| Kostritsyn Grabs Aussie Millions Main Event In an action packed finale to this year’s Aussie Millions Main Event, the winning title was finally handed to Alexander Kostritsyn after he took down Erik Seidel and another five participants around the final table.
The 2008 Aussie Millions took place in Melbourne, Australia at the Crown Casino and attracted a varied group of participants and spectators alike. The Main Event began with Michael Chrisanthopoulos coming in with a huge chip lead over the rest of the field. (6,806,000, in comparison to the next highest 1995,000 by Antonio Casale). Other chip stacks were as follows: Alexander Kostritsyn - 1,439,000, Peter Mobbs - 1,357,000, Erik Seidel - 1,491,000, Peter Ling – 877,000 and Nino Marotta - 1,649,000.
The first to exit the event in seventh place with a $225,000 pay out, losing to Kostritsyn, was Peter Mobbs. Following on his heels was Antonio Casale, a local favorite, who also lost to the young Russian. Within a few more rounds, Kostritsyn was ready to oust the third player from the event, Nino Marotta, who exited in fifth place.
Two hours later, in an exciting hand between Peter Ling and Michael Chrisanthopoulos, the latter managed to survive and Ling was eliminated in fourth place. When Chrisanthopoulos became Kostritsyn’s next victim, he took with him the chances of an Australian grabbing the Aussie Millions title for yet another year. Chrisanthopoulos was paid out $700,000 for his third place elimination.
The final battle was now between Erik Seidel, the American superstar, (5,685,000 chips) and Alexander Kostritsyn, (9,925,000 chips). After two hours of intense heads-up play, Seidel had to admit defeat and the Russian player walked away with the prestigious Aussie Millions Main Event title, and AU$ 1,650,000 to show for his efforts.
The final results were as follows:
- Alexander Kostritsyn (AU$ 1,650,000 payout)
- Erik Seidel (AU$ 1,000,000 payout)
- Michael Chrisanthopoulos (AU$ 700,000 payout)
- Peter Ling (AU$ 500,000 payout)
- Nino Marotta (AU$ 400,000 payout)
- Antonio Casale (AU$ 300,000 payout)
- Peter Mobbs (AU$ 225,000 payout)
In an interview shortly after his victory, 21-year old Kostritsyn said that despite the crowd rooting for home favorites and the presence of a player as powerful as Erik Seidel, he was very confident in his own game.
“I was pretty sure in my self and my six-handed game. Six-handed is my game so I was very sure I was one of the best players left in the field,” he said.
Kostritsyn has been playing poker for three short years and only recently joined the tournament field. Asked if he had plans to return to Australia next year, he replied, “Yeah sure. I was planning on playing it anyways - win or lose. I enjoy the casino, the tournament and the country. It's a very nice place”.
Author: Renee Kingsley |
