The 2014 Aussie Millions main event is the most prestigious poker series played in the Asia Pacific region. The tournament is notable for being one of the largest events to begin a new poker season, and attracts millions of players from around the world.
This year’s tournament began on January 23, and dealt the final hand of the event yesterday. In all the history of the Aussie Millions, there has never been a Canadian player to be crowned champion of the Aussie Millions.
But that Canuck winless streak was guaranteed to end this year when the event dwindled down to a heads up match between the last two players sitting. Both Ami Barer and Sorel Mizzi hail from Canada, and together eliminated their five challengers at the final table – one player native to Australia, and the remaining four being from the US.
The first place prize was the coveted Aussie Millions gold bracelet as well as a cash prize worth $1.6 million, which became the size that it did due to the 668 players who entered into the tournament. By the time it was down to the final two Canadians, Barer was sitting on a chip lead more than double the size of Mizzi’s stack – 13,850,000 to 6,150,000 respectively.
When the final hand was finally dealt, Mizzi went all in holding Q and 8 of diamonds in the pocket. However, Barer called the bet with pocket Aces in his hand. Neither the flop, turn, nor river were any help to Mizzi, but helped Barer form a full house to finally bring the Aussie Millions tournament to a close.
The win for Barer is in many ways, also a win for Canada, and continues the nation’s reputation in the game of poker that was cemented throughout the 2013 season. Could 2014 become the second Year of Canada?
