Jarred Solomon - Event #5 Winner
With a limit of eight players per table, the $1,100 H.O.R.S.E became the first event of the 2009 Aussie Millions to reach its maximum possible attendance. 96 players and two alternates spread across 12 tables in the busy Crown Poker Room to try their hands at the popular mixed-game tournament. The H.O.R.S.E event rotated through five different games: hold'em, Omaha hi/lo, razz, seven-card stud and stud hi/lo. Each game in rotation lasted for eight hands before moving on to the next game. The field for Event #5 was full of the cream of the Australian poker crop, including Grant Levy, James Potter, Mel Judah, Michael Guzzardi, James Obst and Billy "The Croc" Argyros.
The limit format and the two split-pot games made for slow going in the early levels, but some players managed to find enough bad luck to bust early on, with Grant Levy exiting at the hands of Ross Boatman, James Obst busting out after failing in his attempt to final-table consecutive events, and Billy "The Croc" Argyros saw his streak of consecutive cashes at the 2009 Aussie Millions stop at two when he busted early as well. He was joined on the rail by Lee Nelson, Maurie Pears, Martin Comer and Tino Lechich.
Eight players returned for final-table action the following day. Van Marcus arrived with the overnight lead, with Leo Boxell his nearest competitor. A mere five hours after the final table kicked off, it was David Solomon who stood alone clutching the AU$30,380 top prize and the Aussie Millions championship ring valued at over $4,000. Solomon started the day in the middle of the pack, as the final table chip stacks and seating assignments looked like this:
Seat 1: Joe Meissner -- 43,000
Seat 2: Jarred Solomon -- 65,000
Seat 3: Van Marcus -- 123,500
Seat 4: Leo Boxell -- 104,500
Seat 5: David Morton -- 38,500
Seat 6: Michael Guzzardi -- 98,000
Seat 7: Kerry Stead -- 81,000
Seat 8: Anthony McNamara -- 34,500
Leo Boxell came into the final table second in chips, but his fortunes quickly turned after losing a big pot in stud to Van Marcus, and Guzzardi having the king he needed in Stud hi/lo which sent him to the rail in seventh place taking $4,410 with him. Joe Meissner was the next to fall when he lost a coin flip to Michael Guzzardi to finish sixth ($6,370). Anthony McNamara took $8,330 for fifth place. Guzzardi picked up $10,290 for his fourth-place finish, marking his second final table of the Aussie Millions.
As Jarred Solomon and Van Marcus collected pot after pot, Kerry Stead was finally squeezed out in third place ($15,190) during the Omaha hi/lo round. Solomon took a big chip lead into heads-up play, but the back-and-forth contest lasted for nearly two hours before he was able to put away Marcus as the runner-up ($20,580). Solomon's first-place finish netted him $30,380 in prize money to go with his $4,000 Aussie Millions championship ring.
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Crown Poker Photo Gallery | PokerNews Introduces the Final Table | PokerNews Interviews Jarred Solomon
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