$10,600 Main Event
Jour 5 a débuté
2018 Aussie Millions
$10,600 Main Event
Jours 5
Event Info
Résultats
Event Info
Info Niveau
2018 Aussie Millions
Buy-in
10,600 AUD
Prize Pool
8,000,000 AUD
Entrants
800
Niveau
31
Blinds
80,000 / 160,000
Ante
20,000
Seat 7 – Ben Richardson (30, Australia), 4,870,000
An Aussie playing poker abroad for a living – he currently resides in Hungary – Richardson has over $400,000 in cashes, much of it coming in his home country at Aussie Millions, which he called the “best in the world.” He has three previous final tables here, including a sixth-place finish in the A$1,150 Opening Event a couple of weeks ago for A$40,990. He's not a high-volume player, as Richardson said he only plays about twice a week. One thing "Oppositeland" has going for him is the support of the local crowd, as he had plenty of cheering fans gathered to compete with the German contingent as Day 4 drew to a close.
Twitter: @oppositeland
Seat 6 – Stefan Huber (31, Switzerland), 1,975,000
Huber is based in Zurich and said he learned poker through “friends and sunny beers.” Judging from the makeup of his loud, heavily-imbibing rail, some of those friends must have been German. Nowadays, Huber can be found “wherever life takes me,” sometimes playing poker to the tune of $1.3 million in live cashes. A good chunk of that goes to the charity he co-founded, Raising for Effective Giving, which has raised more than $3 million toward good causes worldwide.
Seat 5 – Chul-Hyon Park (41, Australia), 1,670,000
A recreational player based here in Melbourne, “Charlie” Park works as a “tradie” – Aussie slang for a skilled worker – and learned the game playing with friends, and he said he still plays only casually. He has $24,000 in cashes all from small tournaments under A$400, so this Aussie Millions Main Event final table means “Super Soju” has already booked by far the biggest cash of his poker career. Put Crowded House on the karaoke if you want to get him going.
Seat 4 – Toby Lewis (28, UK), 5,835,000
At just 28, Lewis is the class of this final table in terms of live tournament earnings with over $3.2 million in cashes. The British pro was grinding €300 tournaments in 2009 until a huge win at EPT Vilamoura in 2010 for $594,568. Since then, he has posted final table finishes at several EPT and WPT events, most recently getting fourth at PCA in 2016 for $267,340. He said after playing and constantly talking poker to learn the game, he isn't playing quite as much nowadays, but he made his first final table in Australia count after notching several smaller cashes at Crown Melbourne over the years.
Twitter: @810ofclubs
Seat 3 – Mike Del Vecchio (29, USA), 3,065,000
“Mikey D” announced his presence on the tournament scene in a big way last year, when he added his name to the WPT Champions Cup at WPT Rolling Thunder. He nearly grabbed an even more prestigious title less than two months ago, when he finished third at WPT Five Diamond for a career-best $752,196. The Las Vegas-based pro made his first trip to Aussie Millions this year and has had a wild ride going from massive chip leader to shortest stack on Day 4 and now back to around average heading into the final table.
Twitter: @3kingme3
Seat 2 – Johan Schumacher (28, Belgium), 955,000
Schumacher might be a relative neophyte to live poker with just $8,761 in recorded cashes, but he said a different game is his specialty: Mario Kart. Don't challenge him on Bowser's Castle. Poker, he says, is something he only plays “after every moon eclipse” when taking breaks from dodging red shells. Jokes aside, the Belgian comes into the final table with the shortest stack but appears to be long on personality and certainly long on garish fashion, if his bright pink attire on Day 4 is any judge.
Seat 1 – Espen Solaas (28, Norway), 5,680,000
Known as “Essi” to his friends, Espen Solaas, is a young Norwegian based in London whose live breakout came in the €880 Norwegian Championship Main Event in 2015. There, Solaas won just over $100,000 and has since won about another $180,000 live, supplementing his online earnings, where he plays pot-limit Omaha cash games and has been grinding since he was a 17-year-old. Solaas showcased his PLO skills at last year's Aussie Millions, where he won the A$5,000 PLO event for A$100,815. He'll try to grab a second, much bigger title here in 2018.
