/ Matthew Pitt / 31 January 2011 / Leave a comment
The 2011 Aussie Millions Main Event came to an exciting conclusion over the weekend with 71-year old Australian, David Gorr emerging victorious, defeating popular British poker pro James Keys in an intense heads-up battle that lasted more than 200 hands!
In total 721 players entered the $10,000 Main Event but all eyes were on the final eight remaining players who each had a realistic chance of walking away with the $2,000,000 first place prize money. There were new fewer than three British players at the final table, Chris Moorman and Sam Razavi joining Keys in their quest for their first major live title but all would ultimately fall short.
Twenty-six hands into the proceedings and the tournament lost a player in the shape of Finnish superstar, Patrik Antonius who paid the price for slowplaying a premium holding preflop. He looked down and saw KhKc staring back at him and opted to limp in, Randy Dorfman also limped, Gorr followed suit and Moorman checked in the big blind. A flop reading Qs-Th-7s saw Moorman check, Antonius bet 125,000, Dorfman lay down his hand and Gorr pop it to 500,000. Moorman got out of the way and Antonius said, "I guess it's time to go all in" and did just that. Gorr snap-called him and turned over QhTs for top two pair and when the turn and river were the Ac and 5c respectively Antonius was eliminated in eighth place, worth $130,000 though probably not the finish he was looking for.
Not long after, Moorman joined him on the rail after himself tangling with Gorr. With blinds at 15,000/30,000/5,000a, Gorr raised to 70,000 from the cutoff seat and then called when Moorman made it 190,000 to play from the big blind. The dealer put out the Td-Th-7d flop, which prompted a shove from Moorman and a quick call from Gorr, the latter being in front holding KsTs for trip tens and Moorman holding 8d4d for a flush draw. The 5h on the turn gave Moorman additional outs to a straight but none of them arrived as the 2s made an appearance on the river to knock out the young British hopeful, though his did pick up a career best $175,000 for his efforts.
Hand 92 of the final table was the last hand Razavi would take part in as he was caught with his hand in the proverbial cookie jar by fellow Brit, Keys. Finding himself short stacked and in the need of a double up, Razavi had become very active and for the second time in a row he open-shoved, this time holding Ad7d. Unlike the previous move that saw him pick up the blinds and antes, this time he found a caller in Keys holding 7h7s. A Qs-Js-Jh flop kept the pocket sevens of Keys in front and they stayed in the lead as the 5c fell on the turn and the 9s peeled off on the river.
Just six hands later and five players became four as Dorfman headed for the cashier's cage to pick up $325,000. The action folded to him in the small blind and despite having more than 32 big blinds in his stack, he moved all in for 1,300,000! Gorr, in the big blind, deliberated for a couple of minutes before making the call, turning over Ac9c, which would need some help to best the pocket tens of Dorfman. No help arrived in the 8c-Qh-8d-4s board but the Ad spiked on the river to bust Dorfman and give Gorr almost half of the chips in play!
Michael Ryan was the next to fall in one of poker's classic coin flip situations. From under the gun he made it 155,000 to play, with blinds now at 30,000/60,000/5,000 only to see Jeff Rossiter re-raise the action to 430,000 from the small blind. With the action back on Ryan he made it 850,000 to play, which prompted an insta-shove from Rossiter and n even quicker call from his opponent. The hands? Ryan held 9h9c against AdKh. It looked as if Ryan was going to double up as by the turn the board read Qd-2h-3d-2s but he was cruelling "Greensteined" as there was an ace on the river, this one in spades, to eliminate Ryan in fourth place, a finish worth a cool $450,000.
An hour later and Rossiter called off all of his stack with an unknown hand as he mucked as soon as he found he had run into the nuts, you decide for yourself what his holding was. He got the action started with a raise to 180,000 from the button and then called when Gorr re-raised to 550,000 from the small blind. Both players checked the Qc-Jh-5h flop, and Gorr checked again as the turn brought the 3h into play. Rossiter was in no mood for checking it back again and fired a bet of 720,000, which was check-raised by Gorr to 1,720,000, a bet Rossiter called. The seemingly blank 5d on the river saw Gorr move all in and a minute or so later Rossiter called for his tournament life, but quickly mucked face down as Gorr turned over AhQh for the nut flush.
Going into heads up the Australian Gorr held a massive 12,025,000 to 2,445,000 chip advantage but that did not deter the Brit who was quite obviously the better player of the two, something that became apparent as he fought his way back into contention over the next 150 or so hands. On the 153rd hand of heads-up play Keys actually completely turned the tie around and took more than a 10-to-1 lead over his opponent. He managed to get Gorr to commit his stack holing AcKs against his Kc5c on a board reading 5s-3h-Kd-2s. The Jd on the river saw Keys move to 13,310,000 chips and left Gorr hanging onto 1,160,000.
But Gorr was not dead and buried yet and was running insanely hot throughout the final table so it was unsurprising that he clawed his way back level. Then on hand 415 of the final table, the 212th of heads up play, the final hand took place. Keys opened with a raise to 225,000, Gorr called and they both saw a flop that read 7s-6c-3h. Gorr checked then called Keys' 275,000 continuation bet. The dealer burned a card and put the Kh out on the turn and again Gorr checked, Keys bet again, this time 650,000 but then Gorr check-raised to 1,650,000. Keys did not look comfortable but he moved all in and was snap-called by Gorr. Keys was actually in front, his 7c3c making two pair to be beating the Kc4c of his opponent. But once again Lady Luck was shining down on the Australian as the dealer put the 4s on the river, giving Gorr a higher two pair and the title! So unlucky from Keys, who fought back valiantly only to be crushed by a disgusting river card.
The $1,035,000 Keys picked up for his splendid efforts over the past week represent his biggest cash to date and there is no doubt in my mind that we will see him on many more final tables in years to come. Congratulations to David Gorr, who now finds himself $2,000,000 richer and the oldest winner of any Aussie Millions event ever.
The final table payouts were as follows:
1.) David Gorr: $2,000,000
2.) James Keys: $1,035,000
3.) Jeff Rossiter: $700,000
4.) Michael Ryan: $450,000
5.) Randy Dorfman: $325,000
6.) Sam Razavi: $225,000
7.) Chris Moorman: $175,000
8.) Patrik Antonius: $130,000
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