CROWN MELBOURNE Australia, 20 January, 2008 – The quest for Poker's Crown jewel and the richest prize in the Southern Hemisphere came down to seven players at the 2008 Aussie Millions Poker Championship ‘Main Event’ - FINAL TABLE.
The seven players returned to the final table of the 2008 Aussie Millions Main Event at the Crown Casino in Melbourne on Sunday, all chasing the champion's trophy and the $1.65 million first prize. These survivors of an original 780-player field included a former car salesman, 2 Crown Satellite winners and an eight-time WSOP bracelet winner, and each had the same thing on his mind – victory.
Michael Chrisanthopoulos was the main obstacle for the others, as he started the day with a huge chip lead over the rest of the field.
The chip stacks were as follows as play began:
Seat 1: Alexander Kostritsyn - 1,439,000
Seat 2: Peter Mobbs - 1,357,000
Seat 3: Antonio Casale - 1,995,000
Seat 4: Erik Seidel - 1,491,000
Seat 5: Nino Marotta - 1,649,000
Seat 6: Michael Chrisanthopoulos - 6,806,000
Seat 7: Peter Ling - 877,000
Peter Mobbs wasted no time going for the double up only to be beaten by Alexander Kostritsyn, and exiting in seventh place ($225,000). Local favorite Antonio Casale was next to fall, again at the hands of Kostritsyn and he went home in sixth place ($300,000). That hand also gave Kostritsyn a monstrous chip lead. It was just a few hands later when Nino Marotta tangled with Kostritsyn for the last time, and he was eliminated in fifth place ($400,000). After Marotta's elimination, nearly two hours elapsed before the next major hand.
Former chip leader Chrisanthopoulos was the next to fall when he next tangled with Kostritsyn and was eliminated in third place ($700,000). Erik Seidel, who had chipped up without knocking out any of the others, remained to battle against Kostritsyn for the title, with Kostritsyn taking the chip lead into the battle:
Alexander Kostritsyn — 9,925,000
Erik Seidel — 5,685,000
After nearly two hours of heads-up play, the young Russian knocked out the American superstar to claim his first Aussie Millions win. Kostritsyn's jacks held up to eliminate Seidel as the runner-up ($1,000,000), giving Kostritsyn the 2008 Aussie Millions Main Event title, worth AUD $1,650,000.
The final-table results and payouts were as follows:
- Alexander Kostritsyn - AUD$1,650,000
- Erik Seidel - AUD$1,000,000
- Michael Chrisanthopoulos - AUD$700,000
- Peter Ling - AUD$500,000
- Nino Marotta - AUD$400,000
- Antonio Casale - AUD$300,000
- Peter Mobbs - AUD$225,000
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