Aussie Millions 2020: Michael Addamo wins AU$50K Challenge, Farid Jattin wins the AU$25K!

This year’s Aussie Millions has already seen champions crowned and piles of cash change hands. In recent days, some of the biggest events on the schedule have concluded and we have the names of all those winners to bring you.

AU$50K Challenge – Winner: Michael Addamo

The AU$50K Challenge has always been one of the most keenly awaited events, and this year’s edition brought 82 players together to contest the total prize pool of AU$3,977,000 (US$2,737,548). The field was awash with quality, as some of the biggest name in the poker world fought for a prestigious Aussie Millions title.

By the time the action had got down to 10 players, the money bubble had burst at the expense of the 11th placed Michael Soyza and players were able to refocus their efforts on taking the title. Kristen Bicknell was sent to the rail in 10th, before Yong Wang, Erik Seidel, Rainer Kempe and Timothy Adams walked the same lonely path. Cary Katz and Sam Greenwood were busy prospering, with the latter busting Kempe and Adams in the same hand.

Michael Addamo soon joined them by busting Ben Lamb in 5th, before dropping Greenwood in 4th to surge into a strong chiplead. Kisacikoglu would also end up falling to Addamo to give the Australian a 7 to 1 chiplead heads up. It was not a smooth stroll to victory however, as Catz fought back to keep things interesting. After an hour, Catz had come close to levelling things up, but he was never able to seize the chiplead and his early momentum then began to fade. Catz’s slide was completed when he flopped top pair against the set of Adammo.

The final payouts are as follows:

1st – Michael Addamo (Australia) – A$1,073,790 (US$738,234)
2nd – Cary Katz (United States) – A$715,860
3rd – Orpen Kisacikoglu (Turkey) – A$477,240
4th – Sam Greenwood (Canada) – A$397,700
5th – Ben Lamb (United States) – A$318,160
6th – Timothy Adams (Canada) – A$278,390
7th – Rainer Kempe (Germany) – A$238,620
8th – Erik Seidel (United States) – A$198,850
9th – Yong Wang (China) – A$159,080

AU$25K Challenge – Winner: Farid Jattin

The AU$25K Challenge attracted 169 entries, which helped generate a prize pool of AU$4,056,000 (US$2,792,373) for this highly anticipated event. As with the $50K Challenge, some top pros pulled up chairs, making for some high-quality action throughout.

Star quality was still shining through in the surviving field as the action got down to the final 7 players. High-roller specialist Steve O’Dwyer was still in the hunt, as was Sam Greenwood and Kenny Hallaert. The early elimination of Hallaert saw Farid Jattin climb to a commanding chiplead of 4 million chips. Jattin’s roll continued as he eliminated Jack Sinclair from the tournament with pocket aces against pocket queens shortly after. The heater then continued as he busted Sam Greenwood and Masato Yokosawa in the same hand, when his pocket nines was able to survive the heat of ace-queen and ace-king.

Three-handed play did not last long, as Steve O’Dwyer’s efforts to chip up hit some resistance. Once again, Jattin woke up with pocket aces to bust a player, getting the action to heads-up with a 7.5 to 1 chiplead. His opponent, George Wolff quickly doubled up though, and the players decided to look at the numbers before shaking hands on a deal.

The final payouts are as follows:

1st – Farid Jattin (Colombia) – A$983,646* (US$678,900*)
2nd – George Wolff (United States) – A$821,273*
3rd – Steve O’Dwyer (Ireland) – A$466,440
4th – Sam Greenwood (Canada) – A$344,760
5th – Masato Yokosawa (Japan) – A$243,360
6th – Jack Sinclair (United Kingdom) – A$172,380
7th – Kenny Hallaert (Belgium) – A$131,820

AU$1,150 Accumulator – Winner: Michael O’Grady

The AU$1,150 Accumulator attracted a significant field of 867 players, which was enough to push the prize pool total up to AU$888,675 (US$611,950). Of those who began the event, just 90 would go on to cash.

As the final table was assembled to determine the champion, a few names were recognisable to those who know the Australian tournament regulars. Eugene Portlen and Vasco Zapantzis remained in contention, alongside China’a Yang Zhang.

Once the UK’s Danny Ball had been bounced out of the tournament, Zhang was left to battle against Australia’s Michael O’Grady for the title. Zhang is no stranger to going deep in tournaments, but his experience was unable to swing the momentum in his favour, as O’Grady was able to wrestle the victory away.

The final payouts are as follows:

1st – Michael O’Grady (Australia) – AU$188,860 ( US$130,030)
2nd – Yang Zhang (China) – $115,530
3rd – Danny Ball (United Kingdom) – $71,100
4th – Jason Pritchard (Australia) – $53,323
5th – Vasco Zapantzis (Australia) – $35,550
6th – Ian Jennis (Australia) – $27,910
7th – Eugene Portlen (Australia) – $22,220
8th – Fabian Gumz (Austria) – $19,110
9th – Michael Seymour (Australia) – $16,000

Other results

Event 8 – AU$2,500 Shot Clock NLH Six-Max
Entries: 258
Prize Pool: AU$580,500
Winner: Toby Lewis – AU$148,030

Event 7 – AU$1,500 NLH Deep Freeze
Entries: 646
Prize Pool: AU$839,800
Winner: Natalia Rozova – AU$142,244

Event 13 – AU$2,000 (US$) NLH Bounty
Entries: 403
Prize Pool: AU$725,400 (US$)
Winner: Richard Kellett – AU$139,725

Event 16 – AU$1,150 (US$) NLH Terminator
Entries: 465
Prize Pool: AU$476,625
Winner: Jason Hardie – AU$56,755

Event 17 – AU$1,150 (US$) Hyper NLH
Entries: 295
Prize Pool: AU$302,375
Winner: Michele Guzzardi – AU$62,930