Grant Levy has pocketed a handsome one million Australian dollars after becoming Sydney’s first ever PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Champion at Star City Casino, Sydney, after taking out a field of 561 players including four world champions.

Grant, 28-year-old teacher and father of two from Penrith, has been honing his poker skills online, which paid dividends as he triumphed in front of a home crowd, including his adoring wife and proud brother.

As the first Aussie to become a poker millionaire on home soil, Grant said of his win, “to be honest I am still taking it all in, but it’s unbelievable to think that I have taken on some of the world’s greats and come out on top. I’m ecstatic to take the title and the million – I think it’s going to take a week or so to even sink in.”

After a starting field of 561 players from around the world took to the tables last Wednesday to play for a share of over million and the glory of being crowned the first PokerStars.net APPT Sydney Champion, only nine remained to start the final table today. Grant started play fourth with 1,052,000 chips and played a tight game over 13 hours to win the million dollars.

The impressive starting field including four past world champions: Joe Hachem (2005 World Champion), Scotty Nguyen (1998 World Champion), Chris Moneymaker (2003 World Champion) and Greg Raymer (2004 World Champion). The field also drew in Australian celebrities hoping to topple a champion including: Daniel Macpherson, David Campbell and Manly Sea Eagles player Glenn Stewart, none of whom made the final table.

Grant now also has the unique opportunity to join three other APPT Champions and the four former world champions to battle it out for charity in the PokerStars.net Tournament of Champions today. It is rare for these four champions to face each other at the same table so crowds are expected to watch the cards fly as they fight it out for ,000 to go to the charity of their choice.

Final results:
1. Grant Levy (Australia) ,000,000
2. Jeremiah Vinsant (USA) 1,540
3. Lei He (Australia) 2,280
4. Sol Bergren (Canada) 0,200
5. Jai Kemp (Australia) 8,838
6. Barry Kohlhoff (USA) 5,100
7. John Matwey (USA) ,080
8. Vijayam Nagarajan (Malaysia) ,060
9. Larry Wright (USA) ,040