Aussie Million continues to march on. Over the weekend, one of the biggest names in Aussie Poker took down one of the event’s most prestigious titles. Michael Addamo took down the A$50,000 Challenge to win A$1.07 million.
Addamo defeated a stacked final table that included Ben Lam, Timothy Adams, Rainer Kempe, and Poker Hall of Famer Erik Seidel. The win became the second-largest live tournament score in Addamo’s career and his first live cash since August. He joins Toby Lewis among the big winners at this year’s series.
Stacked Final Table Included Last Year’s A$100,000 Winner
The A$50,000 Challenge drew a record field of 82 players to create a prize pool of A$3.97 million. Heading into the final table on Sunday, several big names were looking to take down the title. However, much of the focus was on Poker Central founder Cary Katz.
Katz took down the A$100,000 Challenge in 2019 and was looking for a high roller title in back-to-back years. Early on, he became the favorite to do so when he jumped into the chip lead. Soon after, Katz knocked out Poker Hall of Famer Erik Seidel in 8th place to increase his lead.
However, it wasn’t long before Katz would be challenged by Michael Addamo. Soon after knocking out Ben Lamb in fifth place, Addamo took the chip lead. He jumped out into a monster lead after knocking out Sam Greenwood in fourth place. Greenwood shoved with K-Q of spades and ran into Addamo’s pocket aces.
Ultimately, heads-up play was set up after Addamo knocked out Orpen Kisacikoglu in third place. Kisacikoglu ran two pair into trip threes for Addamo. While he fell short of the win, Kisacikoglu still earned $A477,240 for the largest live tournament score of his poker career.
Michael Addamo Defeats Cary Katz for First Aussie Millions Ring
When heads-up play started, Michael Addamo has 2.81 million in chips to 1.28 million for Catz. Catz is famous for having a lot of high profile finishes, but also for having difficulty closing out tournaments. He managed to take down the A$100,000 Challenge last year, and some wondered whether he could pull off the feat again this year.
For a time, it looked like Katz might mount a comeback. After dropping to more than a 5:1 chip deficit, Katz managed a bit of a comeback. He managed to win back-to-back hands to effectively double up. He continued his run and looked close to evening stacks.
However, the tides quickly turned into Addamo’s favor and he put together a string of winners to jump back into a monster chip lead. Ultimately, Addamo had more than a 12:1 lead and it wasn’t long before Katz was eliminated. In the final hand, Katz shoved all-in on a flop of Jh-6d-2d while holding A-J. Unfortunately for him, Addamo had pocket sixes and a set.
Michael Addamo wins Aussie Millions $50k Challenge for A$1,073,790: Addamo was one of 82 entries to the HighRoller event https://t.co/GeBNSPyYzj pic.twitter.com/hgzC7mPMn1
— Ninja Casino & Poker (@monsterdownline) January 19, 2020
Cary Katz finished in second place, earning A$715,860. This gave Michael Addamo the win and the top prize of A$1.07 million. We’re sure he will try and run some of that up playing blackjack or other casino games at Australian online casinos. In addition, Addamo earned his first ANTON Jewelry Championship ring. This was the first Aussie Millions ring of his career.
Addamo told PokerNews that “It feels great, you know, to get my first Aussie Millions ring. I’m pretty happy about it.” The win was Addamo’s first win since winning a pair of Aria Summer High Rollers back in June. It also breaks a long cashless streak. Addamo’s last cash in a live tournament was in August.
Addamo now has $6.93 million in live tournament cashes. This puts him third on the Australian All-Time Money List behind Joe Hachem and Kahle Burns. Addamo has earned over $2 million in the last two years and has already earned a third of that total thus far in 2020.