The Melbourne Championships have just ended at the Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia. There was a huge array of events, including a $5K High Rollers event, the ANZPT Melbourne and (the most important one of all) the Melbourne Championship Main Event.

The ANZPT Melbourne was taken down by Chris Levak from Sydney. Chris has been battling away at poker for a few years and this is certainly his biggest result to date. He beat some far more credentialed players in the likes of Ben Savage, ‘Sydney’ Sam Khouiss and Peter Aristidou at a star studded final table. The other big performance was from Tony Hachem who managed another ANZPT cash to take his record to three cashes from three events, which considering the size of the field, is no mean feat.

Ben Ivelito continued the rise of the unknowns when he walked away with a cool $100,000 with a victory in the $5K buy in High Rollers event. He outlasted over 40 players to walk away with the title and the cash.

The Main Event was run over four days and nights and concluded Monday afternoon. A record field of 725 players took to the felt but it was finally Tudor Kondevski who outlasted them all to claim the title of 2009 Melbourne Champion. He also pocketed a lazy $150,000 for his effort. It was a huge effort to get through such a tough field and Tudor beat some excellent players like Steve “the Big Show” Topakas and Bruno Portaro at the final table.

The Championship was a fantastic success and Crown Casino should again be congratulated for putting on yet another world class event. Remember that 888 Poker runs online satellites to live tournaments like the Melbourne Champs so you can win your way into events like this from the comfort of your own home. You might also want to join Warnie as part of the 888Poker Team when they travel to the WSOP 2009 later this year. There is a special tournament satellite held on 15 June at Crown where there is expected to be as many as five packages up for grabs.