Good day live from the Aussie Millions in Melbourne Australia, today we bring you the Heads Up Championship of No-Limit Hold’em. This event will take place over the course of 3 days. Two of those days will be day 1’s “A” and “B” and then a day 2. Some of the notables sitting down at the felt today include David “Chino” Rheem (Nov. 9 Member), Alexander Kostritsyn, James Obst, and last years champ David Saab to name a few. The set up for this event is all players begin with 3,000 chips playing over 20 minute levels. In order to advance a player must win a best two out of three format, then that player will advance to round 2 and repeat the process however with 5,000 chips.
Round one went quite quickly considering the level of play here in the room, it would have been over much sooner had it not been for a marathon 3rd match between Bill Jordanou and Harold Olsen that eventually went to Bill Jordanou. Of the notables in round 1, WSOP “Main Event” Final Table member David “Chino” Rheem was unable to advance his first round match and is done. In a break from the norm here as soon as players are eligible to play each other in Round 2 they are allowed to do so, and while the marathon between Jordanou and Olsen was still playing some matches in round 2 had already completed on match. Before Jordanou and Stefan Jedicka played there first hand of match one Kostritsyn and Jarred Solomon had advanced to round 3, besting Warwick Mirzikinian and James Obst respectively.
As play is underway in round 2 as mention before we have 2 matches complete, and many deep into play. David Saab last years champ narrowly escaped round 1 and after getting short stacked in round 2 match 2 managed back to back “suck outs” to essentially put Cyril Jassinowsky and himself back to square one. As was the case in the start of round 2, a round 3 match is already completed in which Jarred Solomon has defeated Craig Bergeron to qualify for the quarter finals in 2 days time as well as make the money.
We have reached round 3 here tonight all four of our winners in this round will advance to the quarter finals, and also make the money. The match ups for round 3 are:
Alexander Kostritsyn vs. Stefan Jedlicka
Michael Wywrot vs. Alec Torelli
Jarred Solomon vs. Craig Bergeron
David Saab vs. Graeme putt
Of those matches Jarred Solomon as mentioned earlier has already won and advanced. Here in round 3 the players will start with 10k in chips each and play 20 minute levels. Defending Champion David Saab has dodged more then a few bullets today to get to round 3 however against Graeme “KiwiG” Putt he couldn’t make anything happen and is done, with Putt advancing to the Quarters. After dropping the first match to Stefan Jedlicka Alexander Kostritsyn is turning up the play as he gets far more aggressive in the second match hoping to force a match 3, and all the while playing with his giant portrait behind him as a former Aussie Millions Main Event Champion.
Alec Torelli is our next to advance to round 4 as he eliminated Michael Wywrot in 2 matches here today, after getting all the money in with Ac-Js vs. Qs-9c and flopping trip Jacks and improving to Jacks full by the river. Kostritsyn found a way to win match 2 forcing a 3rd and deciding match following a few well played hands and a few lucky ones. However in the end Kostritsyn couldn’t get it done vs. Stefan Jedlicka and was eliminated after flopping top pair of Kings against Jedlicka’s bottom two which turned full.
With round 4 already underway prior to the completion of the Kostritsyn Jedlicka match we will now see these men square off for the right to advance to Day 2, and the chance to play for the $100,000AUD prize and the Gold Ring. The match ups are:
Jarred Solomon vs. Graeme Putt
Stefan Jedlicka vs. Alec Torelli
With Torelli and Jedlicka starting after Solomon and Putt it was a little surprising to see Torelli win the first match while Solomon and Putt were still on match 1. In the level players will start with 10k in chips same as level 3, along with the same blind structure. Torelli was able to make short work of Jedlicka and has won both matches prior to Jarred Solomon winning the first match of his quarter final, and with that Alec Torelli is off to Day 2. With Solomon up 1-0 vs. Putt he dared speak the words that he had not lost a match here today, and we have to wonder if he is still riding the high of his H.O.R.S.E. win the other day.
Shortly after making that comment, Solomon went from having a strangle hold on match 2 to playing a 3rd and deciding match, one has to wonder if he spoke to soon? However Solomon managed a “EPIC SUCK OUT” after getting all his chips in so quick some wondered what was happening especially after he tabled 6x-6x on a Kx-10x-2x board! Putt turned over 10x-9x leaving Solomon with a 2-outer to double up and take a 3-1 chip lead, which is mind boggling considering called off all his chips with 2 over cards :-(, but to his relief and the crowds astonishment the Six of Clubs fell on the river. Solomon eliminated Putt a few hands later to move on to Day 2 action and a chance at the championship.
