Busting out of the Main Event doesn't mean one's time at the Aussie Millions Poker Championship has ended, and 86 players gathered around the felt to prove that as Event #13 - $1,100 Mixed Hold'em, kicked off. Just one of several side events going in the Crown Poker Room as the Main Event drew closer to the final table. Event #13 featured top pros such as Mel Judah, Dennis Huntly, Steve Topakas and Tony "Bond18" Dunst. When the dust settled after a whirlwind one-day event, it was Adam Peck who emerged with the AUD $25,000 top prize and the Aussie Millions Event #13 championship ring.
The mixed hold'em format combined limit and no-limit poker. Players played one level of limit poker, then switched over to no-limit, alternating between the two. The event kicked off with 5,000 chips per entrant and 30-minute blind levels. With only 86 entrants, nine players were due to the make the money as the last ten players consolidated to a single table:
Seat 1: Trung Tran - 45,000
Seat 2: Nick Putt - 30,000
Seat 3: Marlon Goonawardana - 54,000
Seat 4: Angelo Scicchitano - 9,000
Seat 5: Serghey Ershou - 38,000
Seat 6: Andrew Kanaridis - 28,000
Seat 7: Melanie Banfield - 40,000
Seat 8: Michael Guzzardi - 68,000
Seat 9: Adam Peck - 55,000
Seat 10: Taner Durust - 33,000
Melanie Banfield was the unfortunate player bubbling the payouts. Short-stack Angelo Scicchitano followed hot on her heels to the rail, busting in ninth place (AUD $2,150). Nick Putt quickly followed in eighth place ($3,010), and play then slowed to a more manageable pace.
Michael Guzzardi has made quite an impression at the Aussie Millions, running deep in several events. He finished in seventh place here, collecting $3,870 after he ran A-J into Marlon Goonawardana's A-K. The flop gave both players two pair as it came down A-5-5, but Goonawardana secured his lead when a king came on the turn. Guzzardi picked up a jack on the river, but it was too little, too late.
Andrew Kanaridis came to the final table as one of the short stacks, but lasted all the way to sixth place ($5,160) before succumbing to Trung Tran. Tran then busted in fifth ($6,880) after eventual champ Adam Peck crippled him in the last hand of a limit hold'em round, with Tran's last few chips going to Marlon Goonawardana.
Taner Durst picked up $8,600 for his fourth-place finish when his AdQd couldn't outrun Sergey Ershou's pocket kings. Ershou then became the third-place finisher with $12,900 when he and Adam Peck both turned straights, unluckily for Ershou, Peck had the top end of the straight.
Heads up play then began with Adam Peck (241,000) taking a slight lead against Marlon Goonawardana (189,000). With blinds running high, it only took a few minutes for all the chips to make their way into the pot. With no cap on the raises while heads up, Peck and Goonawardana got into a raising war preflop, then agreed to just move it all in. Goonawardana tabled Ah9c, only to see Peck show the dominating AcKh. The flop hit Peck as well, coming down 7dkd7s. Needing running nines to survive, Goonawardana watched as the turn and river came down 6d8c to give him second place and $18,430. Peck picked up $25,000 and the gold Aussie Millions Event #13 championship ring valued at over $4,000 for his long day's work.
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