Who'll Win the 2016 Aussie Millions Poker Championship Main Event?
After a grueling battle to get down from 40 players to a final table of 7 on Day 4, today is the day the 2016 Aussie Millions Poker Championship Main Event champion will be crowned. All 7 players had a day of rest and are guaranteed AU$210,000. But each and every one of them is eyeing that AU$1,600,000 first place prize.
Well rounded grinder Ari Engel is in best position, starting out in pole position with a staggering 8,155,000 (136 big blinds). Engel's biggest cash to date is $177,045 for winning the Punta Cana Poker Classic 2014so things must go real sour today - a Philip Hilm kind of level sour - for him to not break that personal record today.
Engel has steep competition, all just as hungry for the title. WPT host Tony Dunst is the biggest of Engel's rivals, bringing 100 big blinds to the final table this afternoon. It's already somewhat of a fairy tale for Dunst as he had given up on playing when he lost one of the two $5,000 chips that he was going to buy in with. Angered with himself and plenty flustered, the American World Poker Tour host was ready to up and leave Melbourne altogether, but friends talked him back into playing, and now he has reached the final stage in an epic turnaround of fortune.
The Aussie Millions Main Event final table is also headlines by two female players making their appearance. Kitty Kuo has kept her unbelievable streak of deep runs alive and is sure to cross the million dollar live earnings mark here today. Things really have to go her side today for her to win, as she starts out with just 17 big blinds. Samantha Abernathy is in better position with 41 big blinds, and she's sure to triple her live earnings here today.
Australian day 2 chip leader Dylan Honeyman starts out as the shortest stack in the field with just 885,000, good for 15 big blinds at the start of the day.
The Main Event final table starts at 12:30 local time (30 minutes from now). The live stream and our coverage with hole cards up, starts on half an hour delay.
| Seat | Name | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dylan Honeyman | Australia | 885,000 | 15 |
| 2 | Alexander Lynskey | Australia | 2,390,000 | 40 |
| 3 | Tony Dunst | United States | 5,990,000 | 100 |
| 4 | Samantha Abernathy | United States | 2,485,000 | 41 |
| 5 | Ari Engel | Canada | 8,155,000 | 136 |
| 6 | Kitty Kuo | Taiwan | 1,005,000 | 17 |
| 7 | John Apostolidis | Australia | 960,000 | 16 |
| Year | Players | Buy-In | Variant | Champion | Country | Prize (AU$) | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 732 | AU$10,000 | NLH | --TBD-- | --TBD-- | AU$1,600,000 | $1,122,825 |
| 2015 | 648 | AU$10,000 | NLH | Manny Stavropoulos | Australia | AU$1,385,500 | $1,094,737 |
| 2014 | 668 | AU$10,000 | NLH | Ami Barer | Canada | AU$1,600,000 | $1,399,739 |
| 2013 | 629 | AU$10,000 | NLH | Mervin Chan | Malaysia | AU$1,600,000 | $1,689,118 |
| 2012 | 659 | AU$10,000 | NLH | Oliver Speidel | Australia | AU$1,600,000 | $1,647,158 |
| 2011 | 721 | AU$10,000 | NLH | David Gorr | Australia | AU$2,000,000 | $1,978,044 |
| 2010 | 746 | AU$10,000 | NLH | Tyron Krost | Australia | AU$2,000,000 | $1,845,921 |
| 2009 | 681 | AU$10,000 | NLH | Stewart Scott | Australia | AU$2,000,000 | $1,420,737 |
| 2008 | 780 | AU$10,000 | NLH | Alexander Kostritsyn | Russia | AU$1,650,000 | $1,450,396 |
| 2007 | 747 | AU$10,000 | NLH | Gus Hansen | Denmark | AU$1,500,000 | $1,192,919 |
| 2006 | 418 | AU$10,000 | NLH | Lee Nelson | New Zealand | AU$1,295,800 | $949,694 |
| 2005 | 263 | AU$10,000 | NLH | Jamil Dia | New Zealand | AU$1,000,000 | $777,442 |
| 2004 | 133 | AU$10,000 | NLH | Tony Bloom | United Kingdom | AU$426,500 | $323,456 |
| 2003 | 122 | AU$10,000 | NLH | Peter Costa | United Kingdom | AU$394,870 | $221,862 |
| 2002 | 66 | AU$5,000 | NLH | John Maver | Australia | AU$150,000 | $78,030 |
| 2001 | 101 | AU$1,500 | NLH | Sam Korman | Australia | AU$53,025 | $28,368 |
| 2000 | 109 | AU$1,500 | NLH | Leo Boxell | Australia | AU$65,225 | $38,483 |
| 1999 | 109 | AU$1,000 | PLH | Milo Nadalin | Australia | AU$38,150 | $24,801 |
| 1998 | 74 | AU$1,000 | LH | Alex Horowitz | Australia | AU$25,900 | $15,693 |
The player profiles underneath are courtesy of the PokerStars Blog:
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
8,155,000 | |
|
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|
5,990,000 | |
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|
2,485,000 | |
|
2,390,000 | |
|
1,005,000 | |
|
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|
960,000 | |
|
885,000 | |