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The 2020 Aussie Millions $10,600 AUD no-limit hold’em main event attracted a field of 820 total entries, falling just three entries short of breaking the event’s attendance record which was set in 2019. The massive turnout built a prize pool equivalent to more than $5.6 million USD. In the end, Melbourne resident Vincent Wan emerged victorious with the title, earning $909,420 USD for the win.

“I’m lost for words. I’m just tripping out at the moment. I was just wanting to min-cash at one point so I’m struggling; I’m just delirious at the moment,” Wan said when interviewed by Aussie Millions Tournament Director Joel Williams after securing the title. “I can’t believe my luck. Thank you to all the other players. Basically it’s ten years of my life just grinding and working and trying to get here. I can’t believe I did it.”

In addition to the title and the money, Wan was also awarded 2,280 Card Player Player of the Year points as the champion of this event. The massive victory was enough to see Wan surge into the outright lead in the 2020 POY race standings, which are sponsored by Global Poker.

Wan came into the final day of this event in third chip position with seven players remaining. Wan was just one big blind ahead of eight-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner and Poker Hall of Famer Erik Seidel when play resumed. Seidel was looking to add to his more than $6.7 million in prior cashes at Crown Melbourne, the site of the Aussie Millions series.

Nicolas Malo was the first player to hit the rail at the final table. He got his last chips in holding 108 on a J89 flop. He ran into the Q10 of Nino Ullmann, whose flopped straight held from there to send Malo home with $165,655 USD.

Crown Poker - Melbourne Casino - Poker VLOG #28This is the second installment of our road trip from Sydney to Melbourne. In this episode I meet up with a sub. Seidel was looking to add to his more than $6.7 million in prior cashes at Crown Melbourne. As well as years of data of poker player results and casino poker tournament pay-outs.

The next key showdown saw Oliver Weis get all-in with K10, only to receive a call from Gareth Pepper’s AK. Weis was unable to come from behind and settled for $212,396 USD as the sixth-place finisher.

Wan earned his first knockout of the day when he picked up AJ and raised from the cutoff. Erik Seidel three-bet all-in for 2,875,000 holding A10. Wan made the call to put Seidel at risk. Both players flopped their kickers, but Wan’s jacks held from there to eliminate Seidel in fifth place. The $261,275 USD he earned for his latest deep run increased his career earnings to $37.5 million, enough to put him in fourth place on poker’s all-time money list.

Nino Ullmann’s got his chips in good, having flopped two pair with 107 on a 1075 board to take the lead against the pocket queens of Ngoc Tai Hoang. The two got all the chips in after the J hit the turn, and Ullmann was in good shape to double up. The 5 on the river counterfeited his two pair, though, ending his run in fourth place ($331,310 USD).

The final three players struck a deal that saw Wan and Hoang lock up $909,420 USD each, which Gareth Pepper secured $690,000 USD as the shorter stack. The three agreed to play out the event to determine who would win the title and the championship bracelet. Gareth Pepper was unable to overcome his chip disadvantage and was ultimately eliminated when his blind shove from the small blind with 92 was called by Wan, who held A3. Wan made a pair of aces to send Pepper to the rail in third place.

• Now a major event on the international poker circuit, and a 'must play' championship for any serious poker pro, the Australian Poker Championship – or Aussie Millions – takes place every January at Melbourne's Crown Casino, with a Main Event that carries a buy-in of AUD$10,600.
• The Crown Melbourne Casino Australia, Featured Poker Rooms Australia / New Zealand, Live Poker Probably the most famous and the largest casino in Australia, the Crown Melbourne Casino, open since 1997, is situated on the Southbank of Yarra River in the city of Melbourne.

Wan took 13,665,000 into heads up play against Ngoc Hoang, who held 11,045,000. The two battled it out for roughly four hours, bringing the length of the final table to around 15 hours. On the 414th hand of the day, Hoang got the last of his chips in with A3 and was called by Wan, who held 109. The board came down J96J10 and Wan made the winning two pair to secure the pot and the title. Hoang took home the $909,420 USD he had bargained for.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded to the final seven:

Winner photo via Crown Poker Twitter account.

• »News
• »WPT Aims for More Aussie Live Poker Events After Covid

Remember when operators like the World Poker Tour traveled to destinations around the world to host poker tournaments? That was before Covid-19, when the world operated somewhat normally, unaffected by a pandemic.

