Alex Trevallion wins A$25,000 buy-in Challenge in Melbourne

Sunday January 25 ,2015 : LOCAL VICTORY FOR AUSSIE A$25,000 POKER CHALLENGE
 
A$645,150 triumph for Australian pro Alex Trevallion.
 
Australian poker pro and respected online cash game expert Alex Trevallion was definitely the star of the A$25,000 buy-in Challenge tournament in Melbourne this weekend, surviving a starting field of 104 players to start the final table with the chip lead, and riding that through to ultimate victory in a tough heads up to claim the winner's prize of A$645,150 – the lion's share of an impressive A$2,496,000 prize pool.
 
The entry field represented a 60 percent increase over the same event last year, with aces like Erik Seidel, Patrik Antonius and Phil Ivey among the starters, although none of these top players made the final table, and Ivey and Antonius failed to cash.
 
Headed in the chip counts by Trevallion, the powerful final table comprised German ace Tobias Reinkemeier, Pratyush Buddiga, Stephen Chidwick, Thomas Muehloecker, Steve O’Dwyer, Raiden Kan, Rahul Byrraju and Connor Drinan.
 
Buddiga's departure at third for A$335,000 set the scene for a heads up between Trevallion and Reinkemeier, with the two players pretty much equal in chip stacks. The duo immediately negotiated a chop which gave Trevallion A$605,150 and his opponent A$614,850, and left A$40,000 on the table, along with a gold championship ring for the winner.
 
Confounding expectations of a long hard fight, a major early hand led to the two quickly going all-in on a $1.5 million pot that obliterated the German's stack and sent him packing with a consolatory second placing prize of A$ 614,850.
 
Other final table pay-outs were:
 
Stephen Chidwick A$250,000
Thomas Muehloecker A$195,000
Steve O’Dwyer A$156,000
Raiden Kan A$125,000
Rahul Byrraju A$100,000
Connor Drinan A$75,000