Poker Pros Making Early Splash in Aussie Millions Prelims

Poker pro Anna Wroblewski finished third in Event No. 2 at the Aussie Millions. (Image Courtesy of PokerLand.gr)

The preliminary events at the Aussie Millions poker tournament started over the weekend, kicking off the third running of this popular tournament series. Three events are now in the books at the Crown Casino in Melbourne, and much like the last couple of years, they have drawn some big names and numbers down under for some sun and poker.

Event No. 1 was a $1,100 buy-in No Limit Holdem event that pulled in 537 runners, including poker pros Kenna James, Jeff Lisandro, Mel Judah, Tony Hachem, Anna "The Poker Fairy" Wroblewski and Howard Lederer's favorite "freak" Jimmy "Gobboboy" Fricke. Unfortunately, the first event did not treat the big names kindly and saw all of them bust out on Day 1 with native son Vincent Wan coming out on top to take home AUD$142,302 (USD$125,439).

Event No. 2 again cost $1,100 to buy in, but this time the game was Pot Limit Holdem. Among the 189 entrants were several familiar faces making repeat appearances for this event like Judah, Wroblewski and Fricke. This event would be a little kinder to the pros as "The Poker Fairy" reached the final table and ended up placing third behind eventual winner Chris Chronis, who received AUD$60,398 (USD$53,490) for his win.

Event No. 3 literally just wrapped up thanks to the fact that it's actually early tomorrow morning in Melbourne right now. The $550 buy-in Limit Seven-Card Stud/Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo/Razz event surprisingly drew 96 players, considering that Razz is a game for sadists. Patience and skill finally paid off for Fricke, who won the event and put even more of his mark on the Aussie Millions. The online poker phenom finished second behind Gus Hansen in the championship event last year.

There are 13 more events to come so stay tuned to the Beat for more updates from down under (yes, we will get tired of saying "down under" before this event has finished). If you missed out on Bodog's qualifiers for the Aussie Millions, you can still win a $12,000 Bodog "Player's Choice" package to play in any land-based tournament with a buy-in of $10,000 or less.