Though the 2015 Aussie Millions Poker Championship Main Event began with 648 runners at Crown Melbourne, but it was just seven who played to battle down to a champion. This year it was homeland hero Manny Stavropoulos who won the championship, and took home AU$1,385,500 along with a shiny gold bracelet.
Richard Lyndaker was the first to be eliminated at Level 29 when he went all in with against the of German Lennart Uphoff. The flop delivered a set to Uphoff with cards running and Lyndaker ended with bad beat at sixth position. Then, it was the turn of Anthony Legg at Level 30 as he was left crippled after losing a big flip to Joel Douaglin. The next player to go was two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Brian Rast in Level 31 who started the match with short stack, and still took home AU$315,000 for his fifth-place finish. Later, James Rann fell when his failed to overcome the of Uphoff in an all-in preflop situation, and Douaglin was also left busted by Uphoff.
In the heads-up match between Uphoff and Stavropoulos, former began had a 2-1 chip lead over the later. However, the two agreed to a deal wherein Stavropoulos locked up AU$1,285,000, Uphoff AU$1,214,500, and AU$100,000 was left on the table to along with the gold bracelet. Both of them bounced back and forth in couple of hands, and eventually Stavropoulos ruled with a chip lead before finishing the job in Level 33 (100,000/200,000) in a straight-over-straight hand. Uphoff finished as runner-up for AU$1,214,500, while Stavropoulos earned AU$1,385,500 and the title of Aussie Millions champions.
New Zealander Graeme Putt has taken first place in the Australian Poker Hall of Fame Event after winning his seat in a freeroll sit-and-go for Australia Poker Hall of Fame inductees. His previous achievements include victory in the 2004 Victorian Poker Championships Main Event for $33,250, but this win is Putt’s first recorded live cash since 2013. For his victory, Putt takes home $32,000, a championship ring as well as his own $3,000 bounty.
LK Boutique $250,000 Challenge, the last event of the 2015 Aussie Million saw 25 entries. It was again the great Phil Ivey going back-to-back in the richest tournament in the Southern hemisphere. Ivey managed to maneuver his way through this field of the poker elite to make the final table second in chips, eliminating Dan Smith, Isaac Haxton and Richard Yong as he cruised through to a heads up contest with Mike McDonald. This is for the third time that Phil Ivey has won this prestigious event.