Poker News

Aaron Benton Walks Away With APPT Sydney Grand Final Main Event

After four long days of poker in the capital of Australia we have a winner. The champion of the 2009 APPT Sydney Grand Final Main Event is Aaron Benton and he will be walking away with the grand prize of $500,348. Aaron is Australian so this win is extra special for him since it took place in the capital city of his home country.

Everyone on the final table was from Australia except for two players which was quite a surprise to some people. The only two players that weren’t from Australia were second place finisher Ernst Hermans from the Netherlands and Thomas Slifka from the United States. Both Benton and Hermans managed to qualify for this event from a PokerStars satellite event.

When the two players went heads-up against each other they decided that they would chop the prize pool up. The chop would guarantee each player $475,000 AUD which left a bit left in the prize pool for the eventual winner plus the title. We haven’t seen a chop in a major tournament for a little while now, but every once in awhile they happen.

The final table was a very tight and heated battle for the entire day, with the final table lasting over eleven hours. Once the lone American was knocked out of the tournament it looked like the Aussies were going to dominate the Main Event. Ernst, the only non Australian left in the tournament had another idea though, and made a run for the title. It would have really been something if Ernst managed to win the tournament, but with all the Aussies on the final table the title was bound to go to one of them.

The final table consisted of the following nine players starting with the winner Aaron Benton.
Aaron Benton - $500,348 AUD
Ernst Hermans - $475,000 AUD
Leo Boxell - $213,840 AUD
Wayne Carlson - $166,320 AUD
Tom Grigg - $130,680 AUD
Andrew Hiscox - $106,920 AUD
Barry Forrester - $83,160 AUD
David Formosa - $65,340 AUD
Thomas Slifka - $47,520 AUD

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