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At the start of each New Year, the sporting world’s eyes turn firmly to Melbourne as the first tennis Grand Slam of the year gets underway. However, little does the mainstream press realize that another tournament being played at the same time is worth more money than the combined Men’s and Women’s prize pools for the Australian Open. Welcome to the 2007 Aussie Millions.
Once described by its own Prime Minister as the “ass-end of the world,” Australia has certainly come a long way… at least in the poker world. In the past three years, the Aussie Millions, held at the monolithic Crown Casino complex in Melbourne, has grown from a boutique tournament to a full-fledged international event.
>The 2007 incarnation of the Aussie Millions attracted over 700 players, including Team Full Tilt, Daniel Negreanu, Patrik Antonius, defending champ Lee Nelson, MANSION pro Marc Goodwin, and hometown heroes Joe Hachem and Tony G. On offer was an AUD $7.5 million prize pool, and an AUD $1.5 (approx USD $1.15m) first prize.
With the Australian summer beating down outside the casino and the air-conditioning cranked to full power, the tournament was officially kicked-started by Howard Lederer (aka Daddy Full Tilt) and a host of Australian celebrities who probably think a “full house” is an early 90s sitcom. This was followed by an appalling rendition of Celebration, which everyone prayed would end quickly. That is, everyone is except Carlos Mortensen who was bopping away as if completely unaware of the calamity on stage. The man truly is a legend.
The tournament structure was very much akin to the WSOP Main Event – 20k in chips, 90-minute levels, and no antes in the initial stages. In the ensuing days, many players would describe the format as one of the best they had ever played.
As the action got underway, the poker room looked like a Who’s Who of the game, and there were mouth-watering matchups aplenty. David Benyamine, Mike Matusow, and Tony G were playing alongside one another; Phil Ivey and Gus Hansen were paired; while Marc Goodwin was sweating Allen Cunningham on his left. For the early part of the tournament, I was paying particularly close attention to the latter matchup, and when Patrik Antonius, aka The Golden Child, was moved to the table, I knew fireworks were on the horizon.
It’s hard to describe the aura that surrounds Patrik. Besides his huge frame and model good looks, there’s something awfully sinister about the way he stares down opponents. One such time was when he became involved in a huge pot with Marc Goodwin. Marc had pocket kings, while Patrik had pocket jacks on a board of 8-9-K-Q by the turn. The MANSION pro raised, expecting Antonius to lay his hand down; but no, Patrik would call with a gutshot straight draw and hit. As Michael Greco said to me, “He’s just that kind of player; he wins the 50/50s.” If only this were a coin flip…
In any case, the Fin became the major talking point for the ensuing 48 hours when, after finishing Day 1 as the monster chip leader with $300k, he almost blew the lot the next morning. He lost a big pot, went down to $3k, and then, in typical Antonius style, quadrupled up, tripled up, doubled up, stole some blinds, then doubled up again – mercilessly amassing $1.6 million in chips before he ran into another Scandinavian by the name of Gustav Hansen.
At the time these two giants of aggressive poker clashed, Gus had accumulated $1.8m in chips and was tipped by many on the poker room floor to go all the way. Whether it was his ploy of reciting random notes into his Dictaphone between hands to confuse players (Gus is, in fact, writing a book about the tournament) or his relentless raising (dubbed “limper’s tax” by a fellow Danish player during a $1-$2 cash game I played), Hansen looked on course to continue in the rich vein of form that saw him win the EPM at FIFTY in London.
It was early on Day 4 when the Great Scandinavian Battle of Australia began. On a flop of J♥A♠9♥, Gus Hansen bet 500k, with Patrik quickly moving all in as Gus insta-called. Turning over J♠J♣, Gus had flopped a set, but Antonius had A♥8♥ for top pair and a flush draw. The turn and river came Q♠8♠, giving Gus a win for the Vikings and sending Patrik to the rails in 13th place.
Now with over $3 million in chips, Gus was on a warpath with fellow European pro, the ever-eccentric Andy Black (second $3k Pot Limit Omaha in Melbourne), and internet superstar Jimmy “Gobboboy” Fricke. To be kind, Jimmy definitely has a face for online poker, but his uber-aggressive style was proving to be a tilt-inducing machine. Riding the crest of a wave of gutsy play and timely suckouts, the American had become a monster chip leader. In fact, by the time the competition went three-handed (with Gus and Andy), his stack comprised more than 50% of the chips.
And so began a riveting finale, in which Jimmy bullied these seasoned pros with his hefty chip stack to the point of near submission. Black certainly looked the more comfortable of the two, but eventually fell to Fricke, whose A♥Q♥ held up against Andy’s K♠Q♣ on a board that helped no one.
As heads-up play began, all the smart money was on Fricke, who by this stage had a 3:1 chip lead over Gus. In the hour before heads-up play began, Gus had been looking rattled. Could it be that the Dane’s famed aggression had met its match?
Action in the initial stages of heads up was relatively tame considering the styles of both combatants. However, the final table came to life when Gus raised Fricke all in on a board of A♣K♠7♥8♣. After four minutes of deliberation, Fricke called and then audibly howled, “Damn!” Hansen had top pair, with Fricke only having kings. The river brought the 5♣ and the game was back on level terms.
