The Australian Poker Open is a wrap and Stephen Chidwick is its inaugural champion while Michael Addamo took down the $100,000 Main Event to close out the series. Addamo collected $1,288,000 for this win today while Chidwick, who finished fourth for $280,000, brought his total for the series to $949,000 on top of which he’ll receive the $50,000 Championship prize.

THE 2020 AUSTRALIAN POKER OPEN CHAMPION

“It feels great,” Chidwick said with a big smile after securing the Australian Poker Open Championship.

“I would love to complete the collection, get the whole set,” Chidwick joked, referring to his U.S. Poker Open title and setting his sights on the British Poker Open where he finished second in 2019.

“Hopefully these style of events continue because I think it’s a bit more of an achievable accolade to win a multiple of or, over time, determine who the best player is rather than looking at a single tournament. Obviously there’s a lot of luck involved in this too, but over the course of seven, eight, or ten events you’re going to see the better players win more often and it would be fun to see who can collect the most titles like this.”

Image: Michael Addamo Wins Event 7_Australian Poker Open_ATA_3622

The Star Gold Coast COO Jessica Mellor congratulated Stephen Chidwick for winning the Australian Poker Open.

“Along with poker fans on the Gold Coast and right across the country, I want to congratulate both Stephen Chidwick and Michael Addamo for providing us with some incredible entertainment throughout this event, and earning these impressive wins,” Ms Mellor said.

“The poker that we are witnessing is at another level to what we’ve experienced since we opened our state-of-the-art poker facility last year – and we can’t wait to see more thrilling moments as these tournaments continue.

“The Star Gold Coast is home to some of Australia’s biggest and most sought after events and we are proud to add these global poker tournaments to our list.”

 

Australian Poker Open Event #7 Results
1	Michael Addamo	United States	$1,288,000	350
2	Aaron Van Blarcum	United States	$784,000	245
3	Alex Foxen	United States	$448,000	175
4	Stephen Chidwick	United Kingdom	$280,000	140

 

THE AUSTRALIAN POKER OPEN MAIN EVENT

The final day of the Australian Poker Open started with the tensest money bubble in recent history as the Championship was on the line for Stephen Chidwick. More than an hour went by, despite the shallow stacks, before it was Kahle Burns who busted in fifth place to give Chidwick the championship and the $50,000 top prize.

Burns got very unlucky to hit the rail as – at the moment of his elimination – he wasn’t the shortest stack, it was Chidwick. Burns, however, found two kings and moved all in after chip leader Michael Addamo had raised. Addamo made the quick call with queen-eight of spade and the flop immediately brought two eight to give him trips. Burns shook his head and sighed as this marked the end of his run in this event.

Image:Stephen Chidwick_Australian Poker Open_ATA_3524

With the Championship locked up, Chidwick had a big comeback to mount for a chance to win this event as well. That, however, did not work out as Aaron Van Blarcum sent him to the rail with queen-jack of clubs versus the Brit’s ace-king.

Alex Foxen, the current No.1 on the Global Poker Index just one spot ahead of Chidwick, was next to bust out at the hands of Van Blarcum. Van Blarcum called Foxen’s shove with ace-four of spades and was up against king-queen of clubs. Van Blarcums’s hand held up and he found himself heads up against Addamo.

Addamo, holding a big chip lead throughout the final table, was never in trouble one bit. On the final hand, Addamo flopped a flush draw against Van Blarcum’s middle pair, and the turn immediately brought what the Aussie was looking for.

“It was a pretty smooth ride, I was pretty fortunate,” Addamo said after securing yet another big win as his meteoric rise in poker continues.

Addamo was recently nominated by his peers for the title “Toughest Opponent” at the Global Poker Awards, which will be announced live on PokerGO on March 6th, and was grateful to be among the final four that also includes Chidwick, Ali Imsirovic, and Kahle Burns.

“That’s what you want to be as a poker player, the most feared player, I try to put people in tough spots.”

Looking back on his entire week at Star Gold Coast, Addamo has nothing but positive thoughts on both his performance and the venue. Addamo became the first Australian to win an Australian Poker Open event, finishing with the highest total cash earnings in this series and the third-highest points total.

“This week was fantastic. I am very impressive, and it was my first time in the poker room here. The staff is fantastic, and I had a great time.”

2020 Australian Poker Open Championship Standings (final)
	Name	Country	Payout	Points
1	Stephen Chidwick	United Kingdom	$949,000	650
2	Andras Nemeth	Hungary	$534,100	630
3	Michael Addamo	Australia	$1,685,500	560
4	Mike Watson	Canada	$241,500	450
5	Luc Greenwood	Canada	$717,700	360
6	Farid Jattin	Colombia	$360,500	360
7	Joni Jouhkimainen	Finland	$231,500	330
8	Aaron Van Blarcum	United States	$857,500	305
9	Timothy Adams	Canada	$416,500	300
10	Erik Seidel	United States	$284,300	270
11	David ‘Chino’ Rheem	United States	$257,250	240
12	Orpen Kisacikoglu	Turkey	$157,000	210
13	Michael O’Grady	Australia	$118,000	210
14	Najeem Ajez	Australia	$93,600	210
15	Alex Foxen	United States	$506,000	165
16	Andy Lee	Australia	$183,750	150
17	Seth Davies	United States	$176,250	150
18	George Wolff	United States	$116,000	150
19	Benjamin Shannon	Australia	$82,600	150
20	Steve O’Dwyer	Ireland	$122,500	120
21	Jorryt van Hoof	Netherlands	$94,000	90
22	Jamie Lee	United States	$47,200	90
23	Sean Winter	United States	$34,400	90
24	Matthias Eibinger	Austria	$58,750	60
25	Elio Fox	United States	$29,500	60
26	Ben Lamb	United States	$23,600	60

High stakes live poker coverage continues on Poker Central on Saturday with Day 1 of Super High Roller Bowl Australia. PokerGO coverage of this event is also available starting at midnight ET/9:00 pm PT.

About The Star Gold Coast

Since its inception in 1985, The Star Gold Coast has become the coastal city’s most iconic tourism and entertainment destination and today welcomes around 3.5 million visitors a year through its doors. Owned and operated by The Star Entertainment Group, the property has continued to evolve significantly since embarking on an extraordinary transformation, and has become home to some of the nation’s biggest events including the first World Poker Tour in Australia. Along with its consortium partners, the company is currently building a $400 million, 53-storey first mixed-use tower at The Star Gold Coast, which will bring the internationally-acclaimed Dorsett hotel brand to Australia for the first time when it opens around 2022. Further, the partners have approval for an additional $2 billion-plus masterplan for The Star Gold Coast, which includes an additional four towers and resort amenities.