chris ‘Jesus’ Ferguson, Gus Hansen, Howard Lederer and many more who have attended the event. However, the surprising part was that I have caught a glimpse of many top-ranked tennis players in the Crown Poker Room, visiting the cash tables nightly – even one who was supposed to have a match in the morning but was still sitting on my table at 4.00am. Now, that time of the morning is standard office hours for a poker player, but a professional tennis player with an important match first thing in the morning reinforces to me just how much professional athletes enjoy the game of poker. One of my goals this year is to assist the lobby to have poker elevated to the status of an Olympic sport. Can you imagine the Australian team we would be sending to the Olympics? We have such major talent on the world poker scene with the likes of Joe Hachem, Jeff Lisandro, Tony G., Mel Judah, Gary Benson, Marsha Waggoner, Billy Argyros, Stewart Scott, Eric Assadourian, Tony Hachem, Amanda De Cesare, Grant Levy, Van Marcus, Peter Aristidou, Jarred Graham, Aaron Benton, David Borg, Emad Tahtouh, Paren Arzoumanian – and the list goes on... As we go to press this week Day Two of the Aussie Millions main event is underway, with 294 players remaining from the original 746 entrants. The total prize pool has been calculated at $7.46 million with first place set to take home a cool $2 million. The chip leader is Pierre Aoukar with a chip count of 171,700. We already reported the results on the first two events last week, so here’s the rest of them: Event 3: $1,100 Limit Hold'em Simon Morris – $25,650 Event 4: $1,100 Pot Limit Omaha Annette Obrestad – $40,000 Event 5: $1,650 No Limit Hold'em w/ Bounties Jonathan Karamalikis – $122,700 Event 6: $1,100 H.O.R.S.E. John Joannou – $27,300 Event 7: $1,150 No Limit Hold'em w/ Rebuys Mike Watson – $129,920 Event 8: $100,000 Challenge Dan Shak – $1,200,000 Event 9: Main Event (Day One completed) Event 10: $550 PokerPro NLHE Shootout Peter Vratsidis – $11,480 Event 11: $550 PokerPro PLO Hi-Lo Eugene Portlen – $9,765 Event 12: $550 PokerPro Seven Card Stud Leo Boxell – $5,500 Event 13: $5,300 Australian Heads Up Championship (Day One completed) Events 14 to 20 yet to be played. During my week at the Aussie Millions in Melbourne I have attended a few too many parties. There was the opening party for the Aussie Millions where I was honoured to meet this year’s inductee to the Australian Poker Hall Of Fame, Marsha Waggoner and I caught up with a few friends from the poker industry, together with some of the world’s foremost pros. Then there was the Party Poker lunch where I had a chat with last year’s Aussie Millions champion Stewart Scott and some of the Party Poker elite. FullTilt Poker’s party was very interesting where they had present the magician ‘Jack Black’ who had Billy ‘The Croc’ Argyros amazed when he was able to predict what card he was thinking of. “I swear I was thinking of ten of hearts and I said ‘there is no way he can tell me what I’m thinking,’ but he got it right,” said Billy. He was not the only one, since Jack the magician continued telling some of the audience precisely which cards they had thought of. FullTilt also had a winery tour and a golf day where the FullTilt qualifiers to the Aussie Millions had an opportunity to rub shoulders with the FullTilt pros. It was a long bus ride but well worth the distance as the Heritage Resorts golf course looked magnificent and proved to be a unique experience. Last but not least was the 888 Poker party at the Aquarium where I had a chat with my friend PokerNews’ Sean Callander who is one of the nicest guys in the Poker industry. I also had a chance to catch up with my friends from Sydney, Star City’s poker room manager Deb Rillo and marketing executive Scott Colvin. Hopefully I will be playing some more events before I head back to Sydney and it will be nice to win one. May your pocket aces always hold up. AN EXCITING YEAR OF POKER AHEAD  22.01.2010 The first two events of the 2010 Aussie Millions have already been played. Event One ‘Opening Event’ was spread over three days due to the large field of players. The total number of entries for this event ($1,100 No Limit Hold'em) was 1,143, generating over $1.1 million in prizemoney, and confirms this year's Opening Event as the largest casino poker tournament in Australia's history. Congratulations to Matthew Ephraums, the 2010 Crown Aussie Millions Event One Champion who takes home $200,025 along with his championship gold ring. Event two ($550 PokerPro No Limit Hold'em) was taken out by Andrew Hinrichsen. Andrew beat a field of 90 players to win the $12,825 first prize. There were some big names on the Poker Pro tables, including 2009 Aussie Millions champion Stewart Scott, 2009 APPT Sydney Champion Aaron Benton, Australian Poker Hall of Famer Gary Benson, and David Steicke. Event three ($1,100 Limit Hold'em) is in progress as we go to press, with the final table and chip count as per below: Seat 1: Simon Morris - 112,000 Seat 2: Ciaran Carter - 15,500 Seat 3: Jan Suchanek - 109,000 Seat 4: Steve Krmpotic - 44,000 Seat 5: Josh Wilson - 25,500 Seat 6: David Steicke - 33,000 Seat 7: Jim Sachinidis - 22,000 Seat 8: Kerry Stead - 11,500 Seat 9: Amit Sheth - 69,000 Paul ‘The Voice’ Khoury was named as an official friend of FullTilt Poker this week, along with the announcement that he will host the 2010 Aussie Millions. APW’s exclusive interview with Paul appears on page 5. PokerStars ANZPT Adelaide is the next big stop after the Aussie Millions. For your convenience we have featured the