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Aussie
Thursday, January 24, 2008 | Francis Lee
The Aussie Millions main event attracted a total of 780 players, a large mix of live and online professional players, and all the online qualifiers. The prize pool created by the $10,500 buy-in was $7,800,000AUD with first place prize set at over $1.5 million AUD. A large number of the poker super stars were in attendance, with Gus Hansen and Joseph Hachem taking centre stage.
The event was scheduled to be played over 5 days with the 780 players split into three groups, and then the survivors all played together from day two onwards. The final seven players would fight out the final table on the fifth day.
How the Aussie Millions Freeroll winners faired:
In the run up to the Aussie Millions this year 17 people won a $12,000 package to the Aussie Millions main event, giving them a seat in the event and cash for accommodation and travel. Some of these lucky winners won their seats to the Aussie Millions via free rolls ran by Poker Tournament Watch and our partner sites.
Seven of the 17 players made it to day two of the main event, Sebastiaan Van Kempen from Holland, Thierry Radovanovic, Cedric Segato, and Tony Pruvot from France, Kairit Leibold from Estonia, local man David Wyatt and the best finisher Michael Wolf from Germany. Michael the only player to finish in the money, coming in 70th place taking home $15,000 AUD.
If you fancy your chances at one of these big events check out our freerolls page for all the up and coming free rolls. The next big one is the Poker News Cup in Austria. Check out our free rolls page here for details.
Final Table Chip Rankings:
- 1st Michael Chrisanthopoulos $6,806,000
- 2nd Antonio Casale $1,995,000
- 3rd Nino Marotta $1,649,000
- 4th Erick Seidel $1,491,000
- 5th Alexander Kostritsyn $1,439,000
- 6th Peter Mobbs $1,357,000
- 7th Peter Ling $877,000
Final Table Summary
Peter Mobbs made an early move at the start of this final table by moving All In with 
He was dominated by Kostritsyn revealing 
but moved into an early lead as the Flop came down 
pairing his Jack. This lead didn’t last long as the 
came down on the Turn giving the advantage back to Alexander. Mobbs exit came when the 
fell on the river and he collected $225,000 in 7th place.
Alexander picked up the next big pot by eliminating Antonio Casale out in 7th place. Casale picked up pocket Jacks and raised the pot, Alexander re-raised this bet and Casale moved All In. Alexander called showing pocket Aces which held up as no Jack fell on the board.
Alexander continued his domination on this final table knocking Nino Marotta out of the event in 5th place. Alexander moved over the top of Marotta’s pre flop raise with 
and Marotta called with 
The Flop came down 
Marrota moved All In and Alexander called. The on the Turn improved Alexander’s hand further but also gave Marrota more outs. None of them came though as the 
confirmed his exit.
After all this early action we had to wait for nearly two hours before the next elimination hand came about. Peter Ling moved All In with 
and was up against Michael Chrisanthopoulos with 
The flop put Chrisanthopoulos into a firm lead coming down 
and the 
on the turn left Ling drawing dead with one card to come.
Even though Chrisanthopoulos held the massive chip lead at the start of this final table, he could only manage finishing 3rd as he was eliminated by Alexander, who was now the chip leader. Chrisanthopoulos got all his chips into the middle with but Alexander picked up pocket Tens and made the call. The board ran out 
giving Alexander a full house and the pot.
The heads up showdown started off with Alexander in the lead in the chip rankings on $9.9 million in chips compared to Erick Seidel’s $5.6 million. Heads up lasted for over two hours and it was the inexperienced Russian who won through against the 8 time WSOP bracelet winner.
The final hand came after both players saw a flop of 
Alexander check raised All In with 
and Siedel called with 
The 
and on the turn and river confirmed Alexander’s win taking the $1.65 million AUD first place prize and the Aussie Millions main event title.
Final Standings:
- 1st Alexander Kostritsyn $1,650,000
- 2nd Erick Seidel $1,000,000
- 3rd Michael Chrisanthopoulos $700,000
- 4th Peter Ling $500,000
- 5th Nino Marotta
- 6th Antonio Casale $300,000
- 7th Peter Mobbs $225,000
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