Armed with oodles of confidence and a swagger in his step, you'd be forgiven for thinking that Sam Razavi was overconfident and, indeed, when asked why he'd signed up for the recent Black Belt Poker Grading, duly replied: "because I've decided that I'm going to the Aussie Millions in January."
But if ever self-assurance was justified, it's in the case of the 30-year old thespian-come-poker-pro as Sam's response should have included the word "final"; not only did he sail through the Grading to earn himself a £10,000 Aussie Millions package, but he also finished sixth of an initial 721 in the Main Event for a whopping A$225,000.
Railed by mentor Neil Channing, bracelet winner Richard Ashby, and fellow Grading winner Adam Stoneham, Sam headed into the final table at the Crown Casino in Melbourne in fourth place with a stack of 1,360,000, 45 big blinds, and a simple, but potentially effective game plan: play tight early on and open up short-handed. With a torrid line-up that included Patrik Antonius and fellow Brits James Keys and Chris Moorman, the journey ahead looked bumpy, and perhaps the only consolation was that Sorel Mizzi and Randy 'nanonoko' Lew were the final two casualties from the night prior.
Sam remained true to his word and trod carefully early doors, but after Antonius snapped up eighth, Sam suffered a major setback courtesy of a nasty flush over flush encounter. Having called a raise from Keys of 70,000 with Ks-Qs, Sam reached a five-way flop of 5s-2s-3s where he check-raised David Gorr's lead of 250,000 to 575,000. Gorr called before moving all in for 2,200,000 on the 9s turn. Somehow, Razavi found the fold - and, much to his delight, was shown the As - but it was a blow that hacked his stack down to 870,000.
Although Sam managed to climb another rung of the ladder, he never fully recovered, and after pushing all in uncontested the hand before, and with the blinds at 20,000/40,000(5,000), he shoved for around 800,000 with Ad-7d. On this occasion, however, he was looked up by Keys on the button with 7h-7s. An uneventful Qs-Js-Jh-5c-9s board later and Sam's adventure Down Under had come to a close-but-no-cigar end.
"I'm slightly disappointed at the moment and felt I played a couple of hands badly," reflected Sam in the aftermath. "I would have been satisfied with $500,000, but I couldn't find any spots and it was such a strong table with Chris Moorman, Patrik Antonius. James Keys, etc. Still, not a bad result. Next stop: WPT Venice!"
The aforementioned cigar almost went to Sam's assassin, who despite reaching heads-up with a near 5:1 chip deficit, managed to turn the tables to leave foe, Gorr, with little more than a million in chips. But, alas, poker is an unpredictable game, and Gorr produced a Rocky-esque comeback of his own before putting Keys all in on the turn of a 7s-6c-3h-Kh board with Kc-4c versus 7c-3c. With the felt boasting the biggest pot of the tournament, a cruel 4s hit the river to crown Gorr Champion for an eye-watering A$2,000,000. Keys, a former Grader himself, took away A$1,035,000 for his efforts.
Overall, the Aussie Millions proved a lucrative trip for the Black Belt Poker team with Sam's stunning performance complimented by Richard's win in the 8-Game Mixed event earlier in the week. Meanwhile, Neil cashed in the $1,000 shootout, whilst Adam made the money in Event #17's six-handed freezeout.
But, of course, the day belonged to Sam. A globe-trotter currently residing in the more local shores of Brighton, Sam is more accustomed to the mid-stakes heads-up cash tables, but has been looking to transfer his success over to the tournament felt since reaching Blue Belt and becoming a sponsored pro. For his first event under the Black Belt Poker banner, it hasn't been too bad a start
1st David Gorr -- A$2,000,000
2nd James Keys -- A$1,035,000
3rd Jeff Rossiter -- A$700,000
4th Michael Ryan -- A$450,000
5th Randy Dorfman -- A$325,000
6th Sam Razavi -- A$225,000
7th Chris Moorman -- A$175,000
8th Patrik Antonius -- A$130,000
Previous reports:
Razavi Makes Aussie Millions Final
Aussie Millions: Super Sam in Last 18
Gold Rush; Aussie Triumph for Ashby
Report From Down Under
The Aussie FishFiles: Prologue
Community Interview: Sam Razavi
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