The World Poker Tour was in its 18^th season that began in July 2019 in California. There were the normal stops in the United States, like Atlantic City, Jacksonville, Atlantic City, and Las Vegas. But there were global stops on the main tour as well, such as the UK (Dusk Till Dawn in Nottingham), Canada (Playground Poker in Montreal), Russia (Casino Sochi in Sochi), and Germany (King’s Casino in Rozvadov).

Even more global, however, was WPTDeepStacks, more of a mid-major tour that started its sixth season in Florida, but then jetted to Germany, New York, California, Portugal, Vietnam, Marrakech, Korea, Australia, the UK, Colorado, India, Pennsylvania, Canada, Belgium, Cambodia, South Africa, and California. And that was just the first half of that season.

That WPTDeepStacks stop in Australia was a popular one. Not only had it been in the works for some time, but it was special to WPT Anchor Lynn Gilmartin and WPT Vice President of Global Tour Management Angelica Hael. Both are Australian natives and more than thrilled to travel back to their home country to introduce the World Poker Tour.

Exciting Start to WPT/Aussie Relationship

When the WPT announced the first WPTDeepStacks Australia stop in 2019, poker players were excited. And the host casino, the Star Gold Coast in Queensland, took the opportunity to reveal its new poker room. Remodeled and offering 20 tables and a feature table, phone chargers and updated rules, the Star wanted to debut the room with the arrival of the WPT.

It went swimmingly well. Shane Warne was among the celebrity players in attendance, and poker pros like WSOP Main Event champion Joe Hachem played as well.

The 10-tournament series kicked off on September 27, 2019, and it culminated in the Main Event. The entries totaled 658 and the prize pool $1,480,500. And in the end, Hari Varma won the title and $274,247.

Scratched 2020 Plans

The World Poker Tour and Star Gold Coast were so pleased with the inaugural series that they planned more. In early March, the WPT announced that it scheduled two stops in Australia in 2020.

The WPTDeepStacks Gold Coast was set for April 24 through May 4 with 10 tournaments and a $1,500 Main Event. And into Season XIX, the WPTDS scheduled another stop alongside the WPT main tour. All of it was to run from September 24 through October 5, 2020. The WPTDS was to offer a $1,100 buy-in Main Event, and the main World Poker Tour schedule set up a $5,400 Main Event.

Everyone was excited.

Then, Covid-19.

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The pandemic began sweeping the world in March 2020. Airlines cancelled flights. Countries like Australia closed their borders. Nonessential businesses around the world closed due to government protocols.

Little did they know it would last months and months…and now into 2021. At that time, the WPT just knew it had to postpone its WPT and WPTDS Australia stops, along with all others. Eventually, it became clear that nothing would be rescheduled in 2020.

The World Poker Tour took whatever events it could online and scheduled several series with PartyPoker. The online poker tournaments are available to players in many countries around the world…except those in Australia.

A New Schedule for 2021

The new year remains a big unknown. Everything seems to depend on a vaccine for Covid-19, one that will be distributed worldwide and eventually be available to the general populations of every country.

Right now, going into December 2020, there are several laboratories claiming the development of vaccines that are currently preparing for authorization and government approvals. Some say frontline workers and elderly populations, along with those with underlying health risks, could have the vaccines before the end of 2020.

However, most medical professionals estimate that it will take a minimum of a few months into 2021 to distribute the vaccines on a broader scale.

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The World Poker Tour is optimistic.

Its schedule still shows a WPTDeepStacks Gold Coast festival set to begin on April 29 and run through May 3, 2021. The $1,500 buy-in WPTDS Main Event will begin on April 29 and run through the final day of the series. Of course, it will be at the Gold Coast.

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Hael Speaks with PMA

Poker Media Australia has been on top of the live tournament action – and lack thereof – for years, so it’s no surprise that they booked WPT’s VP of Global Tour Management, Angelica Hael, for their most recent PMA Podcast episode.

PMA Managing Editor Ben Blaschke and Head of Content Landon Blackhall interviewed Hael in mid-November about a variety of issues related to Australia, the WPT, and the pandemic. Blaschke tried to get specific for the year ahead and what the WPT plans for 2021, insomuch as they can make plans.

Hael said the WPT will be happy to have two or three stops in Australia every calendar year. There may also be more links with the WPT League to make tournaments available to people of more bankrolls.

What We Know

Amidst this wild ride of 2020 and the pandemic that threw everything into disarray, there is little one can say for sure.

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What is known is that, as everyone on the PMA Podcast said, poker and its players are resilient.

When the World Poker Tour can get back to Australia, it will. It will resume its live tournament action in any place at any time that it feels it can do so safely and responsibly. With any luck, that will be in early 2021.