On Saturday night, the final table of the 2010 Aussie Millions Main Event began airing on GSN. The one hour Full Tilt Poker-sponsored show hit the airwaves at 9:00pm ET featuring eight players, including chip leader Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi, who had three times the stack of the next closest combatant. Mizzi, now with Titan Poker, rocked a Betfair logo during the broadcast of the January tournament.
The blinds kicked off at 10,000/20,000 and Paul Khoury and Grub Smith provided the call of the action. Kosta Varoxis made waves early, doubling up at the expense of Mizzi with pocket nines against A-J suited. The money went in on a flop of A-9-2, all spades, with neither player holding a spade. Varoxis 3bet all-in and Mizzi insta-called despite being just 4% to win the hand. The turn and river both bricked out and Varoxis doubled through to stave off an early exit.
Then, Steve Shelley check-raised all-in with pocket sevens on a flop of 5-8-3. Tyron Krost, who entered the final table as the second largest stack, made the call with pocket jacks and had Shelley dominated. The turn and river came an eight and a deuce, respectively, and Shelley was the first casualty of the 2010 Aussie Millions Main Event final table, picking up $115,000 for his efforts. He told GSN officials following his exit, “I don’t know if I went in with much of a strategy. I just played my natural game and had a few tips along the way.”
Annette Obrestad open-shoved all-in pre-flop with A-J offsuit and picked up a caller in Krost, who showed a wired pair of sevens. The flop of K-Q-7 gave “The Huntress” a straight draw and Krost a set, which became a boat when another king hit on the river. Obrestad earned $161,000 and explained to viewers, “I’m a little bit disappointed, but I just didn’t get any cards at the final table and I kind of felt like people were picking on me a little bit.”
Canadian Peter Jetten called a raise from Krost pre-flop with Q-10 of spades and Steve Friedlander came along with 7-5 from the blinds. The flop came 9-8-8 and the trio checked around to a jack on the turn. Krost held K-J for top pair, while Jetten had turned a straight. The Canadian bet 150,000 and Krost called to bring a five on the river. Jetten fired out a bet of 350,000 and Krost, showing restraint, just called to ship a pot of 1.3 million to Jetten. Tom “durrrr” Dwan and two women were shown in the stands cheering Jetten on.
After a raise and two calls pre-flop, Friedlander moved all-in over-the-top with pocket sevens. Varoxis, who began chugging a bottle of water while contemplating a call, looked him up with A-K to set up a race. The board filled out K-9-2-K-J, giving Varoxis trips and the win in the hand. Friedlander hit the rails in sixth place for $230,000 and told GSN officials, “I was happy that a couple of people busted in front of me because it put me in a better spot. I was just waiting for a hand to shove.” Friedlander had been nursing a short stack throughout the evening.
Entering next week’s finale of the 2010 Aussie Millions Main Event on GSN, Mizzi remains the chip leader. The conclusion of the high-stakes tournament, which emanates from the Crown Casino in Melbourne, will air on Saturday, August 7th at 9:00pm ET. Check your local listings for full details.