Over the weekend, Phil Ivey (pictured) banked the largest cash of his live tournament career, adding AUD $4,000,000 (USD $3,582,753) to his already impressive income statement after winning the 2014 Aussie Millions $250,000 Challenge.

There were a total of 46 entries in the event, the most it has ever had, although there were fewer players than that since several people re-bought and some re-bought more than once. Ivey managed his victory on the back of just a single AUD $250,000 buy-in. After taking out casino fees, the total prize pool was AUD $11,270,000, with just six players getting paid.

The fact that Ivey’s personal record was set in the Aussie Millions $250,000 Challenge has some significance when looked at in the context of his overall career. After Ivey’s well-publicized year-long hiatus from tournament poker in 2011, he returned in with a flourish, winning this exact same event in January 2012 for what was then the largest single tournament cash he had ever had (AUD $2,000,000 / USD $2,058,948).

Although he has nine World Series of Poker bracelets, a WSOP Main Event final table appearance, and a World Poker Tour title, Ivey has never had a cash larger than either of the two Aussie Millions triumphs. In fact, his $250,000 Challenge wins comprise over a quarter of his USD $21,252,119 in lifetime earnings, according to the Hendon Mob.

As one would expect in an event like this, the final table was full of studs.Isaac Haxton entered with an enormous lead, holding 4,256,000 in chips. After him, four players – Mike timexMcDonald, Tom durrrr Dwan, Erik Seidel, and Daniel Negreanu (pictured) – were bunched together in the lower half of the 1,000,000-chip range. Fabian Quoss and Ivey were behind that pack and Max Altergott was the short stack with 341,000.

Altergott, not surprisingly, was the first to be eliminated near the start of final table play. He shoved on a flop of 4-6-9 with K-9, but was picked off by Dwan and his T-T.

It was almost three hours until the next knockout. Quoss used pocket kings to send Seidel and his jacks to the rail in seventh place. At this point, all remaining players were guaranteed a payday.

Shortly after the ensuing break, Dwan was eliminated. He was hit hard when Quoss doubled through him to leave him with just 200,000, although he managed to double-up right after that. Still needing to accumulate chips rapidly, Dwan moved all-in pre-flop with pocket eights and was called by Haxton, who had K-J. Haxton hit two pair and, when an eight didn’t show up on the river, Dwan had to settle for sixth place and cash of AUD $500,000. His elimination also meant the next player out would receive AUD $800,000, which Negreanu Tweeted was significant for him since he spent three buy-ins to get to this point.

Two hours later and post-dinner, Quoss and Ivey got into a raising war pre-flop until Quoss was all-in with eights versus Ivey’s K-Q. The relative hand strengths stood pat until the river, when Ivey nailed a king to eliminate Quoss in fifth place.

Haxton, the chip leader for most of the final table, was on a roller-coaster ride, seeing huge chunks of chips flow in and out of his stack. By the time the next break rolled around, McDonald, who a short time before was under 200,000, was the chip leader with 3,420,000. Ivey and Negreanu were close on his heels with 3,330,000 and 3,035,000, respectively, while Haxton had 1,715,000.

Haxton (pictured) doubled through Negreanu and then took a big pot from McDonald to quickly regain the lead. As a result, Negreanu and McDonald felt the need to make a move in a hurry. First it was Negreanu, who shoved pre-flop with A-2, but was dominated by Ivey’s A-K. Negreanu got lucky on the flop, finding one of the three remaining ducks, but Ivey got similarly lucky on the river, spiking a king. A couple of hands later, McDonald moved all-in with T-8 and Haxton called with A-K. The community cards were all low, allowing Haxton’s hand to hold up and sending McDonald home in third place. McDonald finished second in the Aussie Millions $100K Challenge earlier in the series.

Going into heads-up play, Haxton was back on top, 6,150,000 to Ivey’s 5,350,000. At the outset, it looked like Haxton was going to run away with it, as he won a string of hands to grow his stack to 9,300,000, opening up a 7,000,000-chip lead. But Ivey was undeterred, doubling up once to pull close. The turning point, other than the double-up which got Ivey back into contention, came on a hand without a showdown. With well over two million chips in the pot on a board reading 8-5-5-K-6, Haxton bet 2,100,000 only to see Ivey move all-in over the top. Haxton immediately released his hand, conceding the pot to Ivey, who was now the chip leader with 8,750,000.

A couple of hands later, it was over. Haxton moved all-in pre-flop with 8-7 and Ivey called with A-6. The flop was A-K-9, improving Ivey’s hand and putting Haxton in dire straits. A seven on the turn, though, gave Haxton some life, as he now had a pair and could win the hand with another seven or eight. Neither manifested itself on the river, however, and the tournament was over. Ivey had won his second Aussie Millions $250,000 Challenge and Haxton had to be satisfied with the AU $2,820,000 for second place:

1. Phil Ivey – AU $4,000,000
2. Isaac Haxton – AU $2,820,000
3. Mike McDonald – AU $1,900,000
4. Daniel Negreanu – AU $1,250,000
5. Fabian Quoss – AU $800,000
6. Tom Dwan – AU $500,000

Want the latest poker headlines and interviews? Follow PocketFives on Twitterand Like PocketFives on Facebook. You can also subscribe to our RSS feed.