Phil Ivey Wins Aussie Millions $250K Buy-In

Poker pro Phil Ivey won the $250,000 buy-in Super High Roller event at the 2012 Aussie Millions early Sunday morning at the Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia. He outlasted a field of 16 players and Patrik Antonius heads up to take $2,130,200 USD.

Antonius scored for $1,278,120, while Gus Hansen raked in $852,080 for min-cashing.

Others in the field included Daniel Negreanu, Sorel Mizzi, Winfred Yu, Tony Bloom, Dan Smith, Jason Mercier, Paul Phua, Nick Wong, Sam Trickett, John Juanda, Richard Yong, Tom Dwan and Erik Seidel, who was last year’s champion.

The win was Ivey’s first since stepping away from major live poker tournaments in the aftermath of April’s Black Friday. Ivey was first spotted back on the tournament trail in November when he entered the Asian Pacific Poker Tour Macau main event.

In addition to his win on Sunday, Ivey made a deep run in the Aussie Millions main event, finishing 12th out of 659 entrants.

Widely considered the game’s best all-around player, Ivey now has more than $15 million in career tournament earnings — good for second on the all-time money list.

Despite his reputation, Ivey was blasted by Full Tilt Poker, his former employer, after he filed a lawsuit in the summer seeking $150 million for “injunctive relief, declaratory relief and damages.” He said at the time that he was “deeply disappointed and embarrassed” that Full Tilt had not paid its players. The company countered, saying he owed them money and he was only looking out for himself.

A few months later, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara accused the company of operating a Ponzi scheme to the tune of $440 million.

While his former colleagues Ray Bitar, Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson and Rafe Furst have been accused of defrauding players, Ivey’s name has never appeared in a Justice Department filing. He has also not been accused of a crime.

Both Antonius and Hansen were members of Team Full Tilt as well.

Here’s a look at the Player of the Year points for the Super High Roller.

1. Phil Ivey — 600 points
2. Patrik Antonius — 500 points
3. Gus Hansen — 400 points

Related Articles

SHRB: Mateos Outlasts Ivey To Win Bounty Event

Xixiang Luo Wins His Second Bracelet Of Summer

Negreanu Wins WSOP $50k PPC For Seventh Bracelet

Most Viewed Articles