William Wordsworth penned a poem called ‘The Happy Warrior’, and a stanza that feels apt this morning.
Forever, and to noble deeds give birth,
Or, he must fall, to sleep without his fame,
And leave a dead unprofitable name –
Finds comfort in himself and his cause;
And, while the mortal mist of gathering, draws
His breath in confidence of Heaven’s applause:
This is the happy Warrior; this is He
That every man in arms should wish to be.
Bryn Kenney has won the AUD 10,600 Aussie Millions Main Event. Kenney, who vowed never to leave a dead unprofitable name. Kenney, who finds comfort in himself and his cause – to sit upon the throne reserved for the person who wins the most money playing live tournaments.
This is the happy Warrior; this is He.
That every man in arms should wish to be.
It was hardly phonebooth poker, but the period between 2012 – 2015 saw the attendance in the Aussie Millions Main Event drop below the 700-mark. The once mighty redwood of poker in the Southern hemisphere had turned into a weeping willow.
But the Aussie Millions has strong roots.
Who doesn’t have the image of Gus Hansen beating Jimmy Fricke, heads-up, to win the title in 2007 seared into our minds?
Last year, the worm turned, with Toby Lewis returning to the South of England with close to $1.5m in his back pocket after outlasting a record 800-entrants, and this year they beat that number by a further 22.
Here is how the final table shaped up.
Final Table Chip Counts
Seat 1: Mike Del Vecchio – 5,465,000 (109 bb)
Seat 2: Andrew Hinrichsen – 5,300,000 (106 bb)
Seat 3: Hamish Crawshaw – 3,640,000 (73 bb)
Seat 4: Gyeong Byeong Lee – 1,540,000 (31 bb)
Seat 5: Matthew Wakeman – 4,010,000 (80 bb)
Seat 6: Bryn Kenney – 920,000 (18 bb)
Seat 7: Clinton Taylor – 3,845,000 (77 bb)
Bryn Kenney was the most experienced player, but he was also the favourite to hit the rail first with a shove or fold 18 big blinds. If you had asked his seven opponents to seal one request to the Poker Gods in an envelope, they would have all read the same.
“Don’t double up Bryn Kenney.”
Those envelopes never reached the Gods.
Kenney laddered into a seventh-place score by default after Hamish Crawshaw became the first person to slip, fatally, in the bathtub. Andrew Hinrichsen picked up AJ; Crawshaw QQ and the two went at it, tooth and nail, with AJ surviving the five card dust-up.
Then Kenney got moving, doubling up through Mike Del Vecchio AJ>A2, and then through Gyeong Byeong Lee AK>JJ. Lee tried to put a bandaid on that wound, but it wouldn’t stick. Lee picked up AK and drove his stake deep into the ground. Hinrichsen’s JT picked up a shovel, dug up that stake, and pushed it through Lee’s heart.
Mathew Wakeman was next to exit the competition when he ran pocket queens into the pocket aces of Clinton Taylor, and here’s how the final quartet shaped up.
1. Hinrichsen – 11,325,000
2. Taylor – 6,435,000
3. Kenney – 4,800,000
4. Del Vecchio- 2,025,000
Taylor fell first when his AK failed to find the support it needed to batter the pocket nines of Hinrichsen, and the pub grinder who qualified via a $130 satellite moonwalked to the cash desk to pick up his $350,417 prize.
With three players remaining, Kenney needed to apply some elbow grease.
1. Hinrichsen – 15,365,000
2. Kenney – 4,870,000
3. Del Vecchio – 4,830,000
The first player to make a run for the title was Mike Del Vecchio who picked up quad sixes in a hand that saw Hinrichsen double him up after rivering a straight. Next, it was Kenney who took control, winning a series of sizeable pots to move into the lead. And that’s the way it went for a hundred hands – the lead changing hands like a game of passing the parcel.
Then the game paused.
The three sat down to negotiate a deal.
Kenney wanted the title.
Hinrichsen and Del Vecchio gave it to him.
The tournament ended.
Not exactly ’The Sixth Sense’ ending the fans would have liked, but its one that Kenney knew in his heart was always going to be the eventual outcome because he is the happy warrior.
But could he sleep without his fame?
For one night?
“I’m just going to be the champion, and not think about poker!” Kenney told PokerNews.
I guess so.
Final Table Results
1. Bryn Kenney – $923,269*
2. Mike Del Vecchio – $922,953*
3. Andrew Hinrichsen – $796,410*
4. Clinton Taylor – $350,417
5. Mathew Wakeman – $275,908
6. Gyeong Byeong Lee – $224,180
7. Hamish Crawshaw – $175,571
*Indicates a three-way deal
Anton Morgenstern Wins the AUD 25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha
Anton Morgenstern has won the first-ever AUD 25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) event at the Aussie Millions.
The German star defeated 67-entrants to win a career-high $382,061 after climbing the steep steps of a 4:1 chip deficit, heads-up against Farid Jattin.
Jattin was a tour de force during the final table, eliminating half of the field; true to form, after flying into Melbourne on the back of a 7/1039 finish in the $25,000 PokerStars Player’s No-Limit Hold’em Championship in the Bahamas for $746,000.
Morgenstern began heads-up with a 715,000 v 2,600,000 chip deficit, but quickly evened the score with two critical double-ups. It was at this time that Jattin suggested the pair chat about a deal.
“No.”
Morgenstern refused because he had the heat, and in the next hand he flopped a full house and doubled into a 3,100,000 v 250,000 chip lead. Jattin doubled once but finally hit the rail when the pair both flopped two pair hands, with Morgenstern’s that little bit better.
The victory is Morgenstern’s second of his career, and both came in PLO events after winning a 35-entrant €1,100 PLO side event at the PokerStars Championship in Monte Carlo in April 2017.
Morgenstern’s two big scores before this win came in the 2013 and 2015 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Events winning $285,408 and $262,574. The German star also made the final table of the Marathon last year finishing 7/1637 for $86,631.
ITM Results
1. Anton Morgenstern – $382,061
2. Farid Jattin – $243,130
3. Tobias Ziegler – $162,086
4. Daniel Demicki – $127,354
5. Jarryd Godena – $92,621
6. Max Lehamnski – $81,043
7. Alex Foxen – $69,466