Then, as if on cue, a Fricke-patented “Suckout Special™” took Hansen by the balls. With J♦10♦10♥ on the flop, Hansen bet 500k and Fricke moved all in. As players flipped over, Hansen had A♥K♥ and Fricke showed K♦Q♠ to give himself an open-ended straight draw. The turn came ten, the river nine, and Gobboboy was back in the lead.
At this point, I notice the stunning rear end of the hostess of the TV coverage. But I digress…
Almost immediately after his bad beat, Hansen got his revenge when his pair of kings held up against Fricke’s somewhat optimistic queen-high. After another big Hansen for Hansen, the tournament reached its climax when Gus bet $1 million on a flop of Q♦8♦6♣ and was check-raised all in by Fricke. Turning over pocket rockets, Hansen was well ahead of Fricke’s 9♣7♣, but the turn, 2♣, gave Gobboboy enough outs to get the veins in Gus’s magnificent head pumping. Thankfully for the Dane and the European contingent, the river brought no love for the American; another $1.5 million into Viking coffers.
Gus Hansen knows a thing or two about getting inside the heads of his opponents, so we decided to climb into his head for a change. Here’s what he was thinking Down Under in January…
Since I got home from Australia, I have been compiling all the hands I played in the Aussie Millions for a behindthe- scenes book. This is possible because I have recorded all my hands on the little tape recorder that I always bring to the table so you can all see for yourselves how I played my hands to win the tournament.
How far will I go to defend my big blind? How do I play J-3 suited at the cut-off during Level 4 with one limper in 2nd position? Do I reraise with my 7- 7 against a semi-tight player during Level 7? Playing 3-handed, is my 8-6 offsuit good enough to raise with against Andy Black who has limped in the small blind? And so on...
It’s going to take some months before the book is ready, but, as an appetizer, here are two hands, one from threehanded play and one from heads-up play. I am very much looking forward to showing you the rest of the hands — after all, I have no secrets from any of you!
Three-handed Play
Blinds: 50,000/100,000; Ante: 10,000
Chip Count:
Gus 3.1M
Jimmy 9.35M
Andy 2.49M
My hand: 8♥6♦
My position: BB
Jimmy folds and Andy limps from the small blind. Finally a chance to be a bully! Jimmy has too many chips to be bullied, so this is my best shot.
I raise to 320 with my very mediocre holding, and I’m not too happy to see Andy call. I’m not quite sure what to make of Andy’s hand at this point, but I have a feeling it is better than mine!
The flop comes 10♠6♥3♦.
Now Andy leads out for 400k and it is decision time. I have middle pair and Andy must have some kind of hand, but I doubt he would lead out with a powerhouse. It has much more of a probe bet feel to it. Probing with a weakish hand to get a feel for where your opponent is at is, in my opinion, an underestimated play and should be used more often. A lot of times it will win you the pot when your opponent fails to connect.
Andy’s problem is... this time I did connect. My problem is... it is not a great connection.
A quick look at the chipstacks also plays a big part in making my decision. Andy has only 1.77M left after his bet, so calling and then making a “good” laydown on the turn doesn’t seem to make much sense. I’m gonna play the hand on the flop, either by moving in or by folding.
If I’m correct in my assumption that Andy is holding a medium-weak hand, an all-in move on my part could well have the desired effect: a fold by Andy.
I didn’t fly to Melbourne to fold when I finally flopped a pair, so all in it is. Andy didn’t look too happy about the situation and mucked his hand.
Afterthoughts: Andy’s expression when I raised looked like “Why do they always have a hand when I try to semibluff?”
Heads-up Play
Blinds: 60,000/120,000
Chip Count:
Gus 4.4M
Jimmy 10.54M
My hand: J♠8♠
My position: BB
Trying to regain my composure from the previous hand’s blow to the head, I am NOT looking to play a big pot. I have a general rule that if there is any doubt whatsoever about whether to play a hand after just losing a big pot, I opt not to play the hand.
Jimmy makes it 400k from the button, giving me an excuse to fold, but I strongly believe that the J♠8♠ is too good a hand to fold pre-flop in an aggressive heads-up battle. So I call.
The flop comes: 8♣6♠5♥.
A good time to lead out!
Probably the most common mistake in poker is the “check to the raiser.” Unfortunately, I have to admit that I too am guilty of that crime sometimes. What happens a lot of the time is that you give free cards to an opponent who wouldn’t call a bet on the flop. Secondly, if the raiser chooses to make a continuation bet on the flop, you have gathered no information about his holding since he would do that with any two cards. Thirdly, if you do decide to check-raise to either knock him out or gain more information about his hand, you might over-commit yourself and suddenly find yourself involved in a huge pot with a marginal holding.
Bottom line: Foolishly, I checked!
Jimmy quickly checked behind me. Hmmm? Over the course of the final table, Jimmy had made a very high percentage of continuation bets, so the check caught me a little bit by surprise. Luckily for me, the turn wasn’t an offsuit queen, which could have put me in an odd spot. Instead, it was a beautiful 4♠.
I was still holding top pair and I had a flush draw, and the likelihood of Jimmy having checked a seven on the flop was, as far as I was concerned, slim to zero. Time to lead out again! So I check… No, I wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice in the same hand. I lead out 500k and Jimmy quickly mucks.
Afterthoughts: I think there was a good chance I gave Jimmy a free look at between three and ten outs on the turn, depending on whether he was holding a nine or a jack. He didn’t hit it this time, but if you give your opponent too many chances like that, it will end up costing you.
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