Local pro banks $1.6m prize
Oliver Speidel overcame a star-studded field at last week’s Aussie Millions to pocket a career-best $1.6m and add his name to the growing list of hometown heroes who have triumphed at Australia’s premier poker event.
Spiedel has only been playing the game for five short years but put on a final table masterclass, busting five of his six opponents en route to beating Kenneth Wong heads-up for the winner’s cheque.
Heading into the seven-handed final, Spiedel turned a top three chip stack into over £1m thanks to a run of decent cards and perfect timing. Only Mohamad Kowssarie, formerly known as Fast-Freddie – the nemesis of one Johnny Lodden – posed any serious difficulty, but even he tasted the rail when Spiedel Kings were too much for his A-3.
One player notable by his absence on the final table, though, was Aussie $250k winner Phil Ivey, who narrowly missed out on the final table, busting in 10th place a day earlier. And while many players were glad to see the back of poker’s most infamous name, Spiedel said it would have ‘been cool’ to play against a ‘really damn good’ player.
But with Ivey nowhere to be seen, Spiedel didn’t mourn for too long and in the final hand saw off the experienced Kenneth Wong when his timely Aces crushed the runner-up’s pocket nines for the win.
‘Words can’t describe it,’ said Speidel. ‘It’s amazing to win it all. I don’t know what to say, to be honest.’
Here’s how the final table finished up:
1. Oliver Speidel $1,600,000
2. Kenneth Wong $1,000,000
3. Mile Krstanoski $610,000
4. Mohamad Kowssarie $405,000
5. Patrick Healy $300,000
6. Bjorn Li $230,000
7. Yann Dion $170,00
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