Sam Trickett
Team Titan’s British player Sam Trickett has started 2011 in style by winning the largest buy-in tournament in the southern hemisphere. Sam finished in first place in the Aussie Millions $100,000 Challenge and pocketed $1,525,000 AUD in prize money.
The tournament, a high rollers affair that attached 38 starters, was a two-day event as part of the 2011 Aussie Millions tournament. Although he finished as chipleaader at the end of the first day, it wasn’t easing going for Sam at the final table.
As PokerNews reported, “It seemed to go his way at the beginning, but then he started dropping chips and shortly found himself kicking and scratching as one of the shorter stacks still left when play got down to the final few players.”
American Erik Seidel finished in 3rd place setting the way for heads-up play between Sam and fellow Brit Tony Bloom. Bloom has a very impressive record at Aussie Millions tournaments, including winning the Main Event in 2004.
Sam was the chipleader at the end of the first day of play. Right from the start, he built up a chip lead and never let it go, even crossing the one-million mark in chips, before ending the day with a stack of 961,000.
Along with Sam, the other high rollers who continued into Day Two action in the event were David Benyamine, Tony Bloom, Chris Ferguson, James Obst, Jeffrey Lisandro, Erik Seidel, and David Steicke. Despite his impressive tournament year in 2010, Sam was “without doubt the least well-known player in the final eight,” according to PokerNews.
Players who started the event but were eliminated on the first day included Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, Patrik Antonius, Erick Lindgren, James Bord, Team Titan captain Sorel Mizzi, Tony G, and John Juanda.
The two-day $100,000 Challenge is the largest buy-in event on the 2011 Aussie Millions schedule. 38 players bought into the tournament creating a prize pool of $3,800,000 AUD.
Tags: Aussie Millions, Sam Trickett
