Sixteen players entered the AUD $250,000 Super High Roller Event at the 2012 Aussie Millions. The field was chalk full of brand name poker pros, including the likes of Jason treysfull21 Mercier and Tom durrrr Dwan, but in the end, Phil Ivey (pictured) emerged victorious and collected a top prize of AUD $2 million (USD $2.1 million). Three players finished in the money and Ivey won his first major tournament since capturing a WSOP bracelet in 2010. Given the fiasco at Full Tilt Poker, it’s been a tumultuous last nine months for Ivey, who reemerged onto the live poker scene in November.With five players remaining, Sorel Imper1um Mizzi bet out on a flop of 6-J-J with two diamonds. Gus Hansen, who checked initially, raised and Mizzi responded by pushing all-in. Hansen called all-in and when the cards were turned over, Hansen showed J-5 for trips, while Mizzi held A-10. The turn left Mizzi drawing dead and Hansen doubled up.
Shortly thereafter, Mizzi’s run in the Aussie Millions Super High Roller Event came to an end. He was all-in with a pocket pair in his final hand, pocket nines, but ran into the tens of Ivey. Mizzi flopped a gutshot straight flush draw, but couldn’t connect on the turn or river and left empty-handed.
Ivey held the chip lead four-handed with 1.4 million, while Hansen was nursing the short stack at nearly 600,000. The latter doubled through Patrik Antonius with pocket eights against A-7 to stay alive. Not as fortunate was Daniel Negreanu (pictured). Bidding to become poker’s all-time money leader with a win in the Super High Roller Event, the PokerStars pro bowed out in fourth place and was the tournament’s bubble boy.Hansen was then all-in with K-8 on a flop of J-4-K for top pair, but Ivey woke up with J-4 for bottom two pair. According to coverage found on PokerNews, “Hansen rolled his eyes when he seen his predicament, and his cause wasn't helped by the Js turn, as Ivey made a boat.” Third place was worth AUD $800,000.
Ivey held a slight chip lead on Antonius as heads-up play began and extended it until victory was his. In the final hand of the $250,000 Super High Roller Event at the Aussie Millions, Antonius was all-in with K-3 against Ivey’s A-Q. The flop of 3-6-5 made things interesting, as Antonius spiked a pair, but a queen on the turn propelled Ivey into the lead with a pair of queens. Ivey needed to fade a three or king on the river to earn the title, and an eight hit to end the tournament. Antonius took home AUD $1.2 million for second place.
The win was significant for Ivey, who moved into second place on poker’s all-time money list with $16.0 million, according to the Hendon Mob. Ivey now trails only Erik Seidel (pictured), who entered the 2012 Aussie Millions at $16.8 million. As if that weren’t enough, at USD $2.1 million, Ivey scored the largest tournament cash of his career. In 2008, he took down the World Poker Tour’s L.A. Poker Classic for $1.6 million. His final table in the 2009 WSOP Main Event was worth $1.4 million and, in 2005, Ivey navigated the field of the Monte Carlo Millions for $1 million.Others who participated in the Super High Roller were Winfred Yu, Tony Bloom, Dan Smith, Paul Phua, Nick Wong, Seidel, Sam Trickett, John Juanda, and Richard Yong. The high-octane tournament was designed to last one day and Seidel took down the event in 2011.
Over on PokerNews, one reader gave his take on Ivey’s win, his first major tournament victory following Black Friday: “Phil Ivey back in the saddle winning $2 million in Australia puts into the spotlight what life after Black Friday is going to be like for the top American pros: Large wins outside of the U.S. as the rest of the world's poker economy grows strongly while the U.S. poker landscape stalls, mired in the DOJ poker prohibition.”
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