Welcome back to The Crown Poker Room, when we left you yesterday we were down to just 2 players coming out of day 1a action Jarred Solomon and Alec Torelli. Now today (day 1b) another 32 players will look to be one of two that join Torelli and Solomon, and we have some day 1a players re-buying in today including David “Chino” Rheem and Alexander Kostritsyn, as well joining them will be some well known faces including FullTiltPoker.com pro’s Chris “Jesus” Ferguson & Erik Seidel, also high stakes player Masa Kagawa, and Aussie well known Grant Levy.
Chris Ferguson drew John Tabatabai to start and found himself quickly down 0-1, and was unable to get even a single match win as Tabatabai took him out in straight matches. Masa Kagawa and David “Chino” Rheem also won their first round matches in quick fashion and are on to round 2. After getting through round 1 Alexander Kostritsyn was unable to at least duplicate yesterday’s finish as he found himself eliminated in round 2 by David Gent. “Chino” Rheem I’m sure thought after getting through round 1 had his misfortune behind him from yesterday, however he is off to a bad start in round 2 match 1. After the conclusion of a big hand between Rheem and Eddy Sabat, Emad Tahtouh commented, “Hey, its APT versus APPT.” Rheem looked up and asked what he meant by that. After explaining that Sabat was the APPT Macau champion Rheem quipped, “I wish I knew that before I bluffed 1,500 on the river!”
David Gent is already off to round 3 while we still have a round 1 match still going on and only in the 2nd match between Andrew Scott and Dmitriy Ivanteev, with Scott up 1-0. Thus far we have seen 3 players move on to round 3 (David Gent, Michael Pesek and Koray Turker) all the while Scott and Ivanteev are still on match 2 that is truly a marathon. Following an impressive round 1 win Chino Rheem was eliminated in round 2 after a couple doubles to fend off elimination, however he could never make anything of the chips he would acquire and finally was ousted.
As all round 2 matches have been concluded except for the one that has yet to start, one has gotta feel for John Tabatabai who was the first player to win round 1 against Chris Ferguson yet has had to wait for the “Marathon” as were calling it. Winners in Round 2 are David Gent, Michael Pesek, Koray Turker, Jason Gray, Jan Suchanek, Eddy Sabat and Emad Tahtouh. Just as round 3 matches were beginning for those able the “Marathon” has ended, it took the better part of four hours of play but Scott was able to finish off Dmitriy Ivanteev. Scott now has to go straight into his round 2 match with no break against John Tabatabai. Jason Gray was the first player to advance to round 4 and the money after defeating Koray Turker in quick order.
All the players to win this round will receive minimum $20,000AUD. David Gent for the third time today won his match in quick fashion besting Eddy Sabat to advance along with Michael Pesek, the two will begin round 4 play shortly. With 3 of the 4 round 3 matches complete the “Marathon II” is underway as Scott is still 0-0 vs. Tabatabai which is a round 2 battle. However Tabatabai got fortunate to have an Ah-Kh vs. Scott’s Ad-10d getting all the money in and winning match 1 after the board ran 3h-3d-4s-8s-6s. However Tabatabai was able to avoid a 3rd match against Scott after he called Scott’s all-in in hopes of hitting a flush rivered top pair, and with that Tabatabai is given a short break prior to round 3 against Jan Suchanek.
While Gent has taken a 1-0 lead in round 4, Tabatabai and Suchanek have just started round 3. Tabatabai has yet to lose a match today and after finding himself short stacked in match 1, managed a well played comeback to take a 1-0 lead. While Pesek managed to even up with Gent 1-1 after making a tough call only to find it a bad one. As Pesek and Gent play match 3 of Round 4, Tabatabai was able to win his round 3 in fairly fast fashion and is on to round 4 and in the money vs. Jason Gray. Pesek took a tough break after getting all his money in with Ah-Kd against David Gent’s Js-Jh and to Pesek’s misfortune the board ran out 4x-10x-9x-2x-8x and with that Pesek collect his $20,000AUD. David Gent will move on to tomorrow’s action and play either Alec Torelli or Jarred Solomon.
