The final Aussie Millions update of 2016 and Steve O’Dwyer is once again making all of the headlines with another huge score, this time in the A$250,000 Challenge.

It’s December 2011, and for some ungodly reason the final table of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Venice Main Event is being played out in a marquee opposite the casino.

It’s freezing.

The Internet doesn’t work.

I want to find someone smaller than me so I can beat them up.

Steve O’Dwyer is heads-up with Cristiano Ronaldo lookalike Edoardo Alescio. The American is so cold he pulls down part of the fabric used on set to make the place look ship shape and wears it as a makeshift jacket.

Steam comes out of his mouth like a boiling kettle.

I remember thinking that this could be the one.

Up until this point in his career he had won a lot of money but he hadn’t won much silverware. A sixth in the 2009 WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $202,362; a sixth in the 2010 World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) Main Event in Caesars Palace Las Vegas for $35,875; a fifth in a €10k High Roller in Season 8 of the European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona festival for €46,900; a runner-up spot to Benny Spindler in the EPT8 London Main Event for £465,000, and a sixth place finish in the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) Shootout event for €36,357.

And here he was freezing his tits off, playing for a WPT title.

There was a part of me that was hoping this wouldn’t be his defining moment. He deserved better. Having your winners photo with snot icicles shooting down your beard is undeserving of such a sterling grinder.

He didn’t win.

It was another €95,930 banked, but still that magical major title eluded him. It was another bridesmaid moment.

In Feb 2012, O’Dwyer made another EPT final table this time it was Copenhagen. This time he finished seventh for $51,265. Victory followed not long after, but it would be in the less prestigious WPT National Series in Vejle. Nevertheless, a win is a win and the €159,227 would pay for a few more flights and hotel bills.

Three more final tables followed in €10k High Roller events. He saw the WPT World Championships slip from his grasp when he finished fifth for $192,176, and he made another EPT Main Event final table finishing fifth in EPT9 London and £146,000.

And then it happened.

Something clicked.

Steve O’Dwyer had seemingly saved his best for the very best when he won the EPT9 Grand Final in Monte Carlo for €1.2m.

Since tearing that monkey off his back he has gone on to win six more mega buy-in tournaments earning close to $10m in cashes. In Jan 2016 alone he has earned just under $3m after finishing fourth in the $200k buy-in at the WPT Philippines National Event for $953,700; winning the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) $50,000 Super High Roller for $945,495, and signing off with a superb showing at the Aussie Millions.

O’Dwyer beat David Peters in Heads-up action, another man who is amassing the biggest scores of his career. Connor Drinan finished third, and the recent $100k Challenge winner, Fabian Quoss, rounded off a great trip down under with a fourth place finish.

Aussie Millions $250,000 Challenge Pay Outs

1st. Steve O’Dwyer – $744,829

2nd. David Peters – $629,614

3rd. Connor Drinan – $723,552

4th. Fabian Quoss – $677,520

He has now earned close to $15m in live tournament earnings, places 10th in the all-time money list, and is the current Global Poker Index (GPI) World #1.

Can anyone stop Steve O’Dwyer?

Not at the moment.