Oliver Speidel Wins Aussie Millions Main Event

Oliver Speidel won the 2012 Aussie Millions Main Event, besting a final table of seven players to claim a $1.6 million first prize.

The final table was played at an extremely fast pace, at least in comparison to most major live poker endings. The final table took just seven hours to complete, with Speidel dominating the action nearly from start to finish.

In fact, Speidel was responsible for the very first elimination, when his QQ won a pre-flop all-in against the 77 of Yann Dion. After Bjorn Li left in 6^th, Speidel followed that up by eliminating Patrick Healy in 5^th place, leaving him with more than half of the chips in play with four players remaining.

Speidel’s run continued as he next took down Mohamad Kowssarie. With a short stack, Kowssarie moved all-in with A2, but Speidel held KK, which held up to knock out yet another opponent.

Now, with only three players left, Speidel was clearly the favorite to take down the Aussie Millions title. Mike Krstanoski had the short stack, and was the next to go, once again at the hands of Speidel. This time, Krstanoski actually got his money in with the best hand, as his K8 was ahead of Speidel’s 98. But a nine on the flop gave Speidel a lead he wouldn’t relinquish, ending Krstanoski’s run in 3^rd.

That left Speidel and Kenneth Wong in a heads-up match for the title. While Speidel had a huge lead, the battle was expected to last for a while, as both players were fairly deep stacked thanks to the rapid play at the final table. This held for a few hands, as Wong won some small pots to start his long road back to evening up the stacks.

But the tournament ended quickly just a few hands later. A preflop raising war ended with Speidel making a six-bet all-in, and being called by Wong. Though Wong was happy to play for all his chips with pocket nines, he was much less excited about his prospects when Speidel showed AA. Speidel’s rockets held up, earning him the Aussie Millions crown.

The victory was the culmination of an incredible series for Speidel. Not only did he win the Main Event, but he reached two other final tables during the Aussie Millions.

Here are the final table payouts for the Aussie Millions Main Event:

1^st Oliver Speidel $1,600,000

2^nd Kenneth Wong $1,000,000

3^rd Mile Krstanoski $610,000

4^th Mohamad Kowssarie $405,000

5^th Patrick Healy $300,000

6^th Bjorn Li $230,000

7^th Yann Dion $170,000