Toby Lewis won the Aussie Millions Main Event this weekend, triumphing over a field of 800 runners. The A$1,458,198 (USD $1,178,513) first prize was the biggest score of his career, eclipsing his ~$600,000 cash for winning EPT Vilamoura in 2010. He now has nearly $4.4 million in live tournament earnings.
Lewis went into the seven-handed final table (yes, seven-handed) as the chip leader and never looked back. Ok, technically he looked “up” at times, as he was neck-and-neck with Espen Solaas (5.835 million to 5.680 million chips) initially before Solaas overtook him for the lead early on. Before we get too bogged down with it all, here is what the chip stacks looked like to start the final table:
Toby Lewis – 5.835 million
Espen Solaas – 5.680 million
Ben Richardson – 4.870 million
Mike Del Vecchio – 3.065 million
Stefan Huber – 1.975 million
Chul-Hyon Park – 1.670 million
John Schumacher – 955,000
Schumacher was the first to go on Hand 25. Solaas shoved pre-flop with 7d-5d, likely a power move, but Schumacher looked him up with 5c-5s. Unfortunately for Schumacher, Solass hit a runner-runner diamond flush to take the hand and eliminate Schumacher in seventh place.
Solaas continued to add chips, but on Hand 37, Lewis took a huge pot from Stefan Huber to climb to 8.365 million and regain the chip lead by nearly 1.5 million over Solaas. Lewis ran into a rough patch over the next three orbits or so, seeing his stack dip below 6 million. In the meantime, Chul-Hyon Park came out of nowhere to take the lead after doubling through Solaas on Hand 54. The very next hand, Ben Richardson was knocked out in sixth place Solaas, K-K against A-Q.
Park held the lead for a while, but Lewis kept chipping up while Solaas was a bit stagnant. By Hand 80, Lewis had risen to 7 million chips and back into the chip lead. On Hand 95, he took a massive chunk of change from Park with A-K against J-J. Lewis paired his King and got Park to pay him off handsomely on the river. That put a canyon between Lewis and the field, while Park fell to the short stack.
It was Mike Del Vecchio who bowed out next, though, eliminated in fifth place by Lewis. By Hand 107, Lewis had 15.810 million chips, twice the chips of the other three players combined. At that point, his three opponents were just trying to make it to third place. Lewis was fully aware of this and made them pay, pounding away at them while they stayed out of his way.
“He knew he had to be very tight,” Lewis said of Park to Aussie Millions officials after the tournament. “[Huber and Solaas] both understood ICM very well. It’s an absolute disaster for either of them to get it in against me. It was one of those spots where eventually something had to give but nobody wanted it to give.”
Eventually it was Park who gave, getting unlucky when his Queens fell to Solaas’s Sevens when Solaas turned a set.
After Park’s elimination, the remaining three players began to discuss a deal. Lewis, though, he was way ahead, likely didn’t want to risk a string of bad luck and just wanted to lock up a serious payday right then and there. The other two players, Huber and Solaas, were probably more than happy to also lock up a prize and relax a little bit. They agreed that Lewis would get A$1,383,198, Solaas, who was in second place, would receive A$1,177,103, and Huber would get A$909,699. A$75,000 was left on the table for an incentive to keep playing.
It took about another 30 hands to decide it. Solaas went out in third place when his Nines fell to Lewis’ Kings. Lewis had little trouble finishing off Huber. On the final hand, Huber raised pre-flop with A-8 and Lewis called with Q-T. Lewis flopped trips and you can guess what happened from there.
2018 Aussie Millions Main Event – Final Table Results
1. Toby Lewis – A$1,458,198
2. Espen Solaas – A$909,699
3. Ben Richardson – A$1,177,103
4. Mike Del Vecchio – A$470,000
5. Stefan Huber – A$370,000
6. Chul-Hyon Park – A$300,000
7. John Schumacher – A$235,000