Shortly after Midnight on Sunday at the Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia, veteran poker pro David Gorr defeated a solid final table to take home the championship of the 2011 Aussie Millions Main Event.
The tournament began a week ago, drawing 721 players that included much of the Full Tilt Poker stable of pros along with a plethora of the best players from the Southern Hemisphere. That number was slightly down from the 2010 Aussie Millions Main Event (746 players).
Some of the players going for the AUD $7.2 million prize pool included eight-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Phil Ivey and former WSOP Main Event Champion Chris Ferguson, although neither would make the money. Of the 73 players who took home some cash, there were plenty of top names.
Online pro Carter “Bdybldngpkrplyr” Phillips was able to split the 72nd place money with Aussie Julius Colman, with each player receiving $7,420 for being eliminated simultaneously on the money bubble. As play continued toward the final table, the buzz surrounded the deep runs by Team Full Tilt members Patrik Antonius, Howard Lederer, and Erick Lindgren. Although Lederer (34th) and Lindgren (33rd) would depart before play reached three tables, Antonius carried the Full Tilt banner to the final table.
Titan Poker pro Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi was the unfortunate Final Table Bubble Boy, but he took home a healthy AUD $129,439 for coming up short. Mizzi commented through his Twitter feed, “Out. Bluff goes wrong, make river call vs. Patrik and am wrong, lose rest of chips as a 98% favorite to bubble back to back final tables.”
The plan had been to play to a seven-handed final table, but early Saturday morning in Melbourne, it was decided to play with eight so that the remaining players could get their rest. Leading the pack when play was paused was American Randy Dorfman, who held over a quarter of the chips in play with 3.9 million. He faced some serious challenges from England’s James Keys, who sat in second with 2.4 million, and also the ominous presence of Antonius (1.3 million) and DoylesRoom Brunson 10 member Chris “moorman1” Moorman (955,000).
Gorr seized the lead early in the action when, holding pocket queens, he made a runner-runner spade flush to beat out Dorfman, who had turned a smaller flush. Dorfman continued to bleed chips in the early going, while Gorr was responsible for the first elimination.
Surprisingly, that elimination was Antonius who, in a four-way pot with Gorr, Dorfman, and Moorman, saw a Q-10-7 two-spade flop. After Moorman checked, Antonius led out for 125,000 and Dorfman got out of the way. Gorr, however, popped it up to 500,000, which was enough for Moorman to release his hand. Antonius moved the remainder of his chips to the center and received a quick call from Gorr. Antonius had to be sickened when, after he showed pocket kings, Gorr tabled Q-10 for two pair. The turn and river ran dry, eliminating the popular Finnish Full Tilt pro from the proceedings.
By eliminating Antonius, Gorr firmly established himself as the chip leader. The former leader, Dorfman, would eventually depart in fifth place. Over the course of the eight-hour final table, however, Gorr would face few challenges. By the time he reached heads-up play against Keys, Gorr held a 6:1 chip lead, but the fight was just beginning.
Over the next three hours of play, Keys was able to fight back. He ground his way to almost even and then took a huge lead in the event when his suited K-5 made two pair against Gorr’s A-K. The hand left Gorr sitting with slightly more than a million chips, while Keys was in control with over 13 million.
Gorr maintained his composure and slowly worked his way back. An hour after being decimated, Gorr had worked himself back into a marginal lead over Keys. It all came to an end in a hand that could only be described as miraculous (if you’re Gorr) or devastating (if you’re Keys).
After over four hours of heads-up play, Keys raised it up to 225,000, which was called by Gorr. An innocent 7-6-3 rainbow flop brought a check-call of 275,000 from Gorr. When the turn came with a king, Gorr once again checked and, with two hearts on the board, Keys made it 650,000 to go. This brought a raise out of Gorr, who made it 1.6 million, and Keys responded by moving all-in. Gorr quickly called and tabled K-4 for top pair, but Keys turned up 7-3 for two pair.
As the audience in the Crown Casino held their breath, the river card was dealt. When the dealer turned up a four, the runner-runner two pair for Gorr eclipsed Keys’ flopped two pair. Here were the results. All prizes are given in AUD:
1. David Gorr – $2,000,000
2. James Keys – $1,035,000
3. Jeff Rossiter – $700,000
4. Michael Ryan – $450,000
5. Randy Dorfman – $325,000
6. Samad Razavi – $225,000
7. Chris Moorman – $175,000
8. Patrik Antonius – $130,000