Toby Lewis crowned Aussie Millions champion for 2018
The winner of the largest ever Aussie Millions Main Event in history has been crowned, with United Kingdom’s Toby Lewis claiming the title along with A$1,458,198 in prize money.
This year’s Aussie Millions $10,600 Main Event attracted a record field of 800, defeating the mark of 781 set back in 2008, and in the process created a huge prize pool of A$8,000,000.
Lewis soars up his country’s all-time money rankings with this win, and now has over US$4,000,000 in lifetime earnings. A regular on the poker scene, his previous biggest score came back in 2010 when he won EPT Vilamoura. Since then, he has posted final table finishes at several EPT and WPT events, most recently placing fourth at PCA in 2016 for US$267,340. However, this result must eclipse all of them and stands as the biggest
title of his poker career.
“The last time I won a big tournament was seven and a half years ago,” Lewis said after his win.
“I’ve played a lot of poker in that time, with lots of fourth and fifth places over the years. So once I got a big stack in this one, it seemed like a great spot to go on and win.
“Over the last few months I’ve been working on my game a lot harder than I ever have. Today I made sure my concentration was 100% no matter how tired I was, and it worked out.
“Melbourne is my favourite city in the world, and I haven’t been in five years because of other commitments. I definitely should have come back sooner, because this is my favourite tournament in the world!”
With the chip lead, Lewis cut a deal three-handed between eventual runner-up Stefan Huber and third-place finisher Espen Solaas, meaning the Englishman walked away with A$1,383,198, with Huber and Solaas receiving A$909,699 and A$1,177,103 respectively.
After the deal, the final three continued playing with the title, ANTON Jewellery bracelet and A$75,000 in prize money up top.
It didn’t take long for Lewis to emerge triumphant, and add his name to the likes of Gus Hansen, Ami Barer and Ari Engel on the long and illustrious list of Aussie Millions Champions.
The top-ranked Australian was Chul-Hyon Park who finished fourth, while another Aussie Ben Richardson came in sixth.
The final table results are as follows:
| Place | Name | Prize Money (AUD) |
| 1 | Toby Lewis (UK) | A$1,458,198* |
| 2 | Stefan Huber (SWI) | A$909,699* |
| 3 | Espen Solaas (NOR) | A$1,177,103* |
| 4 | Chul-Hyon Park (AUS) | A$470,000 |
| 5 | Mike Del Vecchio (USA) | A$370,000 |
| 6 | Ben Richardson (AUS) | A$300,000 |
| 7 | Johan Schumacher (BEL) | A$235,000 |
* Denotes three way deal.