full tournament schedule on page 4 of this edition. Turn to page 10 to acquaint yourself with the new WSOP rules for 2010, including Twittering and iPod usage at the tables. We have also included the complete schedule of 2010 Christchurch Poker Championships. That’s it for this week. As you can see, a busy season of our wonderful game is underway and we look forward to crowning a host of new champions. You never know, it might just be you who is crowned one of those major tournament winners this year. May your pocket aces always hold up. Cards in the air at the Aussie Millions  15.01.2010 The last two months have been the slowest of all time for me. The anticipation of the start of the Aussie Millions 2010 Poker Championship at Crown Poker in Melbourne has me sitting at the edge of my seat and waiting impatiently. The $1,100 NLH opening event is already underway as we go to press. I will be in Melbourne myself from 20 January onwards and will be reporting on as well as participating in events. As always I am looking forward to once again linking up with my poker buddies from interstate and overseas. Last week, immediately after we carried the Eric Aude story outlining his plans to help the Starlight Foundation children’s charity in Australia, he went on to win the All In To Win For Kids charity event in USA. Danielle Adams Benham’s exclusive report appears on page 5 of this edition of Australian Poker Weekly. Harrison "gibler321" Gimbel has just won $2.2 million at the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) Main Event. In achieving this wonderful feat Harrison became the youngest winner of the $10,000 buy-in poker tournament. Read our report on page 4. Tragically the poker world lost one of its genuine characters this week with the passing of poker pro Amir Vahedi. Be sure to turn to APW’s page 10 tribute to our departed colleague. Read what his peers had to say about the man himself as well as his famous cigar. PokerStars has announced yet another major tournament this week, the North American Poker Tour (NAPT). The televised event will be hosted by stunning model Joanna Krupa. See what all the fuss is about on page 9 – after you have had an eyeful of Joanna as she appears on this week’s cover, that is! PokerNews Australia, Asia and Pacific magazine January edition is out now. As usual, Kristy Mullins and her team of experts at PokerNews have done a magnificent job and on page 9 we feature a summary of what you can expect in the current issue. Poker pro Lee Markholt is our guest columnist this week. Read what he has to say about Squeeze Play on page 10. Our Tournament listing section has undergone a major overhaul this week. A few people have been calling APW to complain that a certain game was not at that time of the day or not at that price, etc. As I maintained throughout 2009, it is up to the tournament directors and league franchisees to inform us of changes. A large percentage of the tournament runners are in regular touch to notify us of their changes, additions and deletions. Unfortunately, some venues never let us know what is happening. That is why it is always better to check directly with the venue itself to confirm time and date before you make any definite plans to get to the game. May your pocket aces always hold up. ERIK’S PLEDGE TO STARLIGHT FOUNDATION  08.01.2010 We have enjoyed a very positive response from the poker community regarding our weekly e-newsletter. Since it is still in its infancy, it is a little bare of content; however it is getting bigger and more informative each week. If you would like to receive the e-newsletter every week please send an email to: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with the word subscribe in the subject box. On the subject of subscriptions, if you wish to subscribe to Australian Poker Weekly simply go to www.australianpokerweekly.com and click on the subscription button. The biggest poker event in Australia – the Aussie Millions – starts next week and I am very excited. Crown Casino is expecting their biggest-ever turnout. Looking at the amount of satellites which were on offer this year I think they might just register a record entry. I will be a starter at the Crown and I hope to see you all there. Australian Poker Weekly’s deepstack Aussie Cup 2010 is on January 25, which is the eve of Australia Day. As this edition goes to press the entry numbers are already looking very substantial, so please make your way to Hanna’s Poker Room and register now to avoid disappointment. Hanna’s Poker Room is located at the corner of Woodville and Parramatta Roads, inside the Vauxhall Inn, a well-known and easily recognised western Sydney landmark. Ask for Hanna, Sam or Farrah and get your ticket before it is too late. Death Row Poker Pro Erik Aude has decided to give a percentage of his winnings from the Aussie Millions to an Aussie children’s charity of our choice. Danielle Benham of Australian Poker Weekly whose exclusive story appears on page 9 decided to select the Starlight Foundation. You can find out about the Foundation and the great work they do on www.starlight.org.au Two editions ago, APW ran a story about Tammy Fairly, Vince Brown and their eight small children who lost everything in the Gerogery bushfire. This tragedy was directly linked to poker since Tammy and Vince are ardent players, both of them members of Australian Poker League in Albury, New South Wales. The good people at Full Tilt have decided to put together a charity tournament for the family and donate the rake completely to their cause. You may find all