It's Final Table day at the APPT Aussie Millions Poker Championship Main Event!
A week ago the first of 648 entrants took their seats with 30,000 chips and a dream. Seven players remain and the dream of winning the southern hemisphere's premier poker title is now a stark reality. The thrilling final of the$100k Challenge played out yesterday and that gave the finalists a day to prepare and rest up for the big day.
Brian Rast has been in this sort of situation before and his experience will count for a lot. He'll need all that experience too as he comes into the day as the shortest stack. James Rann survived being directly out of position to both Rast and defending champion Ami Barer for long periods on Friday. He finds himself to Rast's direct right again today but he has a chip leading stack to aid him this time around. Here's how the final seven line up:
The 2015 Aussie Millions Final Table
Seat
Player
Chips
1
Joel Douaglin
3,935,000
2
Lennart Uphoff
3,595,000
3
Richard Lyndaker
1,200,000
4
Manny Stavropoulos
2,115,000
5
James Rann
4,085,000
6
Brian Rast
1,185,000
7
Anthony Legg
3,290,000
Play is due to begin at 12:15PM local time but there may be a short delay to settle everyone into the TV set. Join the PokerNews reporting team back here soon. For now though, read the final table player profiles below and get to know today's competitors.
It took a while but the Aussie Millions final table lost its first player of the day, and it was the unlucky Richard Lyndaker who departed after having his aces cracked.
He'd three-bet shoved on Lennart Uphoff the hand before and got the raise through; the next hand saw him three-bet to 385,000 and call all in after Uphoff four-bet jammed on him.
Uphoff:
Lyndaker:
Lyndaker couldn't have done any more and was powerless to a board rolling out to hand his opponent a set.
Anthony Legg couldn't wait too long to make a move and he did so from under the gun for his last 575,000. Joel Douaglin, who did the damage to Legg's stack before, was the only caller from the next seat.
Legg:
Douaglin:
The board ran to make Douaglin a flush after flopping trips.
The local lad, who's a welder by profession, took home AU$235,000 for a week's work.
Brian Rast has been eliminated in fifth place and went around and shook all the hands of the remaining players before he left the TV set.
He'd opened to 240,000 from the button and Lennart Uphoff called from the big blind to see an flop appear. Rast continued for 295,000 and Uphoff check-called to the turn.
Rast moved all in when checked to and Uphoff snap called.
Rast: for a flush draw.
Uphoff: for a slowed played pair of aces.
The river was the , missing Rast's flush draw and sending the pot the German's way. His commanding lead just got a whole lot greater.
James Rann open-shoved for approximately 2.2 million from the button and action folded to chip leader Lennart Uphoff in the big blind. He looked at his cards and then spiked in some chips to signify a call.
Rann:
Uphoff:
Rann's pocket pair was dominated, and the flop didn't do him any favors. The turn meant Rann needed a deuce on the river, and in a desperate attempt for luck shouted, "One time."
It wasn't in the cards though as the blanked on the river. Rann, the start-of-the-day chip leader, missed and had to settle for fourth place and AU$430,000.
The lively ride of Joel Douaglin has come to an end in third place after he fell to Lennart Uphoff.
The man from New Caledonia raised to 560,000 from the small blind and Uphoff called from the big blind before a flop was dealt. Douaglin was first to act and he moved all in for 2,105,000!
It was a big bet and had Uphoff thinking for a couple of minutes. He called though and the cards were flipped up.
Douaglin: for second pair.
Uphoff: for top pair.
The board ran out to improve the young German's hand to two pair.
The players are taking a ten-minute break before heads up play will commence.
In what would be the last hand of the tournament, 20-year-old Lennart Uphoff limped from the button and Manny Stavropoulos checked his option from the big blind. Stavropoulos then check-called a bet of 250,000 on the flop, which led to the on the turn.
Stavropoulos led out for 650,000, Uphoff called, and the completed the board on the river. Stavropoulos bet again, this time 850,000, and Uphoff announced that he was all in for what looked like 2 million more. Stavropoulos called with the for a jack-high straight, which bested the ten-high straight of Uphoff.
The German finishes as runner-up of the 2015 Aussie Millions Poker Championship Main Event, but thanks to the heads-up deal he'll take home AU$1,214,500.
The 2015 Aussie Millions Poker Championship Main Event began with 648 runners, but today the final seven returned to the Exhibition Hall at Crown Melbourne to battle down to a champion. Like the Australia Open match between Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic being played across town, there were many ups and downs, but in the end it was hometown hero Manny Stavropoulos who took home AU$1,385,500 and a shiny gold bracelet.
The first elimination of the day came in Level 29 (40,000/80,000/10,000) when Richard "nutsinho" Lyndaker got his stack all in holding the and was up against the of German Lennart Uphoff. The flop delivered Uphoff a set, and the bad beat ended up sending Lyndaker home in sixth for AU$160,000.
One level later, Anthony Legg was crippled after losing a big flip to Joel Douaglin, and then a short time later he shoved his last 575,000 all in under the gun holding the and was called by the of Douaglin. The flop left Legg in need of a miracle, but any chance of that happening went out the door when the turn left him drawing dead.
The next player to go was two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Brian Rast, who began the day as the short stack. In Level 31 (60,000/120,000/20,000), Rast opened for 240,000 from the button and Uphoff called from the big blind to see a flop of . Uphoff check-called a bet of 295,000 and then checked the turn. Rast shoved all in and Uphoff snap-called with the , which was ahead of his opponent's . Rast needed a spade on the river, but it wasn't in the cards as the blanked. Rast took home AU$315,000 for his fifth-place finish.
After dinner, James Rann fell when his failed to overcome the of Uphoff in an all-in preflop situation, and then Douaglin busted when he got his stack of 2.105 million all in on a flop holding the only to run into the of Uphoff. Neither the turn nor river helped Douaglin, and he finished in third place for AU$630,000.
Uphoff began heads-up play with a nearly 2-1 chip lead over Stavropoulos, who had played a snug game up to that point. Before long, Stavropoulos, a well-known player at Crown Melbourne often found at the $5/$10 no-limit hold'em cash game tables, was able to assume the lead, and it was at that point the two agreed to a deal. Stavropoulos locked up AU$1,285,000, Uphoff AU$1,214,500, and AU$100,000 was left on the table to along with the gold bracelet.
The two jostled back and forth for a bit, but eventually Stavropoulos pulled out to a chip lead before finishing the job in Level 33 (100,000/200,000) in a straight-over-straight hand. Uphoff finished as runner-up for AU$1,214,500, while Stavropoulos earned AU$1,385,500 and the title of Aussie Millions champions.
As Stavropoulos' supporters, of which there were many, cheered after the win: "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie. Oi! Oi! Oi!"
Main Event Final Table Results
Place
Player
Prize (AU$)
1
Manny Stavropoulos
$1,385,500
2
Lennart Uphoff
$1,214,500
3
Joel Douaglin
$630,000
4
James Rann
$430,000
5
Brian Rast
$315,000
6
Anthony Legg
$235,000
7
Richard Lyndaker
$160,000
*Denotes heads-up deal
That does it for PokerNews' live coverage from the Aussie Millions Main Event, but our Live Reporting Team will return on Monday at 2:30 p.m. local time for the conclusion of the AU$250,000 Challenge, which you can follow in our live blog.