This article first appeared in the Mar/Apr 2011 issue of World Gaming magazine.
Unlike many other sports and pastimes, the poker world goes into full swing during December and January. Three major poker tournaments took place during these months and two of these were in Australia, an established country on the Asian poker scene. World Gaming takes a look at the results.
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Main event:
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7 to 12 December 2010
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Runners:
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289
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Total prize money:
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AU$1.734 million
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Winner:
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Jonathan ” MONSTERxDONG ” Karamalikis, AU$459,510
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Special mentions:
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6th Eddy Sabat
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AU$79,765 (2008 APPT Macau Champion)
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8th Roland de Wolfe
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AU$50,285
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9th Daniel Negreanu
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AU$36,415
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Jonathan Karamalikis’ tournament winnings now exceed US$1 million. This includes prize money from winning the 2010 ANZPT Sydney High Roller event and the 2010 Victorian Poker Championship High Roller event, and from his second place finish in the ANZPT Melbourne High Roller event.
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Main event:
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8 to 13 January 2011
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Runners:
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1,560
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Total prize money:
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US$15.132 million
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Winner:
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Galen Hall, US$2.3 million
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Special mentions:
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11th Chris Moneymaker
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US$130,000
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In this series 38 players paid US$100,000 to participate in the super high roller event, which was won by Eugene Katchalov who collected US$1.5 million. Team PokerStars pro Daniel Negreanu was runner up, collecting US$1 million, which saw him return to world number one on the all-time tournament earnings list.
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Main event:
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23 to 29 January 2011
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Runners:
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721
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Total prize money:
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AU$7.21 million
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Winner:
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David Gorr AU$2 million
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Special mentions:
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8th Patrik Antonius
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AU$130,000
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33rd Erick Lindgren
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AU$30,000
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34th Howard Lederer
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AU$30,000
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The super high roller tournament held at the 2011 Aussie Millions was the highest buy-in tournament ever held. Each of the twenty players parted with a cool AU$250,000 to play in this turbo-style tournament. The winner was well-known poker pro Erik Seidel who pocketed an impressive AU$2.5 million.
Englishman Sam Trickett had a great Aussie Millions winning the AU$100,000 Challenge for an AU$1.525 million payday and placing second in the AU$250,000 super high roller for another AU$1.4 million. His AU$2.675 million dollar profit on these two events eclipsed the AU$2 million won by main event champion David Gorr.
