Event #14 on the 2017 Aussie Millions schedule was a special one. The Australian Poker Hall of Fame Classic was a A$1,150 buy-in tournament that attracted six local Hall of Famers and a number of other players to generate A$126,075 in prize money. Local player Nick “The Greek” Georgoulas topped the event’s field to collect A$32,620 for his efforts.
The Poker Hall of Fame Classic victory was Georgoulas’ eighth one over the course of his poker career that spans back to the late 1990s. Including his latest payout, the Aussie player now has more than $280,000 in live tournament winnings. He scooped his career largest payout of A$99,200 in 2011 when he finished runner-up to New Zealand’s Lee Nelson in the Australia New Zealand Poker Tour A$2,200 Main Event.
Turning eyes back to the Aussie Millions, this year’s Poker Hall of Fame event was played over one day and took place on January 23. For the sake of accurateness, it should be said that the tournament attracted a total of 123 players, including the six Hall of Famers. Again for accurateness’ sake, it should be mentioned that the six Hall of Fame members were Jason Gray, Joe Cabret, Gary Benson, Graeme Putt, Leo Boxtel, and Marsha Waggoner.
According to the event’s rules, each of the six players had a A$500 bounty on their head. This made them the logical initial targets. Eliminating any of the six Hall of Famers secured their “assassin” with half of the buy-in paid for the event. Eventually, none of the six players made it to the nine-handed final table.
Speaking of the final table, it included seven Australian players, a player from New Zealand, and one from Germany. Kicking off at 2:30 pm local time, the event concluded well past midnight. Georgoulas faced Xiuning Huang in an all-Melbourne heads-up battle. Eventually, the odds turned into The Greek’s favor and the player scooped the first-place prize. Huang collected A$22,155 for finishing runner-up.
It is also interesting to note that the final table was headlined by John Juanda who was inducted into the WSOP Poker Hall of Fame back in 2015. The player finished 4th in the Aussie Millions Hall of Fame Classic event to scoop an A$11,690 payout.
