Brendon Rubie Wins the 2012 Aussie Millions Opening Event
The 2012 Aussie Millions Opening event began last Thursday, and after three Day 1 flights, a grueling Day 2 and an exciting final table, Brendon Rubie was crowned the first champion of the 2012 Aussie Millions.
On Day 2, Rubie was among the dozens of remaining players ready to play down to a champion. As the tournament went late into the evening however, a different plan emerged. As soon as the final table was set, play would break until the following day, where the final 10 would play down to a champion.
Final Table
| Seat | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tam Truong | 934,000 |
| 2 | Tamara Volkoff | 191,000 |
| 3 | Brendon Rubie | 1,625,000 |
| 4 | Sean Robey | 262,000 |
| 5 | Sherif Derias | 696,000 |
| 6 | Rob Angood | 1,384,000 |
| 7 | Scott Wilson | 2,628,000 |
| 8 | Manny Stavropoulos | 554,000 |
| 9 | John Thomson | 363,000 |
| 10 | Naz Sibaei | 849,000 |
Within the first hour of play at the final table, the two short stacks at the table had been eliminated. Sean Robey was dispatched in 10th place before Tamara Volkoff joined him on the rail in ninth.
Naz Sibaei barely had a leg to stand on after losing a huge portion of his stack to Rubie. In that hand, Sibaei tried to get tricky with air and ran into Rubie's set. Shortly thereafter, Sibaei was all-in holding Q♣3♦ against Manny Stavropoulos' A♣6♦. No help came for Sibaei who was sent out the door in eighth place.
Sherif Derias was eliminated in seventh place after he moved all-in against Rob Angood, who held the nuts. Stavropoulos, in sixth place, was also eliminated by Angood when he ran his 4x4x into 6x6x. Amazingly, the next elimination also came at the hands of Angood. Tam Truong moved all-in preflop holding A♦3♥ and was outdrawn by Angood, who held K♠Q♠.
John Thomson was the short stack for much of the afternoon but held on as long as he could before being eliminated in fourth place. From there, Rubie began his rise to the top when he picked up a huge pot against Angood, getting full value holding A♣A♥ against A♠9♦. Angood never recovered and Rubie ended up dealing the fatal blow that sent Angood home in third place.
The heads-up battle began with Rubie holding a 2-1 chip lead over Scott Wilson. Rubie held on for much of heads-up play but the game changing hand began when he opened the pot for 125,000 and Wilson promptly three-bet to 250,000. When Rubie made the call, a 8♥2♦7♦ flop was dealt. Wilson led for 350,000, Rubie called, and the Q♠ hit the turn. Wilson opted to check and then called Rubie’s bet of 325,000. The A♣ on the river saw Wilson again check and this time Rubie simply slid out a huge stack of chips. When Wilson made the call, Rubie confidently turned over Q♦8♦ and Wilson proceeded to look disappointed.
Rubie knew he had taken down the hand and even went to the rail to celebrate the victory. Unfortunately for Rubie, Wilson was actually left with a few big blinds and Rubie apologized as he sat back down to continue the tournament.
With only a few hundred thousand in chips, Wilson didn’t have too many options and proceeded to move all-in over the next few hands. With a couple of double-ups, Wilson had a pulse again as Rubie tried to recompose himself.
The inevitable last hand of the evening occurred when Wilson got his stack all-in on a 10♠4♦Q♠ flop. Rubie’s Q♣J♦ was enough to be well ahead of Wilson's 4♣3♣, and when the turn and river bricked out, it was all over for Wilson, who was sent home in second place for a hefty $125,000 score.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize (AUD) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brendon Rubie | $200,000 |
| 2 | Scott Wilson | $125,000 |
| 3 | Rob Angood | $80,000 |
| 4 | John Thomson | $61,000 |
| 5 | Tam Truong | $49,000 |
| 6 | Manny Stavropoulos | $39,000 |
| 7 | Sherif Derias | $29,000 |
| 8 | Naz Sibaei | $19,000 |
| 9 | Tamara Volkoff | $14,500 |
| 10 | Sean Robey | $10,900 |
Not only did Rubie receive $200,000 for his victory, but can now add an Aussie Millions gold ring to his resume and will go down in history as the champion of the 2012 Aussie Millions Opening Event.
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