Faces in the Field for Opening Event Flight 1
With cards now in the air in the first of five starting flights in the Opening Event, the 2020 Aussie Millions is underway. We've also got our fast glimpse of the players who have come from far and wide to join the most prestigious tournament series in the southern hemisphere.
Julien Sitbon
With three cashes at last year's Aussie Millions, Frenchman Julien Sitbon will be full of confidence ahead of this year's festival.
At his first Aussie Millions, and having cashed in the 2019 Opening Event, Sitbon followed that up with a min-cash in the Mix Max and narrowly missed out on a championship ring with a third place finish in the $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em event.
| Event | Place | Prize (AUD) |
|---|---|---|
| $1,150 Opening Event | 24th | $8,799 |
| $1,150 Mix Max | 35th | $2,330 |
| $2,500 No Limit Hold'em | 3rd | $65,815 |
Benedikt Eberle
2018 Opening Event champion Benedikt Eberle was also spotted in the field. Eberle won A$315,295 after defeating the 1,538-player field two years ago.
Ari Engel
In 2019, Ari Engel picked up an ANTON Championship ring to go with his Main Event bracelet, winning the A$1,150 Mix Max for A$71,900. Engel famously defeated Tony Dunst heads-up back in 2016 to win A$1,600,000.
After winning the Mix Max event last year, Engel told us that the Crown Melbourne is "by far his most profitable venue in the world to play."
"I mean obviously it's just because of one tournament, but why would I not come back?" he told PokerNews. "Just being at the Crown there's automatically a sense of deja vu. It feels good, but I'm too tired to feel much."
David Gorr
2011 Aussie Millions Main Event champion David Gorr won $2,000,000 for taking down the 2011 championship and is a regular every time the series rolls around.
A member of the Australian poker hall of fame, Gorr is another player who is seated early on Day 1 of the 2020 Aussie Millions festival.