By Carolyn Webb
After three years travelling the world as a professional poker player, Oliver Speidel knows it is a no-no to let your feelings show.
But the 26-year-old from Melbourne could not help letting loose, wallowing among bundles of cash on the table, when he won $1.6 million.
Over five days, including some 12-hour sessions, Speidel raised, called and bluffed his way past 658 opponents from around the world, culminating in an eight-hour battle on Sunday until about 8pm, when he was the last survivor in the Aussie Millions poker championship at Crown Casino.
(Don't feel too sorry for the runner-up, Kenneth Wong from Hong Kong, because he leaves with $1 million.)
Card-carrying genius? Oliver Speidel beat 658 international and Australian competitors to win the Aussie Millions poker championship.Credit: Penny Stephens
Yesterday, Speidel said he felt ''exhilaration and disbelief''.
If you were picturing him as a playboy type with plans to buy the tropical island, the Maserati and the luxury yacht, he insists that is not him. He used to work in risk management at the Reserve Bank and still lives with his parents in Clifton Hill.
He got burnt playing the sharemarket with previous winnings and plans to invest this windfall wisely. ''I'm looking to maybe getting an apartment in the city,'' he said.
The biggest toy he has lashed out on is a $5500 scooter, bought last year. The biggest benefit he sees from the new cash is the freedom to enter tournaments around the world that have entry fees of up to $100,000.
''I'm still going to play poker,'' Speidel said. ''I love poker. I would always play.''
After the win, he hung out with a group of friends and, to wind down … they played poker into the night. ''I won a few hundred dollars more off them, which was fun,'' he said.
Speidel said his analytical mind was a plus ''but at the end of the day, I was incredibly lucky, that's the overriding factor … I figured going into the final table with seven left, I thought I had a one in four, one in five chance, so to win it was incredibly lucky.
''When I first started playing poker I would get really upset when I lost, really happy when I won. The emotional swings were crazy and that's not optimal.
''If you want to play your best all the time you need to keep your emotions under control and not let the losing streaks get to you.''