The 2012 Aussie Millions $250,000 Super High Roller had Phil Ivey's name on it. Ivey managed to disappear completely from live tournament poker, boycotting the 2011 WSOP, and every fan was hungry for a Phil Ivey sighting. The sighting turned into an eyeful as Ivey did what he does best.
Ivey surfaced at the APPT Macau in November - without cashing - but he made up for it when he hit the Aussie Millions. He finished in 12th place in the Main Event for a $100,000 and then took down the Super High Roller event where he cashed for the biggest score of his career.
The Super High Roller brought 16 players to the competition; it has such a huge buy-in the weak of heart need not enter. The top three spots would be paid with a bubble of $800,000.
Erik Seidel took down last year's Super High Roller event with Sam Trickett filling the position of runner-up. The entry list and finishing order of the 2012 Super High Roller event looked like this:
Phil Ivey
Patrik Antonius
Gus Hansen
Daniel Negreanu
Sorel Mizzi
Winfred Yu
Tony Bloom
Dan Smith
Jason Mercier
Paul Phua
Nick Wong
Erik Seidel
Sam Trickett
John Juanda
Richard Yong
Tom Dwan
The first one to leave the competition was Tom Dwan - Gus Hansen took him out of action. After Nick Wong was eliminated, Seidel went bust during Level 5. He was knocked out by the $100,000 Challenge winner Dan Smith with blinds at 3,000/6,000/500. Seidel's pocket eights were mowed under by Smith's jacks.
Next to go was Winfred Yu who left in sixth place and Sorel Mizzi was right behind him in fifth. The next player to leave would be the 'big bubble' of the year player. It was down to Patrik Antonius, Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, and Gus Hansen.
Negreanu picked up the 
in the big blind and was all-in for about 750,000 with the blinds at 25,000/50,000/5,000 level when he raised Antonius' 100,000 button raise. Antonius made the call with the 
. The board ran out 
.
Hansen collected $800,000 for his third place finish after going all-in on the 
flop holding the 
. Ivey sat with the 
. The turn brought the death knell to Hansen's tournament hopes when the 
fell to give Ivey a full house. The river brought the 
and it was all over for Hansen.
Down to heads-up, Ivey had a small chip lead with 2.2 million to Antonius' 1.8 million. Ivey won a big pot to extend his lead to seven-to-one about 45 minutes into the match.
When the final hand came up Antonius shoved all-in from the button with the 
and Ivey called holding the 
. The flop helped Antonius when it brought the 
, but the turn changed everything when the 
hit. The river brought the and Antonius was forced to settle for second place and $1,200,000.
The Payouts:
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Phil Ivey | A$2,000,000 |
| 2 | Patrik Antonius | A$1,200,000 |
| 3 | Gus Hansen | A$800,000 |
Ivey came back from his long absence to push past Negreanu into second place on the all-time money list. He is known by many to be the greatest poker player on earth. Before his death, David "Chip" Reese compared Stuey Ungar and Phil Ivey. Reese’s opinion of Ivey’s play was quite high and Reese was considered to be the best poker player in the world.
The PokerNews Live Reporting Team is going to bring you updates, news, and recaps on the 2012 Aussie Millions Main Event on Sunday and the final two events, the $550 Australian Poker Hall of Fame Classic and the 8-Game Mixed Event. Find all the updates here!
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