The 2009 Victorian Poker Championship Has Begun

August 16, 2009 by JesAnne
Filed under Poker News

The 2009 Victorian poker Championships Main Event has begun and taken off to a strong start. Over 150 players have begun competing in this even for a hefty prize and a shot at fame.

The crowd was diverse, with some of pokers most popular players showing up to pad their wallets and increase their popularity. Joe Hachem, 2005’s World Champion is competing along with his brother, Tony, who was just crowned the Australia New Zealand Poker Tournament Player of the year. Other players included wsop bracelet winner, Mark Vos, and online players Ben Delaney, Tim Horan, Matthew Pearson, Kristian Lunardi, Joel Dodds, Daniel Kochan and defending champion Jay “Seabeast” Kinkade.

A notable hand was Jay Kinkade’s exit. Betting on a pair of fours, he lost to a flush that appeared on the river to Mike Ivin; Another former Victorian Championship Main Event winner. While this was definitely an exciting hand, more people are commenting on how George Flourentzou was able to do enough damage to Julian Powell to gain the lead in the event with a chip count of 154,700. This amount gives him nearly a 10,000 lead over the second place Daniel Kochan.

While the main event got off to a strong start, it got off to an even quicker end for some. Of the 156 players that began the tournament, only 57 remain. At the end of the day, chip counts were as follows for the top ten:

George Flourentzou – 154,700
Daniel Kochan – 146,000
Leonid Cai – 144,500
Gary Benson – 142,200
Aytunc Tezay – 136,100
Jason Clissold – 133,200
Karim Jomeen – 119,500
Bill Jordanou – 115,000
Helen Davis – 108,500
Jason Gray – 107,300

Players paid $2,700 to participate in this event which takes place at the world famous Crown Casino in Melbourne. The final tables of certain events and other activities are being broadcast via Aussie Millions Phase 2 & 3 satellites.