The great thing about Texas Hold’em is that you know who your friends are. In other words, you have none. Most poker players and poker pros are aware of this reality. Oh sure, your colleagues will smile and shake your hand at the table, but behind that smile is the knowledge that any one of them would stab you in the back for the price of a cup of coffee and a Powerpuff girl nightlight. In short, if your life includes no limit holdem or poker tournaments, you have very few friends (at least professionally). It is this fact that makes Event #14 of the Aussie Millions so interesting. It is a team poker tournament and forces poker pros who would otherwise be trying to drive each other into bankruptcy, to work as a no limit holdem unit. In the case of this particular Texas hold’em event, the poker players who came out on top were Mel Judah & Mick Guttmann.
Mel & Mick bested 109 other teams, and beat a feisty but overmatched team of Carolyn Tulloch & John MacNaughton to claim the gold rings and $30,520. Mel and Mick started in good shape with almost a 2 to 1 chip lead on their opponents. After about an hour and a half, the team of Tulloch & MacNaughton gave up the ghost, and left Mel & Mick as the sole survivors of this unique event.
Event #9, the Main Event is still going on. The first high profile eliminations of the day have been Barney Boatman and Howard Lederer. With more than 70 players left in this tournament, there are obviously more victims to come.
