Poker Pro Jimmy Fricke Wins Aussie Millions Event

Jimmy Fricke, the young American poker player who finished second to Gus Hansen in last year’s Aussie Millions championship event, now has an Aussie Millions title.

Fricke won $16,800 for outlasting the 95 other entrants who bought into the third event of this year’s Aussie Millions series, a $500 seven-card stud/seven-card stud eight-or-better/razz event. He was the only non-Australian player at the final table. Last year, when he was 19 years old, he nearly beat Hansen to win the championship title.

Fricke, who plays online as “Gobboboy,”  is a former Magic: The Gathering card game player who gravitated to poker as he grew older. He built his bankroll by playing $1 multitable tournaments online. His $800,000 cash at last year’s Aussie Millions is his biggest cash to date.

The Aussie Millions continues with a preliminary event each day until the end of the month. On Saturday, the AUD $100,000 buy-in event takes place, followed by the six-day AUD $10,000 championship event that starts Jan. 14.