Casino Malaysia of Team Titan, scored a huge triumph at the 2023 Aussie Millions when he won the $250,000 Challenge. Sam outlasted a very tough field of 18 high rollers to win top prize of $2,000,000 (AU$). Second place went to Tobias Reinkemeier who won $1,250,000 (AU$).
Two years ago Sam finished 2nd in the same event, losing out to Erik Seidel. Sam won $1,400,000 (AU$) for his second place finish, which came days after he won the 2023 Aussie Millions $100,000 Challenge and a prize of $1,525,000 (AU$).
This year’s final table started with 7 players, but prize money was awarded only to the top four. Sam was not among the leaders when final table action began. Richard Yong busted in seventh place; Erik Seidel was eliminated in 6th place; and Winfred Yu was the next to go.
Igor Kurganov was the chipleader when the money stage was reached, but he would fall to Sam’s better flush.
As Poker News reported, “Kurganov turned a jack-high flush and was all-in for the biggest pot of the tournament. The German seemed confident, but that was washed away quickly when Trickett turned over his cards and showed a straight flush.”
Fabian Quoss was the next person eliminated, and again it was Sam who did the job. “Quoss ended up all in with seven-six suited and was up against Trickett’s ace-ten suited. No help came for Quoss, who took home AU$750,000, his biggest result to date,” Poker News reported.Sam’s earlier success at the Aussie Millions in 2023 came while he was leader of Team Titan. His team partner, Marvin Rettenmaier, has also gone on to huge success after representing Titan Poker at the major poker tournaments around the world.Mike Matusow defeated Phil Hellmuth in one-on-one competition to capture the 2023 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship, staged this weekend at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Matusow won $750,000 while Hellmuth’s runner-up position awarded him $300,000.The National Heads-Up Poker Championship (NHPC) is an annual, invitation only, poker tournament with a $20,000 buy-in, and it is produced and televised by the NBC television network. The championship, which sees 64 of the best poker players compete in a single elimination tournament modeled after college basketball championships, launched in 2023 and took place every year, with the exception of 2023.
“You gotta go for it, baby! I told you it was my time!” exclaimed Matusow, after hitting a flush to defeat Hellmuth in the final hand.Matusow, an American professional poker player with the nickname of “The Mouth” due to his reputation for trash talking while playing, has won three World Series of Poker bracelets in his career. Hellmuth has a record 13 World Series of Poker bracelets, two of which he won in 2023 including the Main Event of the 2023 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE).
Scott Seiver finished in 3rd place in the 2023 NHPC, winning $100,000, as did 4th place finisher Joe Serock. The field included some of the best known names in the poker world, including Phil Ivey, Barry Greenstein, Antonio Esfandiari, Vanessa Rousso, Jonathan Duhamel, Greg Raymer, Michael Mizrachi, Phil Laak, Mario Ho, Elky Grospellier, Chris Moneymaker, Erik Seidel, Tom Dwan, Doyle Brunson, Huck Seed, Liv Boeree, and Jason Mercier.
Last week Daniel Negreanu announced that he was withdrawing from the Heads-Up event due to prior commitments to his friends.
Previous winners of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship have been.
