Lee Watkinson made his first appearance at the 2008 Aussie Millions and came away with a win in the $3,000 Pot Limit Omaha event. Rebuys were allowed throughout the first two levels of play along with one $3,000 add-on at the end of the second level. There were 65 players in the tournament, and a total of 107 rebuys. The prize pool expanded until it reached $516,000.
Players started dropping out once the rebuy period was over with, paving the way for players to make big moves that would either rocket them upwards, or drastically fail, sending them to the rail.
After several long periods of grueling play, the final table was formed after Peter Peeters was eliminated in tenth place when his two pair lost to three of a kind. Max Pescatori, “The Italian Pirate,†was the first player to leave the final table, doing so when he called Tom Dwan’s all-in bet on a flop of 10c-8c-2d. Max held Ac-Qc-Qs-9h for a pair of queens as well as flush and straight draws. Dwan held Ah-Kh-2s-2c for a set of twos that would hold up to win the pot.
Jamie Pickering, who won Event #4, was the next player to exit the tournament. Pickering held 10c-8d-7h-6d against Tom Dwan’s As-9s-9h-5h. Pickering went all-in after flopping a straight on a board of 9c-8s-5s. Dwan called to find that his set was behind, but the 2s came on the turn to give Dwan a flush, and then a 2h landed on the river to improve Dwan’s winning hand from a flush to a full house.
Lenny Barshak left in seventh place after his pair of tens couldn’t beat Michael Guttman’s pair of tens with ace kicker. Guttman’s success was short lived, as Lee Watkinson would eliminate Guttman when Watkinson’s flopped set held up against Guttman’s flopped two pair.
The fifth place finished was Mark Kassis, who raised all-in preflop with his few remaining chips on a hand of As-7h-4h-3c. Lee Watkinson called with Kd-Qc-8h-5s. A queen fell on the flop to give Lee a set, and the eight on the turn improve Lee’s hand to a full house.
Mike Sexton, “The Ambassador of Poker,†would also meet his doom against Lee Watkinson. Sexton made an all-in call with Ad-9c-7d-3h after a flop of Ks-Jd-2d, giving him the nut flush draw. However, Lee had Kd-Qh-10s-7s for a pair of kings. No diamond came for Sexton, and Lee’s hand improved to a full house with running sevens.
The final table reached heads-up play after Tom Dwan eliminated Van Marcus in third place. Marcus pushed all-in after he flopped two pair with Kh-Jd-9s-5c on a flop of Js-9h-8c. Unfortunately for him, Dwan held 10h-10c-8d-8c for a straight. No help came for Marcus, allowing the heads-up battle to commence between Lee Watkinson and Tom Dwan.
Although Watkinson and Dwan had nearly even chip stacks to start heads-up play, the battle only lasted fifteen minutes. Dwan reraised all-in on a flop of Kc-10h-8h with a hand of Kh-Ks-Js-10c for a set of kings. Watkinson held Kd-Qc-Jd-9c, so he could make a straight with a Q, J, or 9. Instead of getting a straight, the c on the turn and the 5c on the river gave Watkinson the straight, the win, the trophy, and the $180,600 first prize.