the relevant details on page 9 of this edition. May your pocket aces always hold up. APW’S FIRST YEAR OF MANY TO COME  01.01.2010 When I started publishing Australian Poker Weekly 52 editions ago, my goal was to make it to one year. We have negotiated plenty of hurdles and hardships to have made it this far, but with plenty of patience and yours truly’s stubbornness the publication survived against all odds and I am happy to report it has reached a position that suggests it will be around to serve the Australian poker community for a long time. In our first year we reported on all major tournaments and witnessed Stewart Scott winning the Aussie Millions, Joe Cada taking down the WSOP main event, the birth of PokerStars ANZPT series, Mike Sexton joining APW, Amanda De Cesare winning the inaugural Joe Hachem TV series The Poker Star, the birth of Sydney Champs, launch of Star City’s new poker room, introduction of Australia’s Poker Hall of Fame, foundation of PokerNews magazine Australia and its merger with Bluff Australasia, Jeff Lisandro’s three WSOP bracelets in one season, Gus Hansen’s boxing match, the start of the PokerNetwork radio show, Launch of Australian Poker Hero TV show, Tony Hachem becoming the overall ANZPT champion, 888.com’s Poker Ashes and a host of other poker community happenings. I wish to thank the following who really helped me get kick-started this year and are the reason that we survived – and I hope I don’t forget anyone: Michelle Stott, Sam Dawson, Rob Huxley, Damon Rasheed, Heath Chick, Gareth Edwards, John Golledge, Deb Rillo, Scott Colvin, Jason Wicks, Natasha Stipanov, Justin Cohen, Danielle Benham, Jack McAdoo, Mike Sexton, Tony Adams, Eric Assadourian, Billy Argyros, Ken Callis, Frank Wiese, Stuart Cooper, Joey Del, Glenn Franco, Nathan Butler, Vatche Evanian, Tyrone Hunter, Jean-Paul Markarian, Harish Narayanan, Andrew Freebury, Angela Saulwick, Rosalba Vicari, all the team at MPD, PokerStars, FullTilt, PartyPoker, InterPoker, Pokerdomepoker, 888.com, Star City, CrownPoker, PokerNews, PokerNetwork, PokerNewsDaily, PokerPodRadio, DrCheckRaise, Harbord Poker HQ, Hanna’s Poker Room, CentreBet, Bet Ezy, Wrapaway Transport, every venue that distributes the paper and everyone who has contributed in some way. Here’s to many more years of bringing you poker news, views and reviews on a weekly basis. Happy New Year and may your pocket aces always hold up. ANZPT SECOND SEASON15.12.200925PokerStars ANZPT season two has been announced and it promises to be bigger and better than the first one. The second season will commence at The Skycity Casino in Adelaide and will run from 9-14 February. Burswood Casino in Perth will host the event from 17-21 March, before all eyes turn to Star City Casino in Sydney from 21-25 April. The contest then crosses the Tasman Sea to the stunning Sky City Casino in Queenstown, New Zealand between 17-25 July. Conrad Jupiters on the Gold Coast is the penultimate venue from 11-15 August before the tournament finale at Melbourne’s Crown Casino from 8-11 October. Last year the PokerStars ANZPT series made a great impact on Australia and New Zealand Poker Scene. The event was a huge success, with five packed-out tournaments staged across the two countries during a six-month timespan. A staggering AUD$2,982,436 in prizemoney was won, as the ANZPT tour visited the hottest poker destinations in Australasia. Karl Krautschneider won the first leg in Adelaide to become the first ANZP Champion. His tenure on the title was halted by Paren Arzoumanian when he took down the Sydney event; Paren was followed by Chris Levick who won in Melbourne, with Danny Chevalier was the Queenstown Champion. The final leg was in Queensland, played in parts at Conrad Treasury of Brisbane and at Conrad Jupiters of the Gold Coast, and was won by Sydney’s Scott Kerr. PokerStars pro Tony Hachem was the overall tournament champion by points. It was a fantastic campaign in 2009 and promises to be better in 2010. I am looking forward to the complete tour and am intending to play in as many 2010 ANZPT events as possible. Looking forward to seeing all of you at the tables and may your pocket aces always hold up. 2010 AUSSIE MILLIONS  18.12.2009 With less than a month left before the opening event of the 2010 Aussie Millions, one cannot help but feel the buzz and the excitement within the Australian poker community. Even though there are plenty of big game tournaments throughout the year, Aussie Millions is the one that everyone talks about. To play any event in the Aussie Millions championships has a special feeling. The big name Aussie players, in company with the superstars of the poker world, and the energetic atmosphere of the Crown Poker room all add to the excitement. I cannot wait to hit the felt at Crown in January and I am sure most Australian Poker Weekly readers feel the same. I believe the 2010 event will be even bigger and better than in previous years, since absolutely every on-line and off-line poker establishment have hosted numbers of satellites for the annual event. Last year’s winner, Party Poker’s Stewart Scott, will be there to defend his title and although he is hopeful of making it back-to-back wins, he is also hopeful that it will be an Aussie who takes out the championship main event. Aussie Millions is now also the only televised Australian poker tournament, with Fox Sports having signed on to broadcast the 2010 main event. I will see all of you at the Crown. Merry Christmas and may your pocket aces always hold up. |
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