Australian native Tyron Krost has taken home the title in the 2010 Aussie Millions Main Event, which emanated from the Crown Casino in Melbourne. Krost defeated a field of 746 players and earned AUD $2 million for his efforts.
Stephen Shelly was the first player eliminated from the eight-handed Aussie Millions Main Event final table. Shelly moved all-in over the top of a raise by Krost holding pocket sevens on a board of 8-5-3. However, Krost made the call and showed pocket jacks. Calling for running cards for a straight or a seven for a set, Shelly instead saw and eight and deuce come on the turn and river, respectively. He earned AUD $125,000 for his efforts.
Shortly afterward, the Aussie Millions Main Event lost a heavy-hitter, as Betfair pro Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad was ousted in seventh place, earning AUD $175,000. In her final hand, Obrestad open-shoved with A-J and received a call from Krost, who had a wired pair of sevens. The flop came K-Q-7, giving Obrestad a straight draw to a ten, and, as her rail chanted in earnest for one of her four outs to come, a five and king instead struck, sending Obrestad out. The 2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event winner will be a force to be reckoned with in her first WSOP on U.S. soil in 2010 and was the last woman standing in the 2010 Aussie Millions Main Event.
Steve Friedlander exited in sixth place, banking AUD $250,000. Friedlander committed his chips with pocket sevens pre-flop and was up against the A-K of Kosta Varoxis. Once again, pocket sevens would determine someone’s fate and, this time around, the board ran out K-9-2-K-J. The hand pushed Varoxis up the leaderboard and sent Friedlander packing. Peter Jetten was the next player to go. Jetten 4bet all-in pre-flop with K-5 and ran into Krost’s pocket tens. The board fell A-J-2-7-5 and Jetten earned AUD $350,000 for his efforts.
With Krost holding the chip lead, Varoxis hit the rails in fourth place. Varoxis called all-in on a flop of Q-9-7 holding A-6 for a prayer. Frederik Jensen held a wired pair of twos, which turned into a set when another deuce hit on the river. All was not lost for Varoxis, however, who earned AUD $450,000 for his fourth place showing.
Another Betfair pro at the final table, Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi, was bounced in third place from the 2010 Aussie Millions Main Event. Mizzi called off his chips pre-flop with pocket sevens and was up against the A-K of Krost. The flop came king-high and Krost never looked back, sending the dangerous Mizzi to the rails. Mizzi earned AUD $715,000, adding to an already impressive live tournament resume that includes a runner-up showing to Theo Jorgensen in a £5,000 Pot Limit Omaha contest during the 2008 WSOP Europe for £132,000 and a chop in the 2007 Irish Poker Open for more than €500,000.
Krost entered heads-up play as a 2:1 chip leader over Jensen. In the final hand of the Aussie Millions Main Event, Jensen put his tournament life on the line with K-6 on a flop of K-3-2. However, Krost held K-9 and had his opponent out-kicked. The board ran out 7-2 and, according to coverage found on PokerNews, chants of “Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!” echoed through the venue in celebration. Jensen picked up a healthy AUD $1.1 million for second place. Here’s how the final table stacked up. All payouts are given in Australian Dollars:
1st Place: Tyron Krost – $2,000,000
2nd Place: Frederik Jensen – $1,100,000
3rd Place: Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi – $715,000
4th Place: Kosta Varoxis – $450,000
5th Place: Peter Jetten – $350,000
6th Place: Steve Friedlander – $250,000
7th Place: Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad – $175,000
8th Place: Stephen Shelly – $125,000
This year’s attendance of 746 players marked a sizable 10% jump over 2009’s tally of 681. Last year, Australian Stewart Scott defeated the United States’ Peter Rho heads-up to earn AUD $2 million.