January 26, 2009 (InfoPowa News) — The spectacular main event in the 2009 Aussie Millions poker championships in Melbourne has ended after an epic few days of intense poker action in which a field of 680 hopefuls was narrowed down to just one man — Aussie Stewart Scott — over the weekend. Scott's prize was a well-deserved, bank-boosting AU$2 million.
By day four, Scott held the chip lead going into the final table, facing respected players such as Zach Gruneberg, the Hendon Mob's Barnet Boatman, Elliot Smith, Richard Ashby, Peter Rho, Rajkumar Ramakrishnan, and Sam Capra.
Boatman was the first man out in the final, eliminated by Gruneberg and taking home to the U.K. $100,000. Seventh place and $150,000 went to fellow Brit Richard Ashby, who fell foul of Smith and headed for the exit, followed by U.S. player Gruneberg, removed by Ramakrishnan in sixth position for $210,000 — a good return considering his entry had been through a free roll qualifier at Cake Poker.
Fifth finisher was Sam Capra, who had won his main event seat in a $330 satellite and took home $300,000 when he was bundled out by Rho. Four handed play was extensive, taking up almost half the duration of the final table but ending when Ramakrishnan ended his run in fourth place after a confrontation with Rho. He nevertheless collected a healthy consolation prize of $400,000 for his fourth placing.
More than 70 additional hands were to pass before the heads up was finally decided by the elimination — by Scott — in third place of Smith, sent to the cashier and a $700,000 reward. Heads up, it was Scott holding a massive chip lead of over eight million against Peter Rho, who was soon dismissed despite a gallant fightback, making his second place win of $1,000,000 well deserved.