Dzmitry Urbanovich wins 2020 Aussie Millions $2,500 H.O.R.S.E. ; 1,665 entries in the opening event

It’s again that time of the year when the Aussie Millions, the most prestigious and awaited poker festival in the Southern Hemisphere, takes place.

Scheduled to take place from January 4 – 24 at the Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia, the 2020 Aussie Millions features 23 championship poker tournament events.

Dzmitry Urbanovich takes down Aussie Millions $2,500 H.O.R.S.E. for $28,755

Dzmitry Urbanovich was hailed as the first ever winner of an ANTON Championship Ring at the 2020 Aussie Millions after defeating Julien Sitbon in a grueling four-and-a-half hours of heads-up battle.

In agreement with the heads-up deal made between the two final players, Urbanovich took home AU$28,755 (US$19,964) for his first place finish at Event#2: $2,500 H.O.R.S.E.

Urbanovich is no tourist in running deep at the Aussie Millions. He notably came in third-place last 2017 at theAU$5,000 Pot Limit Omaha event and second-place two years ago in the AU$1,150 Turbo Shot Clock event.

The Aussie Millions H.O.R.S.E. event has always been known to attract some of the world’s most established Mixed Game winners. Although the number of players in the field came short of last year’s numbers there were still notable big names that were in attendance. This included Billy “The Croc” Argyros, Rob Campbell, Oliver Gill, Benny Glaser, Joe Hachem, Phil Hui, and Bryce Yockey.

The final table consisted of eight players with only six of them guaranteed of an in-the-money spot. Alan Wilson (Australia) was the short stack in the table but would eventually maneuver himself to a 6th place finish. It was former Main Event winner Ari Engel (Canada) who first busted out a little over an hour of the final table followed by the event’s bubble boy Simon Chahine (Australia).

After the elimination ofRainer Quel (5th),Jan Suchanek (4th) and Vasco Zapantzis(5th) only two players remained:Dzmitry Urbanovich andJulien Sitbon.

Urbanovich came into the heads up battle with close to a 4-to-1 chip deficit against Julien Sitbon’s 500,000 stack. However, Urbanovich was able to fight back and hold on for tournament life as blinds and limits steadily increased. Eventually, he was able to snatch the the chip lead after making a straight in Limit Hold’em.

The tournament ended in a Seven Card Stud hand after short-stacked Stibon got it in with Jacks on the third street.

Urbanovich had made kings up on sixth street and Stibon wasn’t able to improve on his final card. Stibon took home AU$27,000 (US$ 19,964) for his second place finish.

Final table payouts

1 – Dzmitry Urbanovich – Poland – AU$28,755* – USD$19,964*
2 – Julien Sitbon – France – AU$27,000*
3 – Vasco Zapantzis – Australia – AU$14,175 USD$9,781
4 – Jan Suchanek – New Zealand – AU$10,395 USD$7,173
5 – Rainer Que -l Australia – AU$7,560 USD$5,216
6 – Alan Wilson – Australia – AU$6,615 USD$4,564

Deal made*

Large field at the Aussie Millions Opening Event

The 2020 Aussie Millions festival started with the first flight of its AU$1,150 Opening Event last Saturday, January 4.

This event features five starting flights and promises A$1 million prize pool guarantee. Just last year the same event (2019 Aussie Millions Opening event) became the largest-ever tournament at Crown Casino with a staggering 1,752 entries.

Although 2020 Aussie Millions Opening Event will not be topping last year’s number of participants, it is still looking at a massive field with 1,665 total entries (162 paid) and a staggering AU$341,325 up top.

As of now, four out of the five starting flights have reached its conclusion with 141 players advancing to Day 2 of the event.

Some notable players who made it to day 2 as chip leaders are H.O.R.S.E runner up Julien Sitbon, and former WSOP Main Event champion Martin Jacobson.

Top chips counts (Flights 1 to 4)

David Tang – 277,300
Zack Lowrie – 213,800
Julien Sitbon – 200,000
Gautam Dhingra – 170,900
Martin Jacobson – 169,900
Izuchukwu Oparaocha – 169,400
Vikrani Gupia – 161,700
Naim Mouchaileh – 147,200
Daniel Clemmet – 140,900
Amir Minagar – 139,600
Roland Rokita – 135,600
Egor Bulychev – 122,100

The best is yet to come

The biggest events of the 2020 Aussie Millions will only kick off next week. Below the preview:

January 13-14, 2020 AU$25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha
January 15-16, 2020 AU$25,000 Challenge
January 17-18, 2020 AU$50,000 Challenge
January 17-24, 2020 AU$10,600 Main Event
January 22-23, 2020 AU$100,000 Challenge

Stay tuned with Somuchpoker for updates from the 2020 Aussie Millions.