At the
Aussie Millions nothing tops the championship event, but one prelim, the $100,000 buy in pot-limit/no-limit hold'em event, sure comes close. The buzz surrounding the tournament feels similar to the All-Star Game and the Homerun Derby - the Game garners the lion's share of the attention, but you know there's a pretty good chance the Derby could steal the show.
The 2006
Aussie Millions $100,000 buy-in event, aka the Poker Homerun Derby, featured an exclusive field of some of the game's wealthiest, and most feared, players. In the midst of a huge crowd, 17 participants entered the tournament area, but the number soon became 18.
Originally having no intentions of playing, John D'Agostino changed his mind after hearing about the expected $1 million first-place cash prize. With the event already under way, D'Agostino managed to pull together the necessary funds, and tournament officials allowed him to enter the action on the third hand of play.
With a $1.8 million dollar prize pool, and $1 million going to first place, the seating for the 18 participants was as follows:
Table 28
Seat 1 - Daniel Negreanu
Seat 2 - Masaaki Kagawa
Seat 3 - Phil Ivey
Seat 4 - Gus Hansen
Seat 5 - Erik Seidel
Seat 6 - Roland De Wolfe
Seat 7 - Michael Sampoerna
Seat 8 - Jason Gray
Seat 9 - Kevin O'Donnell
Table 31
Seat 1 - Jeff Lisandro
Seat 2 - Erick Lindgren
Seat 3 - John D'Agostino
Seat 4 - Joe Reina
Seat 5 - David Benyamine
Seat 6 - Lee Nelson
Seat 7 - John Juanda
Seat 8 - Tony G
Seat 9 - Tony Bloom
Play began at a $500-$500 blind level. Along with the pot-limit preflop/no-limit postflop betting structure, the tournament also utilized a speed poker format - 30 seconds to make a decision, with each player receiving two 30-second extensions (the "Time Breaker" buttons) at both the preliminary, and final tables.
The $100,000 starting stacks meant no casualties in early play, and, by the end of the first two levels, all 18 players remained. Bu the increased action of the speed poker format began to take a toll on some of the players' stacks. Midway through the third level, Kevin O'Donnell became the tournament's first elimination when Michael Sampoerna hit a double gutterball straight, cracking O'Donnell's set of deuces. The hand elicited a collective groan from the packed rail.
After having his pocket kings bested by Gus Hansen's flopped set of nines, a short-stacked Roland De Wolfe made the second exit of the day as his all-in preflop move with pocket sevens fell to Sampoerna's paired queen.
Erick Lindgren switched to table 31 following the two eliminations, and the Full Tilt pro, who climbed the leader board during level two, continued accumulating chips. A 6
2
starting hand netted Lindgren over $50,000 from Daniel Negreanu and Jason Gray, and gave the crowd something to cheer about, when quad sixes came on the 6
6
3
10
6
board.
Several hands later, and with all the money in on the Q
9
3
flop, Michael Sampoerna (J
8
) eliminated Negreanu (K
3
) when the 10
turn completed his straight and the 10
river offered "Kid Poker" no help. The fans applauded Negreanu as he walked off the tournament area in 16th place.
The increasing blinds led to an increased rate of eliminations as John D'Agostino (15th place), David Benyamine (14th place), Lee Nelson (13th place), Gus Hansen (12th place), and last year's $100,000 event champion John Juanda (11th place) all busted in levels four and five.
As the field dwindled, relative unknown Masaaki Kagawa dragged a number of pots en route to outlasting some of the biggest names in the game. Kagawa (A
Q
) doubled up through Erik Seidel (A
Q
) with a rivered flush, then won another all-in hand during the same level when his flopped set of treys topped Phil Ivey's pocket tens.
Ivey rebounded from the Kagawa loss by making Jason Gray the tournament's 10th-place finisher when his paired 10 held against Gray's straight and flush draw.
At 6:45 p.m., only moments after Erik Seidel avoiding a ninth-place finish by cracking Tony G's pocket aces with a rivered set of eights, Jeff Lisandro dropped on the final table bubble. In a hand against Joe Reina, and with $75,000 already in the pot, Lisandro called all in on a Q
7
6
4
9
board. Lisandro showed the Q
2
for top pair, but Reina won the hand, and eliminated Lisandro in ninth place, with the 6
4
two pair.
After a one-hour dinner break, and with the action moved to the Crown Casino's feature table set, the final nine players returned for a shot at the $1 million first place cash prize.
Twenty minutes into play, Ivey notched up another elimination as he sent Reina home in eighth place. Fellow Team Full Tilt member Seidel then provided the next bustout when his A
K
paired a king on the flop to beat Tony Bloom's pocket sevens.
As the lone big name pro not associated with Full Tilt, Tony G made his contribution to trimming the pool of potential $1 million winners with his sixth-place elimination of Sampoerna. In a dramatic hand, Sampoerna (J
10
) paired his 10 on the flop against Tony G's pocket treys, but the crowd erupted as the 3
turn gave Tony G the pot winning set.
Easily one of the most recognized pros in the entire
Aussie Millions tournament, Ivey's run at the $1 million prize ended when his A
7
failed to improve against Kagawa's A
Q
.
Despite the loss of hometown favorite Tony G, who exited minutes after Ivey - a victim of Erik Lindgren's trip aces - the predominately Australian crowd remained packed along the rails of the feature table.
In appreciation of the support, Erick Lindgren treated the enthusiastic fans to a round of beer.
"I'd like 31 beers," Lindgren told tournament director Brett Jones. "One for me and 30 for the rail."
At the start of level 11, Kagawa became the first player to earn a paycheck at the $100,000 event. Short-stacked, Kagawa re-raised all in with the A
7
but exited in third place ($250,000) when Seidel's pocket sixes held.
Already making a strong showing at the final table, Team Full Tilt now guaranteed itself a second consecutive
Aussie Millions $100,000 event winner.
With the play switched exclusively to no limit, Lindgren moved all in preflop and Seidel called. As fans leaned over the rails for a closer look, Lindgren flipped over the K
K
, giving him a commanding lead over Seidel's J
J
. The A
3
2
A
10
board brought no miracle cards, and Lindgren took the chip lead.
Twenty minutes later, Seidel called an all-in preflop raise and his K
J
put him in a hole against Lindgren's A
7
. The A
9
8
flop gave Lindgren top pair and Seidel a flush draw, but the $100,000 event ended with a 6
turn and 5
river.
Seidel earned $550,000 for his runner-up finish.
"It feels great but I'm pretty worn out," Lindgren smiled after his second career $1 million win. "This is the first time I've given 100 percent the whole way through the tournament in a long time. Other times I've been phasing out or whatever…I don't know, it just really feels like I tried hard and the cards went my way."
Lindgren, joined by fellow Full Tilters Gavin Smith and Jeff Madsen, thanked the local fans for watching the 12-plus-hour tournament.
"The people down here are just really great," Lindgren stated, "They're real polite, and the whole experience has been cool."
Quote of the Day: "Erick Lindgren and Erik Seidel have very different styles. As you can see Lindgren wears his cap backwards and it's slightly faded. While Seidel wears a newer cap, facing forward" - Kenna James, final table MC, on the different "styles" of the two heads-up opponents.
