The action started with a raise to 50,000 on the button by Hun Lee and Martin Kozlov in the small blind three-bet the pot for 174,000 total. Jorryt van Hoof double-checked his cards, went into the tank and eventually folded. Lee glanced at the remaining stack of Kozlov and reraised, Kozlov called all-in for around 300,000.
Martin Kozlov:
Hun Lee:
Kozlov was in need of broadway cards but the flop was not what he was looking for. The followed on the turn and the on the river was a blank.
"Did you have kings?" Lee asked van Hoof, who nodded.
It was the third PLO final table at the Aussie Millions within one week for Kozlov and he takes home A$155,760 for his efforts
Hun Lee and Najeem Ajez clashed once more and a pot of 616,000 had emerged to the turn. Ajez moved all in for 584,000 and Lee eventually tossed in calling chips. The rail of Ajez once again exploded while the cards were turned over.
Najeem Ajez:
Hun Lee:
Ajez was behind but had plenty of outs with his wrap and flush draw. Sure enough, the appeared on the river and that improved Ajez to a flush, suddenly sending Lee to the far-shortest stack with three players remaining.
Hun Lee opened to 65,000 and Jorryt van Hoof raised pot to 225,000. Najeem Ajez had 180,000 behind after putting in his big blind and called. Lee folded.
Najeem Ajez:
Jorryt van Hoof:
The board ran out clean coming and Van Hoof's eights held to send Ajez to the rail in third place.
In a limped pot to the flop, Jorryt van Hoof checked and Hun Lee made it 50,000 to go. Van Hoof raised it up to 225,000 and Lee raised the pot to 755,000, then called the shove of the Dutchman to end up as the player at risk.
Hun Lee:
Jorryt van Hoof:
The most classic of PLO setups provided top set for van Hoof while Lee had a wrap. It was all over once the on the turn gave van Hoof an unbeatable full house and that made the river a formality. Lee, who had been the dominating chip leader for the late stages of Day 1 and most of Day 2, has to settle for second place and a payday of A$297,360.
On his first visit to the Aussie Millions, van Hoof takes home the ANTON Jewellery Championship ring and a payday of A$467,280 for his efforts. A full recap of today's action is to follow.
On the week that Jorryt van Hoof got engaged to his fiancée Sophie, the Dutchman now has a second reason to celebrate after victory in the 2020 Aussie Millions A$25,000 Pot Limit Omaha Challenge for A$467,280 (~US$322,400).
He defeated start-of-day chip leader Hun Lee heads-up to notch the second-biggest cash of his career. Meanwhile, Lee, who had dominated proceedings all day, came unstuck three-handed and would have to settle for second place and his biggest live score to date as well.
2020 Aussie Millions A$25,000 Pot Limit Omaha Challenge Results
Place
Player
Country
Prize (in AUD)
Prize (in USD)
1
Jorryt van Hoof
Netherlands
A$467,280
$322,400
2
Hun Lee
Australia
A$297,360
$205,164
3
Najeem Ajez
Australia
A$198,240
$136,776
4
Martin Kozlov
Australia
A$155,760
$107,467
5
Stephen Chidwick
United Kingdom
A$113,280
$78,158
6
Fabian Brandes
Austria
A$99,120
$68,388
7
Farid Jattin
Colombia
A$84,960
$58,618
Winner's Reaction
Van Hoof, who moved atop his country's all-time money list in mid-December, was overjoyed with happiness shortly after the victory.
"I mean the engagement is probably more important for me," Van Hoof told PokerNews. "I'm very happy and I totally love her!"
The 37-year-old is most known for his third-place finish in the 2014 WSOP Main Event, but says he only recently switched to tournaments a few months ago.
"I've switched to playing tournaments, and I'm running pretty good. So I can't complain!"
The dynamic throughout the tournament was a strange one, with Lee holding a commanding lead for much of the contest.
"Preferably you have the chips yourself," said Van Hoof. "But if you can't have them yourself, in general, it's just really good to have a big chip leader.
"It's because in the process he's busting out players, of course, so there's huge value if he continues to do that. But also I guess it certainly created a strange situation. I like to think I have a fairly good plan when I'm playing and pay a lot of attention to different stack sizes.
"But this was new territory for me. I liked it, because it's where people aren't used to it."
Reaching the Final Table
Sylvain Loosli, Marc Rivera and Xue Wu all departed before the first break, with Lee moving even further ahead. The final table would be reached in the third level of the day, with Stephen Chidwick picking up his second elimination of the day, eliminating Tam Truong in tenth.
This elimination boosted Chidwick into second in the counts, but Lee still led with more than double Chidwick's stack.
Don't Stop Lee Now
That wasn't enough for Lee though, who eliminated Benjamin Pockett and bubble boy Miroslav Sheynin in quick succession. Sheynin had flopped the nut straight on a three-heart board, but Lee had flopped the nut-flush to send him to the rail.
Another flopped nut-flush for Lee was enough to send 2019 runner-up Farid Jattin to the rail in seventh for A$84,960, and he made it four in a row with the subsequent elimination of Fabian Brandes in sixth, rivering two pair to crack the Austrian's aces.
The remaining players at the final table were hamstrung in the face of such an onslaught but knew they would need to make a move if they were to close the gap to Lee. Despite coming into the final table second in chips, Chidwick crucially failed to pick up any momentum and was eliminated by Jorryt van Hoof.
After dinner, both Najeem Ajez and Kozlov would double through Lee, but he would once again take a hold on proceedings with the elimination of Kozlov.
Ajez and Van Hoof Battle Back
However, what had seemed like a stroll for Lee suddenly looked in doubt after two doubles from Ajez saw Lee relinquish his hold on the chip lead. Suddenly, the three-handed dynamic was more fluid, with both Ajez and Van Hoof enjoying spells in the chip lead.
Lee would double back through Ajez, with Van Hoof then finishing Ajez off, bringing the tournament to heads-up. Van Hoof held the lead, but a "sick cooler" where Lee turned a full house after Van Hoof flopped trips saw Lee move into the lead.
Not for long though, as Van Hoof battled back into a 2:1 chip lead of his own, and at the second time of asking finished things off after flopping a set and turning a full house to leave his opponent drawing dead.
This concludes the PokerNews coverage of the first High Roller Challenge tournament at the 2020 Aussie Millions, but there are still plenty more tournaments still to be covered here in Melbourne!