Aussie Millions -- David Oppenheim Wins $25,000 Shootout Invitational

David Oppenheim is used to playing with the best poker players in the world and winning against them in cash games in Las Vegas. He took that model of success down under and won the Aussie Millions Full Tilt Poker $25,000 Invitational Shootout on Friday at the Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia. He defeated a talented final lineup that included reigning World Series of Poker Europe champion James Bord, Howard Lederer, Patrik Antonius, Barny Boatman, and Eli Elzra.

Each of the six finalists had to survive through the first three heats (two players advanced from each preliminary heat) in this made-for television event to advance to the final day. There were originally 24 players that were invited to play in the tournament. Here are the results from the three preliminary heats:

Heat 1: Boatman and Oppenheim survived at a table that also featured Carlos Mortensen, James Akenhead, Tony G, Annette Obrestad, Mike Matusow, and Gus Hansen.

Heat 2: Bord and Antonius survived at a table that featured Andrew Feldman, Jonathan Karamalikis, Billy Argyros, Phil Ivey, Nikolay Evdakov, and David Benyamine.

Heat 3: Lederer and Elezra survived at a table that featured Erik Cajelais, Van Marcus, Erick Lindgren, Andy Bloch, John Juanda, and Tom Dwan.

Final Heat Recap:

The six finalists brought the chip stacks they ended their preliminary heats with over to the final table. Here was seating chart with chip counts when play began on the final day:

Seat 1: Howard Lederer — 153,700
Seat 2: Barny Boatman — 44,000
Seat 3: James Bord — 132,400
Seat 4: Patrik Antonius — 67,600
Seat 5: David Oppenheim — 156,000
Seat 6: Eli Elezra — 46,300

The first elimination didn’t come until the second level of play at the final table and it happened when Bord raised to 4,500 preflop under the gun. Oppenheim made the call and then Elezra reraised all in from the button for 7,600. Bord made the call and Oppenheim got out of the way. Their cards:

Bord: Q 10
Oppenheim: A Q

Board: 9 8 4 5 J

Elezra was eliminated on the hand in sixth place and he took home $30,000 in prize money, which was all profit in the invitational event. The battle for fifth place was intense as well, with multiple hours transpiring and multiple players doubling up before the next player fell.

On that fateful hand, Bord moved all in for 63,000 from the small blind preflop and Patrik Antonius made the all-in call. Their cards:

Bord: 10 5
Antonius: A 4

Board: K 3 2 6 4

Antonius was eliminated on the hand and he took home $40,000. That left the final four players in the event to duke it out and the speed of play increased at that point. The more rapid rate of eliminations began when Boatman took his leave in fourth place, which was good for $50,000.

He moved all in preflop for 65,000 and Oppenheim made the call with fortunate holdings. Their cards:

Oppenheim: A A
Boatman: K 6

Board: A 10 5 8 7

The final three featured some heavy hitters from the Full Tilt lineup of professionals. The first one to fall amongst them was Team Full Tilt pro Howard Lederer. He moved all in preflop for 143,000 and Oppenheim made the call. Their cards;

Oppenheim: A 7
Lederer: 10 9

Board: A 6 2 K 7

Lederer took home $80,000 in third place and the final heads-up match was set. Oppenheim took a healthy lead into the match with 461,000 and Bord held the short end of the stick with 169,000. Bord climbed to a quarter of a million in chips right out of the gates but the final came to an abrupt end in the first half hour.

On the final hand of the invitational Oppenheim raised to 30,000 preflop and Bord reraised all in for 244,000. Bord made the call and they flipped over their cards.

Bord: A 8
Oppenheim: A 10

Board: A 5 2 2 6

Bord was eliminated by the board that brought him no help and he took home $150,000 as the runner up. Oppenheim took home the top prize worth $250,000 and he grew his lifetime earnings above $1.5 million. Card Player TV caught up with Oppenheim during his journey to the $25,000 Full Tilt Poker Invitational title and you can catch the video below:

Final-Table Results:

1: David Oppenheim — $250,000
2: James Bord — $150,000
3: Howard Lederer — $80,000
4: Barny Boatman — $50,000
5: Patrik Antonius — $40,000
6: Eli Elezra — $30,000

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