Kanit Joins Late; Soars to the Lead in the 2018 Aussie Millions $100,000 Challenge
The 2018 Aussie Millions $100,000 Challenge kicked off one hour late with Sam Greenwood leading the line up at the start in the poker room of the Crown Casino. After nine levels of 40 minuteds each, a field of 16 entries including two re-entries emerged and only six players bagged up for the night. Fresh off a runner-up finish in Event 22 $5,000 6-Max, Mustapha Kanit jumped into the competition in the penultimate level of the night and went through the field like a wrecking ball to bag up 1,141,000.
Second in chips is Jan-Eric Schwippert with 853,000, who had to fire a second bullet and also already finished 2nd in the $25,000 Challenge and the $50,000 ANTON Challenge during the festival here in Melbourne. Fellow German high roller regular Christian Christner (719,000), Michael Lim (534,000), Kahle Burns (428,000) and Manig Loeser (306,000) all made it through in their first attempt.
Among those to bust were $8,000 Satellite winner Sam Higgs, Kazuhiko Yotsushika, Tsugunari Toma, Jack Salter, Dietrich Fast, Fedor Holz, Sam Greenwood and Claas Segebrecht.
The day kicked off with a bang after Sam Greenwood took all but three big blinds off Jan-Eric Schwippert when turning trips treys and Fedor Holz failed to get there with ace-six against the ace-ten of Kahle Burns. Sam Higgs won a big pot right after the action had kicked off but it all went downhill from there to see the Aussie bow out in level six.
Kazuhiko Yotsushika failed to get there with ace-ten suited versus pocket jacks and fellow countryman Tsugunari Toma's queen-ten suited ended up second best to the ace-trey of Dietrich Fast. The run good of Fast ended right there, though, and Mustapha Kanit doubled twice in quick succession through the German soon after sitting down in level eight.
Fast bowed out soon after and was joined on the rail by Fedor Holz on his second entry, who got it in with king-nine for a gutshot to see Jan-Eric Schwippert hold up with ace-jack for second pair, and Kanit then took care of Sam Greenwood with pocket aces versus top pair. Before bagging and tagging, Claas Segebrecht also ran out of chips and Kanit ended up as the only chip millionaire.
$100,000 Challenge Day 2 Seat Assignments
| Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 1 | Michael Lim | Malaysia | 534,000 | 45 |
| 10 | 2 | Kahle Burns | Australia | 428,000 | 35 |
| 10 | 4 | Manig Loeser | Germany | 306,000 | 25 |
| 10 | 5 | Christian Christner | Germany | 719,000 | 60 |
| 10 | 7 | Mustapha Kanit | Italy | 1,141,000 | 95 |
| 10 | 8 | Jan-Eric Schwippert | Germany | 853,000 | 71 |
The action for Day 2 recommences at 2.15 p.m. local time on Monday, February 5th 2018, with blinds of 6,000/12,000/2,000 and the registration remains open for the first level. Among those expected to join are David Steicke and Jack Salter may also take another shot at High Roller glory. Stay tuned for more, as the PokerNews live reporting team will be on the floor to provide all the action.
, Sam Greenwood check-raised a bet of Mustapha Kanit to 70,000 and the Italian called to see the 
on the turn. Greenwood was first to act and made it 65,000 to go. Kanit moved all in and Greenwood called it off for his last 246,000.
river failed to improve Greenwood and he also joined the rail. Kahle Burns walked over to Kanit and said "you are a wrecking ball" while Kanit, who had just entered in the penultimate level of the day, moved up to five times the starting stack.
followed on the turn and Holz moved all in for 107,000, Schwippert called and both Germans tabled their cards.
on the river brought no help to see Holz run out of chips for the second time today.
flop, but it was all for naught as the 
completed the runout, eliminating Fast.
was all Fast, giving him a flush draw to eliminate both players. The turn 
however failed to complete that draw. Higgs was eliminated, with the other two players chopping it up.
ensured that the kicker played and Holz was eliminated on his first bullet.
and Greenwood check-called a bet of 7,500. The turn was the 
for trip threes and Schwippert mucked. The $25,000 Challenge winner now has around 3,000 chips behind.