Sam Trickett moves into Second All-Time with Aussie Millions Win

Before the Aussie Millions, Sam Trickett was already one of the biggest poker tournament winners ever. But after capturing the 2013 Aussie Millions $250k Challenge title, Trickett has improved his place in the game’s history even more.

He earned AU$2,000,000 for winning this $250k Challenge event, which gives him over US$19,581,579 in live tournament winnings. Trickett moved ahead of Phil Ivey ($17.54m) and Phil Hellmuth ($17.83m) into second place on the all-time live tourney earnings list. The only person ahead of him now is Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari, who has $23,789,631 in winnings. Now let’s take a closer look at what happened in the $250k Challenge.

A Great Final Table Run
18 players paid the hefty $250,000 buy-in to compete in the Aussie Millions Challenge, which created a AU$4,500,000 prize pool. And since only four players cashed, the competition was quite intense in this tournament.

Trickett was able to survive the tough field and make the seven-player final table. With a short stack, the Brit quickly put himself in contention by doubling up through Tobias Reinkemeier. From here, he picked up enough pots to survive the first three eliminations until the money bubble burst.

Trickett’s stack only grew as he hit a straight flush to knock out Igor Kurganov (jack-high flush) in fourth place. He also eliminated the next player after his A-T suited combo held up against Fabian Quoss’ A-4 suited hand. Trickett (A-5) completed his great final table run by quickly dispatching a short-stacked Reinkemeier (K-2).

Sam Trickett’s Best Tournament Finishes
Obviously you don’t get to $19.58 million in tournament winnings without some big finishes. And Trickett has definitely notched quite a few impressive finishes over his career. Here’s a look at some of his best tourney efforts (all US dollars):

• 2013 Aussie Millions $250k Challenge – 1st place, $2,111,397 prize


• 2012 Macau High Stakes Challenge Super High Roller – 7th place, $999,184


• 2012 WSOP Big One for One Drop – 2nd place, $10,112,001


• 2011 Partouche Poker Tour Main Event – 1st place, $1,364,666


• 2011 Aussie Millions $250k High Roller – 2nd place, $1,384,631


• 2011 Aussie Millions $100k High Roller – 1st place, $1,508,258


• 2010 EPT Vilamoura Main Event – 4th place, $177,519


• 2010 WSOP $5k NL Hold’em – 2nd place, $505,725


• 2008 Grosvenor Poker Tour Luton – 1st place, $215,178