Aussie Millions Poker Champ Crowned, $1.65 Million Prize

The Aussie Millions Poker Championship Main Event came to an end this weekend, awarding Alexander Kostritsyn the first place prize of $1,650,000. A field of 780 players took part in the event.

Heads-up action came down to the eventual champion, Alexander Kostritsyn, and 8-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, Erik Seidel. The final two competitors spent two hours facing off, as Kostritsyn went into the battle with a dominating chip lead of 9,925,000 over Seidel's 5,685,000.

Taking a step back, Friday's Aussie Millions action saw 22 competitors moving on to Saturday's Main event tables. By the end of Saturday, only 7 poker players remained, creating the final table. These included (in order of chips leads) Michael Chrisanthopoulos, local poker player Antonio Casale, Nino Marotta, Erik Seidel, Alexander Kostritsyn, Peter Mobbs and Peter Ling.

Oddly enough, Kostritsyn had whittled his way through the field without directly sending any opponents to the rail. In the final table, however, Kostritsyn became much more aggressive, responsible for sending Mobbs, Casale, Marotta, Chrisanthopoulos, and of course Seidel, to the cashier's booth.

The final 7 ended in the following order, with respective cash winnings:

1st: Alexander Kostritsyn - $1,650,000
2nd: Erik Seidel - $1,000,000
3rd: Michael Chrisanthopoulos - $700,000
4th: Peter Ling - $500,000
5th: Nino Marotta - $400,000
6th: Antonio Casale - $300,000
7th: Peter Mobbs - $225 000