Phil Ivey Wins $250k Aussie Millions Challenge for the Third Time

9 years ago
Phil Ivey Wins $250k Aussie Millions Challenge for the Third Time
14:46
02 Feb

Describing Phil Ivey as 'one of the best, if not the best, poker players in the world’ has gotten old. But there is hardly any other way to describe the man who has won and keeps winning just about everything there is to win in poker. Just a couple of hours ago, Ivey added yet another title to his collection, claiming the Aussie Millions LK Boutique $250k Challenge – for the third time!

Ivey won this tournament for the first time in 2012 and, after a small slip up in 2013, got back in the saddle by claiming the title in 2014 and now in 2015. This event has been organized only five times in the history of the Aussie Millions and Ivey was able to win it three times. For some, a massive achievement; for Ivey, just more proof that when it comes to poker, he simply wins!

Not many players out there are willing to put up a $250,000 buy-in and play against the best in the world. The event still gathered 25 entries and that was enough to create a massive prize pool of $6.1 million, $2,205,000 of which was reserved for the winner.

Not surprisingly, when the final table of eight was formed, there was not a single name or face at the table even a casual poker fan would not recognize. Richard Yong was the only ‘amateur’ at the table, but that doesn’t mean that much when the amateur was there on the heels of a victory in the $100k Aussie Millions Challenge.

Although eight players made it to the official final table, only five were getting paid. That meant that three more were going home with nothing and that the bubble was worth $550k, so it was one of those bubbles that really matter.

Dan Smith couldn’t find his way into the money, as he was sent to the rail by Ivey and his pocket Kings. Following in Smith's footsteps was Ike Haxton. This time around, it was pocket Kings for Haxton vs the ak of Ivey. The flop brought help for the ten-time WSOP bracelet winner when it came Ace-high, and another Ace on the turn meant Ike was drawing dead on the river.

It was bubble time and despite his recent great run, Richard Yong couldn’t find his way to the top in this event and was sent to the rail in sixth place with nothing to show for his efforts. The rest of the players were now in the money.

As the bubble burst, short-stacked Erik Seidel had nothing more to wait for and moved in with a3 . It wasn’t a great time for Seidel, however, as Doug Polk found pocket Kings and that was all she wrote for Erik, who earned $551,000 for his fifth place finish.

Scott Seiver followed shortly. He took his final stand check-shoving with middle pair and got a call from Mike McDonald holding a nut flush draw. ‘Timex’ connected with a flush on the turn and Seiver was sent to the rail, pocketing $735,000. Although a nice amount, it still wasn’t enough to cover his tournament buy-ins, as he re-entered three times.

Only minutes later, another player left his seat at the final table. This time it was Doug Polk who got his short stack in the middle after finding a suited Ace, but found himself dominated by McDonald’s Ace-Queen. The board brought no help despite a flopped flush draw and Polk exited in 3rd, earning $1,041,000 for his efforts.

That left Phil Ivey and Mike McDonald to battle it out for the title, with Ivey holding a lead of about one million in chips. It didn’t take long for the poker superstar to translate that lead into victory and bring Timex to his knees. Ivey earned $2,205,000 for this historical win, while McDonald received $1,592,000 for his runner-up finish.

Photo: Kenneth Lim, PokerStars Blog


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Ivan Potocki is the editor in chief and one of the lead news writers for PokerTube. His natural flair and enthusiasm for journalism combined with a deep poker knowledge make him an exciting contributor for PokerTube.The experience garnered playing poker professionally for several years and the knowl...Read more

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