The massive $250,000 buy-in Aria Super High Roller Cash Game has been a rotating carousel of elite No-Limit Hold’em talent… and Australian Matt Kirk.
The unheralded poker pro from Perth was the biggest loser on Day 1 of the cash game dropping hundreds of thousands to players like Antonio Esfandiari and Phil Ivey.
The 28 year old, who’s known simply as “Aussie Matt” at the tables, was unperturbed by his bad fortune.
“I’ve played bigger games than this,” he said. Kirk is a Pot-Limit Omaha specialist and admitted No-Limit Hold’em is hardly his strongest game.
“I shouldn’t really be playing,” he said. “I’m just bored, there were no PLO games running.”
Matt Kirk: Cut His Teeth in Private Poker Game
Kirk maintains he’s purely a live player and unlike much of his competition he doesn’t play online poker at all.
The Perth native was 18 years old when he started playing poker. He started at the casino and transitioned to a private game.
Despite being one of the lesser known players, Kirk had no problem mixing it up with the established TV pros.
Poker legend Doyle Brunson, who was one of the game’s biggest winners on Day 1, called Kirk “a bit of a maniac” while on break.
“I’m just having fun,” he said. “I’m not expected to win. They are all pros. It’s a terrible lineup. There’s no real soft spots.”
On Day 2 Kirk was joined by Doug Polk, Scott Seiver, Dan Colman, Paul Newey and Sam Trickett.
Kirk said he has some experience playing with Seiver and Trickett in PLO but the other players were new to him.
Kirk: I Would Pay Good Money to Switch Aria Game to PLO
There was also a rumor going around that Kirk has been playing a massive heads-up PLO game against Phil Ivey this summer.
For the time being Kirk is enjoying his time in the spotlight and trading blows with some of the best players in the world.
He’ll have two more days of action to try and dig himself out of the hole.
“I would pay a lot of money to change this game to PLO right now,” said Kirk.
