The Melbourne Poker Championship ran from August 1 to August 13 at the Crown Melbourne, Australia. The series featured 15 events, but the key highlight was A$1,650 buy-in Main Event, which attracted a field of 523 entries and took the prize pool to a whopping A$784,500. Outlasting the field in this event was the Indian-origin player Gautam Dhingra who won the event for A$156,051 after defeating Korea’s Hyung Tai Kim who settled for the runner-up prize A$124,424.
Dhingra won his first international poker title in the Event#7: A$1,000 + 100 NLH Six Max Shot Clock at the 2016 Crown Poker Championship for A$27,450 ($21,161). This grand victory gave him his second international title along with his career-best score. In this event, he topped the final table dominated by Australian pros, alongside American Jordan Westmoreland and Korea’s Hyung Tai Kim.
Finishing 3rd in the event was the well-known Australian pro – Julius Colman who won A$66,690 and took his live tournament earnings to over $1M. A total of 63 players were paid out and among them notable players included Minh Hau Nguyen (9th), Dennis Huntly (19th), Joel Williams (25th), Dean Blatt (26th), Jarred Graham (30th), and Petros Aristidou (49th) to name a few.
Final Table Payouts:
1st Gautam Dhingra – Australia – A$156,051
2nd Hyung Tai Kim – Korea – A$124,424
3rd Julius Colman – Australia – A$66,690
4th Simon Chahine – Australia – A$50,210
5th Jordan Westmoreland – USA – A$34,520
6th James Harketts – Australia – A$27,455
7th Adam Markiewicz – Australia – A$22,360
8th Andrew Zebrovius – Australia – A$18,830
9th Minh Hau Nguyen – Australia – A$15,690
10th Paul Altis – Australia – A$13,335
Tino Lechich wins the 5K Challenge High Roller (Event#8)
One of the most experienced poker players from Australia, Tino Lechich hasn’t tasted a live tournament victory since 2009. Finally, the dry spell for him came to end. He outlasted the 61-entry 5K Challenge High Roller event and took home a cool A$95,620 for his win. Lechich had to battle several heavy hitters including Robert Spano in heads up and Andrew Hinrichsen who finished 3rd.
Final Table Payouts:
1st Tino Lechich – Australia – A$95,620
2nd Robert Spano – Australia – A$60,850
3rd Andrew Hinrichsen – Australia – A$40,565
4th Henri Buhler – Scotland – A$31,870
5th Jordan Westmoreland – Australia – A$23,180
6th Luke Stokie – Australia – A$20,280
7th Zackery Lowrie – New Zealand – A$17,385
In addition to the Main Event and High Roller, 13 other events were also hosted at the Melbourne Poker Championship. Let us have a quick look at the big winners of those events:
Event#1
The festival had a great start with 740 entrants pouring in for A$300 + 50 No Limit Hold’em – Opening Event. The huge turnout took the prize pool to AU$185,000. A total of 72 players made money in this event with David Kelly pocketing the largest A$40,240 prize for his first-place finish.
Event#2
A total of 197 runners joined Event#2: A$160 + 40 NLH – Hyper Turbo for their share of A$31,520 prize pool. The winner was found in Alex Goulopoulos, who won the event for A$7,885 ($5,835).
Event#3 & #4
The event#3: A$500 + 50 8-Game was won by Troy Mclean for A$12,655 ($9,366) and Event#4: A$500 + 50 No Limit Hold’em – Deepstack was taken down by Idris Hassan for A$45,030 ($33,268).
Event#5 & #6
The event#5: A$350 + 50 Pot Limit Omaha – Terminator drew 174 runners for a prize pool of A$43,500 and it was Sean Ragozzini who took down the event for A$11,090 ($8,207). The event #6: A$500 + 50 No Limit Hold’em – 6-Max was taken down Khac-Trung Tran for A$30,975 ($22,977).
Event#7 	
Joel Williams topped Event#7: A$1,000 + 100 No Limit Hold’em – Six-Max Shot Clock for an impressive A$34,835 ($25,797), while Jesse McKenzie outlasted 189 players to win Event#9: A$500 + 50 No Limit Hold’em – Bounty for a cool A$21,625 ($16,055) in the top prize.
Event#11, #12 & #13
Adam Edwards won A$6,825 ($4,996) in Event#11: A$250 + 50 PLO Hi/Lo, while Event#12: A$300 + 50 NLH – Shot Clock Terminator was shipped by Timothy Sheehan for A$12,920 ($9,433). Shawn Mahiyuddin won A$4,063 ($2,966) in Event#13: A$350 + 50 NLH – Shot Clock Teams.