The new king of poker was crowned on Sunday 30 of January 2011 , when David Gorr, a 68-year-old grandfather from Melbourne, Victoria collected a whopping AUD$2,000,000 in prize money. He was also presented with the widely-cherished and universally-revered diamond-encrusted gold bracelet, representing the game’s ultimate achievement.
The triumph was both a mental and physical marathon. Grandfather of five, Gorr, overcame a huge field of 721 entrants who participated in what was one of the largest Aussie Millions ‘Main Events’ since its inception.
The No-Limit Hold’em tournament began on Sunday 23 January, and took seven days to complete. Gorr’s route to victory was a determined one, albeit peppered with a few unwanted detours.
He arrived at the Final Table, which began on Saturday 29 January at 12:30pm, low in chips when the customary “Shuffle Up and Deal” announcement was made. Gorr lost some of his momentum during stage one of the finale which included the elimination of six players playing down to the final two, Gorr and British player James Keys.
The Final Table was played within ‘Studio 3’, a purpose built film set, at Melbourne’s Crown Casino. The final duel was played in front of a packed house of nearly 500 spectators and a worldwide audience following the action over the internet. Millions more will watch the final crescendo of the 2011 Aussie Millions Poker Championship ‘Main Event’ later in the year, when television programming is confirmed.
The runner up was James Keys, from England. Despite the disappointment of defeat, he could take great pride in a noble effort that resulted in overcoming all but one of the 721 players who began the pursuit of every poker player’s greatest dream. Keys collected a supreme consolation prize of AUD$1,035,000 in prize money.
Crown congratulates David Gorr on his tremendous accomplishment after playing superb poker over a prolonged period against a record field that included virtually every single top poker professional and hundreds of talented amateurs from Australia and around the globe.
The final eight players at Crown’s 2011 Aussie Millions Poker Championship ‘Main Event’ Final Table were:
| 1st | David Gorr | AUD$2,000,000 |
| 2nd | James Keys | AUD$ 1,035,000 |
| 3rd | Jeff Rossiter | AUD$ 700,000 |
| 4th | Michael Ryan | AUD$450,000 |
| 5th | Randy Dorfman | AUD$325,000 |
| 6th | Samad Razavi | AUD$225,000 |
| 7th | Chris Moorman | AUD$175,000 |
| 8th | Patrik Antonius | AUD$130,000 |
