It has been a positively sick week, with another millionaire made in the poker world, and two other main events of series going on. The Aussie Millions have come to a close, the WPT World Poker Open is heading into Day 2, and the World Series of togel Poker Circuit in Tunica will be having its final table tomorrow.
However, the ending to the Aussie Millions wasn’t all positive. A young poker player from Oklahoma got robbed early Monday morning in Australia. Jason Potter, 22, was robbed at knifepoint for $30,000. Potter made a deep run in the Aussie Millions, finishing 31st. Due to the fact that the robbery occurred close to the Crown Casino, there is a chance a surveillance video might have been able to pick up what transpired.
On the better side of things, the Aussie Millions Main Event just wrapped up this past weekend. Going into the final table of 7, there was only one notable pro: Erik Seidel. An extremely wily and experienced veteran, Seidel has won 8 bracelets, good for a tied fourth on the all time list. Down from 780 original runners, here’s what the final table and payouts looked like.
Michael Chrisanthopoulos – 6,806,000
Antonio Casale – 1,995,000
Nino Marotta – 1,649,000
Erik Seidel – 1,491,000
Alexander Kostritsyn – 1,439,000
Peter Mobbs – 1,357,000
Peter Ling – 877,000
Final Table Payouts:
1st: $1,650,000 AUD
2nd: $1,000,000 AUD
3rd: $700,000 AUD
4th: $500,000 AUD
5th: $400,000 AUD
6th: $300,000 AUD
7th: $225,000 AUD
Even with the massive chip lead, Michael Chrisanthopoulos had to have Erik Seidel on his mind. The kind of experience he possessed over the table was amazing. However, time would tell whether this veteran’s experience was enough to work through the final table and the massive chip leader.
Just thirteen hands in, the final table lost its first player. Alexander Kostritsyn knocked out Peter Mobbs when Kostritsyn’s AK held up against Mobbs’ AJ. Mobbs exited in 7th place, winning $225,000.
Kostritsyn was also responsible for the final table’s second bustout. In a pot that was worth roughly 1/3 of the chips in play – 5 million, Alexander knocked out Antonio Casale, when his aces held up against Casale’s jacks. Casale took home $300,000 for his efforts. Here’s what the chip counts looked like after that huge hand.
Michael Chrisanthopoulos – 6,535,000
Alexander Kostritsyn – 5,545,000
Erik Seidel – 1,430,000
Peter Ling – 1,295,000
Nino Marotta – 805,000
With his two bustouts, Kostritsyn was surging. Chrisanthopoulos was still the chip leader, though not by nearly as wide of a margin as before. Seidel was looming in 3rd, with Ling and Marotta as the short stacks.
Just three hands later, Kostritsyn would claim his third victim. Nino Marotta busted out in 5th place when his QT couldn’t suck out against Kostritsyn’s AJ on a JT3 flop. He claimed $400,000.
After the first 35 hands of the final table, here’s how the table was shaping up.
Michael Chrisanthopoulos – 6,435,000
Alexander Kostritsyn – 6,280,000
Peter Ling – 1,445,000
Erik Seidel – 1,385,000
35 hands later, Peter Ling sang his swan song. After calling a pre flop raise with A5, he check raised Michael Chrisanthopoulos’s bet on an AKT flop, and was dismayed to see Chrisanthopoulos’s AK. Drawing to runners, Ling didn’t get there, and was sent home in 4th place. He won $500,000.
Chrisanthopoulos and Kostritsyn had been running away with the final table, with Seidel handcuffed and cold decked. This changed at hand #80…
Seidel got it in with 22 vs. Michael’s AJ for a 3 million dollar pre flop. Michael flopped a Jack to take the lead, however…the river was a deuce, bringing Seidel back into the tournament. From this point on, Michael began to bleed off chips, and doubling up, continuing this trend until hand #112…
After Seidel had made his standard button raise, Chrisanthopoulos called from the small blind, Kostritsyn reraised, Seidel folded, and Chrisanthopoulos went all in. Unfortunately for Michael, he had made an ill-timed squeeze play with his A6 suited, as he had run into Kostritsyn’s tens. No aces or clubs came for Chrisanthopoulos and the former chipleader busted in 3rd place, earning $700,000.
The Russian unknown vs. The American pro. This would likely be Kostritsyn’s last day as an unknown, and if he could pull off this huge win heads up vs. Erik Seidel, that would cement it. Starting heads up, he had nearly 4 million more than Seidel, with the stacks at 9,925,000 for Kostritsyn, and 5,585,000 for Seidel. However, after over 50 hands and hours of heads up poker, Erik Seidel finally succumbed to Alexander Kostritsyn. Down 12.3 million to 3.3 million, Seidel was in trouble. After making a raise preflop, he got pot stuck on a J87 flop with AQ vs. Kostritsyn’s J9. Unfortunately for him, no help arrived and he finished in 2nd place for a solid $1 million dollar payday. However, the glory belonged to Kostritsyn. After a long, winding week of poker, he had the bragging rights, and $1,650,000 on top of it. Not a bad week of poker for the young Russian.
Back to Tunica, the WSOP circuit event is coming to an end tomorrow, with the Main Event final table set. Such notables as Tom Schneider, and Jordan “Octavian_C” Rich will fight for the over $428 K first place prize. Notable bustouts leading up to the final table included, “Captain” Tom Franklin, Jeremiah “Believer82” Vinsant, and Josh Arieh. The final table starts at 12 PM CST tomorrow.
Both the WSOP Circuit event and the WPT World Poker Open suffered from the Aussie Millions, and being right next to one another. Only 257 have shown up for the WPT event, with 144 heading into Day 2, from Day 1A and 1B. Day 2 starts tomorrow, and notables such as Dutch Boyd, Nam Le, David Pham, Kido Pham, Humberto Brenes, Chad Brown, Erick Lindgren, T.J. Cloutier, and Brett “Gank” Jungblutt have lots of chips to work with going into Day 2. At the end of the road lies an $892 K first place prize.
That’s all for this week, good luck to everyone at the tables in the coming week!