Twitter: @EspenasApart
Who Will Win the 2018 Aussie Millions Main Event?
A record number of 800 players entered. Just seven of them are left standing. After six days of scintillating action, all-deciding all-ins and the "Fold of the Century", he stage is set for the 2018 Aussie Millions Main Event to reach its conclusion.
At 12:30 p.m. local time (2:30 a.m. CET / 8:30 p.m. EST/Saturday), cards are in the air for the seventh and final day of this prestigious and long-running event. All players have already locked up A$235,000 for their accomplishment but all eyes are set on the gigantic A$1.8 million first-place prize and the coveted ANTON Jewellery Main Event Champion bracelet that await the winner at the end of the night.
Final table seating and chip counts
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Espen Solaas | Norway | 5,680,000 | 113 |
| 2 | Johan Schumacher | Belgium | 955,000 | 19 |
| 3 | Mike Del Vecchio | United States | 3,065,000 | 61 |
| 4 | Toby Lewis | United Kingdom | 5,835,000 | 116 |
| 5 | Chul-Hyon Park | Australia | 1,670,000 | 33 |
| 6 | Stefan Huber | Switzerland | 1,975,000 | 39 |
| 7 | Ben Richardson | Australia | 4,870,000 | 97 |
Leading the way is Toby Lewis from the UK, who will start with 5,835,000 in chips. The 28-year old, also known under his online moniker "810ofclubs", has already racked up over $3.2 million in lifetime cashes and will be the odds-on favorite coming into this. His biggest cash to date came by winning EPT Vilamoura in 2010, which boosted his bankroll with $594,568. A win here would skyrocket the popular Lewis into Great Britain's top 10 all-time money winners.
Another 28 year old, Espen Solaas, sits closely behind Lewis in second place (5,680,000). Solaas, whose bread-and-butter is PLO cash games, had a monster Day 4 that launched him to the top. The Norwegian already boasts a Champion ring from the Aussie Millions after winning last year's A$5,000 PLO event for A$100,815. Solaas is followed by local favorite Ben Richardson (4,870,000), although the Australian currently resides in Hungary to play poker for a living. This is Richardson's fourth final table at the Aussie Millions and he will have the advantage of playing a home match.
Rounding out the final table are Mike Del Vecchio (3,065,000), Stefan Huber (1,975,000), Chul-Hyon "Charlie" Park (1,670,000) and Johan Schumacher (955,000). Del Vecchio, the Day 3 chipleader, is fresh off a monster score of $752,196 and the Las Vegas resident is no stranger to playing under the limelight. Huber will be supported by the boisterous German rail, who already made their voices heard on Day 4. The Zurich-based pro has pledged at least part of his winnings to REG charity. Park is the only recreational player at the table and will be the underdog going in, but being on the run of his life he has nothing to lose. Last but not least, Schumacher starts as the short stack, but the young Belgian (28) has the experienced Thomas Boivin, among others, supporting him.
There are 23 minutes left in Level 26, with blinds at 25,000/50,000 and a running ante of 5,000. Levels will be 90 minutes for the remainder of the tournament, with 15-minute breaks scheduled after each level. Hole cards will be broadcasted face-up on the Twitch live stream of runitup, and will be on a 30-minute security delay. The blog updates will be delayed as to follow the stream accordingly and not spoil anything.
The PokerNews team will bring you start-to-finish coverage and updates from every hand until the Main Event has reached its conclusion. Don't miss a beat as we crown a new champion tonight!
Shuffle Up and Deal!
All players have taken their seats and tournament director Joel Williams announces them one by one. Cards are in the air for the final table of the 2018 Aussie Millions Main Event!