|  The 2008 Aussie Millions was two weeks of intense poker that played host to some newer faces and some faces that we have seen many times before. What started off with 780 players all working towards one goal – to win the title – ended with 7 players at the final table.
The final table started off in a tense mood and a quiet hush could be heard all around as the players were concentrating on the hands they had and wondering how they could out with their opponents. Michael Chrisanthopoulos started off in the lead over the others with the amount of chips that he had making the other players just a little nervous and anxious to knock him down. Below is a list of each of the players and the amount of chips they started off with:
- Seat 1: Alexander Kostritsyn - 1,439,000
- Seat 2: Peter Mobbs - 1,357,000
- Seat 3: Antonio Casale - 1,995,000
- Seat 4: Erik Seidel - 1,491,000
- Seat 5: Nino Marotta - 1,649,000
- Seat 6: Michael Chrisanthopoulos - 6,806,000
- Seat 7: Peter Ling - 877,000
Peter Mobbs was the first player to take his leave when he hashed it out with Alexander Kostritsyn in hopes to knock him out of the game. Mobbs decided to take a chance and went for a double up when a raised pre-flop with As Js. He then decided to re-raising Kostritsyn and went all in after Kostritsyn went overboard with on his three-bet. Unfortunately for Mobbs he was way behind before the flop was even introduced. Kostritsyn tabled Ad Ks, but the Jc 8d 6c flop was a possible win situation for Mobbs. It was clear though after the Kd came put that Kostritsyn would win the round and knock Mobbs out when the river revealed a 2c.
This was only the beginning of some of the hard playing hands that went on during the final round. The next to take the fall was Antonio Casale followed by Nino Marotta who both went head to head with Kostritsyn and lost after going all in.
After these quick eliminations we watched and waited for two long hours before Peter Ling and Michael Chrisanthopoulos decided to make things interesting again and went all in on the flop with Ac Kc 10h. Ling's As 5s wasn’t looking good compared to Chrisanthopoulos Ad Kh, and the 9h on that appeared during the turn gave him no hope. The 8c on the river was no help to him and Ling dropped out in fourth place.
Chrisanthopoulos started off as the chip leader – but was the next player to fall as he went head to head with Kostritsyn. Erik Seidel raised during the pre-flop, Chrisanthopoulos decided to call from the small blind, and Kostritsyn made the decision to re-raise. After Seidel decided to fold, Chrisanthopoulos went all in and Kostritsyn called with a hand of 10c 10d. Chrisanthopoulos tabled Ac 6c, and was in need of some serious help. None came out and his time ran out with 5s 5d 3c 3s 10h. Chrisanthopoulos was eliminated in third place.
With five players eliminated the game was against Erik Seidel and Kostritsyn who began the round with the most chips. The game between the two remaining players started off with; Erik Seidel — 5,685,000 and Alexander Kostritsyn — 9,925,000.
They played for two hours before the eliminating hand came round to face them. Seidel raised immediately at the pre-flop and Kostritsyn called when the flop revealed Jd 8s 7s. Kostritsyn then checked the flop and decided to check-raise all in when Seidel led out. Seidel then made his call with As Qc. When Kostritsyn redrew he was lucky enough to lead the hand with Jh 9h. The turn and river showed a 3h Kh making it that much easier for Kostritsyn's jacks to work against and knock out Seidel and become the Aussie Millions Main Event winner. Kostritsyn played a great game throughout the whole final round knocking everyone out of his path. We saw the determination and was able to work towards the $1,650,000 prize. Below are the final results and payouts of the last seven players.
- 1. Alexander Kostritsyn - $1,650,000
- 2. Erik Seidel - $1,000,000
- 3. Michael Chrisanthopoulos - $700,000
- 4. Peter Ling - $500,000
- 5. Nino Marotta - $400,000
- 6. Antonio Casale - $300,000
- 7. Peter Mobbs - $225,000
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