The 2015 Aussie Millions is underway with Vic Spadavecchia and Daniel Rudd taking the honors in the first two events.

The 2015 Aussie Millions is well underway and a hometown hero and bashful Brit have taken the first two titles.

[Image Credit: Pokerasiapacific]

Event #1: $1,150 No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) attracted 1,211 players and the final table bowed to the pressure of the home nation. In the end it would come down between an Aussie and an American, for the title, and the lesser-experienced Australian would take the honors.

The star attraction was Andrew Hinrichsen. The World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, and former Aussie Millions side event winner, had all the experience, but the American Derek Wolters had previous with a 2014 side event final table appearance, finishing fourth. This time it would be Hinrichsen taking fourth, and Wolters would nearly go all the way.

Spadavecchia held a 9.5m v 3.5m chip lead, at the start of heads-up, and the first all-in of that battle would be the last: Vic Spadavecchia raised to 520,000, on the button, Derek Wolters moved all-in for 2.5m, and Spadavecchia made the call. Wolters was in front with [As] [4d]; Spadavecchia held [Qh] [3h] and a queen on the flop gave the Australian his first title of any particular note.

Event #1 Final Table Results

Three things that are absolutely certain in life: death, taxes and Paddy Power becoming controversial.

The last of these three things was in full display once again when the Irish bookmaker decided to throw a horse into the FIFA presidency. No, it didn’t throw an actual horse into the proceedings, although that still wouldn’t come as a surprise since we’re dealing with Paddy Power here.

What it did, though, might be a little more controversial, if not downright amusing.

In an attempt to “gain transparency” in the dealings of football’s governing body, Paddy Power took it upon itself to pay former Tottenham Spurs player David Ginola close to $380,000 to run for FIFA president. You better believe it because it’s absolutely true.

“This campaign is all about transparency and we are paying David £250,000 (nearly $380,000) for the campaign and for being here today,” a Paddy Power spokesman told Reuters late last week.

“It is his full-time job now and, hopefully, will be for the next four months.”

If you’re not familiar on who Ginola is, here’s his background as a former football player. Ginola is former French international who played professional football from 1985 to 2002 for a handful of clubs, including Paris St. Germain (PSG), Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle, Aston Villa, and Everton. Since his retirement, he focused on a handful of other endeavors, including acting and modeling, most prominently being featured as a model for L’Oreal’s line of shampoos.