The 2017 Aussie Millions Main Event is finally over with a new champion Shurane Vijayaram from Australia who defeated a massive field of 725 players to take home a whopping AU$1.6 Million. The story of Vijayaram is truly interesting. Just one week ago, he entered a satellite tournament- Sunday night $130-rebuy at Crown Casino and won a seat into the Aussie Millions Main Event. One week later, his $130 investment turned into a seven-figure cash prize. He recorded his first victory both Hendon Mob and Global Poker Index (GPI) after becoming the 2017 Aussie Millions Main Event champion. It is was truly one of those incredible stories that the most poker players dream of.
On Sunday afternoon at the Crown Casino, Shurane Vijayaram started the final table with a sizeable chip lead. Trailing him was Ben Heath with 3.27 million in chips. Jeff Rossiter sitting on 3rd place also looked as a threat with 3.105 million chips. Among other contenders who looked promising were Tobias Hausen (2.995 million chips), David Olson (2.35 million chips) and Luke Roberts (1.305 million chips). In the end, it was Vijayaram from Melbourne who outlasted them all and emerged as the champion. He defeated Ben Heath to win his first-ever Aussie Millions Main Event title.
The heads-up match between Ben Heath, Vijayaram didn’t last long and Vijayaram won with 5d-5h after making a heroic call to Heath who shoved all-in with Ks-8c on a board of 6h-9c-7s-3h-Qs board. After 3 on the turn, Heath check-raised and Vijayaram called to see the river. On the river Qs , Heath announced all in for 3.2 million. Vijayaram then took over 5 minutes to read if it was bluff from Heath and finally made the call to 2017 Aussie Millions Main Event championship title. Ben Heath ended it up as a runner-up and took home a cash prize of AU$1 Million for his efforts.
The German superstar Fedor Holz, who retired as a full-time poker pro back in 2016, finished in the 5th place for AU $ 335,000. Holz also final tabled in 2017 Aussie Millions $100,000 super high roller no-limit hold’em event. With 2 final table finishes in the 2017 Aussies Millions, Holz has been the highlight of the whole series and will always be remembered for his incredible achievements.
A Look at Final Table Payouts:
1 – Shurane Vijayaram 1,600,000
2 – Ben Heath 1,000,000
3 – Tobias Hausen 620,000
4 – Jeff Rossiter 440,000
5 – Fedor Holz 335,000
6 – David Olson 270,000
7 – Luke Roberts 210,000