After holding Jason Gray on the ropes through a couple double ups John Tabatabai was able to keep his unbeaten run going as he took a 1-0 lead in Round 4 following a hand in which his Kx-10x out flopped Gray’s Ax-5x. However the turn gave Gray a huge lead as the 5x fell, but as has been the story of Tabatabai’s day he hit the 10x on the river. After getting short stacked Tabatabai continued his hot streak as his Kx-4x when running 4’s against Gray’s Jacks. Following that hand Gray managed multiply doubles to stay alive in Match 2 however he couldn’t fend of the hot and tough John Tabatabai who finally won match 2 when is Ah-10s got lucky to beat Ac-Kc of Jason Gray. As Tabatabai advances to tomorrows semi-finals made props have to go out to Jason Gray who played so well but just couldn’t win the hands you should win.
When we left yesterday John Tabatabai and David Gent advanced to join Alec Torelli and Jarred Solomon for today’s Semi-Finals. The losers of round 5 will both receive $40,000AUD while the 2nd place finisher will get $60,000AUD and our winner today will receive $100,000AUD and the Championship Ring. It happened so fast we wondered if the round had started yet but Tabatabai is already up 1-0 and still undefeated The first match between Jarred Solomon and Alec Torelli has been delayed as Solomon is still in the Main Event. As play continues between Gent and Tabatabai, we have seen the unbeaten finally taste defeat as Gent evened the match and we head to a 3rd and decisive match. While holding a slight lead in match 3 Gent and Tabatabai got all the chips in following the turn card on a board that read:
Board: 8s-2h-9d-3h
Tabatabai: Qh-10h
Gent: Kd-9h
With that Tabatabai was left with 8 cards to a flush, 3 cards to a straight and any of the 3 Q’s or 10’s left. With 17 live outs Gent was hoping for a perfect little black 2! However the river was the 8h, doubling Tabatabai and giving him a stranglehold in match 3. Shortly after that hand Gent shoved all-in preflop with Ks-3c only to find Tabatabai holding 4’s and after a board of 6c-9s-9c-Ad-2s ran out Gent is done. For his efforts David Gent will finish in 4th and receive $40,000AUD.
Following Solomon’s elimination from the Main Event he and Alec Torelli have begun there round 5 match up, and after Solomon shoved all-in preflop with 6-5 off suit one has to wonder if he is still reeling from busting in the “Main’. If he is he’ll have to sort it out quick as he’s down 0-1 to Torelli following his 6-5 off losing to Kd-8d. Solomon came and went here today, unfortunately it seems the Main Event and the Semi-Final in the Heads Up event were just to much. With that Alec Torelli and John Tabatabai will play for all the marbles or at least $40,000AUD worth of marbles.
We have seen quite a miss-step by the tournament staff here tonight as, in this event the players have been using the regular weekly tournament chips the Crown Poker Room possess. Now that we are at the Finals the staff thought it a good idea to switch to the “Special Tournament (Aussie Millions & APPT)” chips, following this smooth change over after several hands it was discovered by the players that there were an extra 10k in chips on the table. It took some time to decide how to approach the situation but in the end the players decided along with tournament staff to graciously re-start the whole thing!
Following all the fun John Tabatabai found himself in a quick chip advantage in match 1 and holding Kx-10x called Torelli’s all in bet with 8’s. A King on the turn ended match 1, and left Tabatabai with a 1-0 lead. After just a few hands of play in match 2 Torelli found himself in nearly the same situation as the previous match, around 5k in chips (players started with 20k) and holding a fairly above board hand for heads up play (Kd-10d). So as in match 1 Torelli stuck it in preflop, and yet again Tabatabai made the call. Torelli was hoping the K-10 could do for him as it had down for Tabatabai, this time he would find himself behind preflop as Tabatabai held onto a Ah-7h.
To no one surprise the flop fell Tabatabai’s way as it hit 9h-7c-7d, leaving Torelli with nothing but running cards to double up. However to Tabatabai’s dismay the turn was the Queen of Clubs and with that Alec Torelli had gotten one of the running cards he would require. But it was not to be as the river came down the Eight of Hearts.
Following that fateful Eight Alec Torelli has been swept out in 2nd place but will leave here with $60,000AUD. Leaving John Tabatabai as our Winner and $100,000AUD richer! One has to wonder if Chris “Jesus” Ferguson feels better now after having been swept by Tabatabai in the first round. Out of all 5 Rounds Tabatabai was forced to a 3rd match only once! Now that is impressive. From all of us at Poker Prop have a great night!
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