$25,000 Challenge
Day 1 Completed
Day 1 Completed
$25,000 Challenge
Days:
12
Live Highlights
James Chen Leads $25,000 Challenge at 2017 Aussie Millions
The 2017 Aussie Millions saw its first High Roller start today with the $25,000 Challenge commencing at 2:10. Again, like in recent years, high rollers came from all over the world to play the elite event in Crown Casino Melbourne and once again records were broken. With 122 entries last year, the bar had been set pretty high, but this year's edition easily surpassed that with 133 paying entries.
After 12 levels of play, James Chen leads the final 25 players having catapulted his 50,000 starting bank to a chip castle worth 621,000. He's closely followed by former November Niner Antoine Saout (601,000) and local poker hero Jeff Rossiter (582,500). The multi cultural Top 5 is rounded out by Mustapha Kanit (485,000) and Brandon Adams (455,500).
| # | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Chen | Taiwan | 621,000 |
| 2 | Antoine Saout | France | 601,000 |
| 3 | Jeff Rossiter | Australia | 582,500 |
| 4 | Mustapha Kanit | Italy | 485,000 |
| 5 | Brandon Adams | United States | 455,500 |
Play got underway at exactly 2:10 p.m. and the tables filled up rather quickly. No hesitating whether to enter or not, most players sat down immediately to get action underway. Grayson Ramage was the early chipleader, doubling his stack busting Jason Mo in a set over set situation. Mo would bust his second bullet not much later, making him one of the first players to bust indefinitely as the event was organized as a single reentry. Despite being off to a good start, Ramage wouldn't bag as he too got eliminated in the end.
Mo, having busted two bullets, and Ramage, on a single bullet, wouldn't be the only ones to bust. Every table was filled with recognizable players and they hit the rail one by one. Erik Seidel, who may consider Melbourne one of his favorite cities to play poker after cashing here big year after year, would not have to write down his chip count at the end of the day and neither would WSOP Main Event champion Joe Hachem to name just two.
While it was Antoine Saout with the lead for most of the day, the title of chipleader was snagged right from under his nose as James Chen won some huge pots in the last level to finish up top. The biggest pot Chen played was a hand against high stakes cash game player Ben Tollerene. After some hefty action before the flop, Chen bet-called a shove with nothing but queen-nine for a gutshot and an over card. That was good, it turned out, as Tollerene tabled the bottom end of an open-ended straight draw with nine-seven. The jack on the turn gave Chen the straight he was looking for and Tollerene hit the rail well before the money after a blank on the river.
Play resumes at 2:30 local time as the tournament will play down to a winner. With 25 players remaining and 14 players in the money, 11 players will leave empty-handed. Min cashing is worth A$63,840, making the six-handed final tables guarantees the players A$143,640 and winning nets one player A$861,840.
PokerNews.com will be on the floor for live updates once again on Day 2, so check back at 2:30 p.m. local time to see how this record-breaking tournament concludes.
| Year | Entries | Prize Pool | Winner | Country | Prize in A$ | Prize in $ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 20 | A$500,000 | Dominykas Karmazinas | Lithuania | A$200,000 | $205,895 |
| 2013 | 30 | A$723,000 | Igor Kurganov | Russia | A$275,000 | $290,317 |
| 2014 | 65 | A$1,560,000 | Max Altergott | Germany | A$241,785* | $211,522* |
| 2015 | 104 | A$2,496,000 | Alexander Trevallion | Australia | A$645,150** | $521,835** |
| 2016 | 122 | A$2,928,000 | Chance Kornuth | United States | A$790,560 | $547,874 |
| 2017 | 133 | A$3,192,000 | A$861,840 | $650,481 |
** denotes a deal with Tobias Reinkemeier (2nd, A$614,850)
| Position | Prize in A$ | Prize in $ |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | A$861,840 | $648,098 |
| 2 | A$590,520 | $444,067 |
| 3 | A$383,040 | $288,032 |
| 4 | A$287,280 | $216,024 |
| 5 | A$207,480 | $156,017 |
| 6 | A$143,640 | $108,012 |
| 7 - 8 | A$119,700 | $90,010 |
| 9 - 10 | A$95,760 | $72,018 |
| 11 - 12 | A$79,800 | $60,015 |
| 13 - 14 | A$63,840 | $48,012 |
End of Day Chip Counts (full)
An extensive recap on today's action to follow.
|
|
621,000 | 401,000 | ||
|
|
601,000 | 101,000 | ||
|
|
582,500 | 132,500 | ||
Winamax Team Pro
|
|
485,000 | 90,000 | ||
|
|
455,500 | 455,500 | ||
|
|
353,000 | |||
|
|
349,000 | 69,000 | ||
|
|
332,500 | 38,500 | ||
|
|
307,000 | 227,000 | ||
|
|
287,000 | |||
|
|
245,000 | 92,000 | ||
![[Removed:17]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
|
|
243,000 | -77,000 | ||
|
|
218,500 | 77,500 | ||
|
|
212,000 | 112,000 | ||
|
|
197,500 | 17,500 | ||
|
|
188,500 | |||
|
|
185,000 | |||
|
|
163,000 | |||
|
|
156,500 | |||
|
|
129,000 | -81,000 | ||
|
|
100,000 | |||
|
|
98,000 | -107,000 | ||
|
|
93,000 | -87,000 | ||
|
|
62,500 | -2,000 | ||
|
|
30,500 |
Cate Hall Doubles in Last Hand of the Night
It was the last hand of the night and Tomas Jozonis on the button opened for 9,000. Chance Kornuth folded his small blind and started counting his chips to know what to write on the bag in just a bit, but big blind Cate Hall had bigger plans. She three-bet to 28,500 and action was back on Jozonis. The Lithuanian player four-bet to 54,000 and called Hall's 164,500-shove.
Tomas Jozonis: 
Cate Hall: 
The 
flop gave Jozonis four outs to a chop but those wouldn't come in with the 
hitting the turn and 
completing the board.
|
|
|
353,000 | 173,000 | ||
|
|
|
64,500 | -165,500 |
Astapau a Goner
Anton Astapau has been eliminated. He got it in with ace-five against the king-queen of Mustapha Kanit and saw his Italian foe hit a queen on the flop.
|
|
Busted |
Two More Hit the Rail
Jack Salter (
) and Dario Sammartino (
) both got it in before the flop against a player with 
. The board ran out 
and in one big swoop, two more players hit the rail.
|
|
Busted | |||
|
|
Busted |
The Rich Get Richer
In a battle of the blinds, Antoine Saout checked from the small on a flop of 
. Big blind Alexander Lynskey bet 12,000 and Saout shoved all in. Lynskey called (for what looked like 90,000 to us, but we're not hundred percent sure) with 
for the flopped straight. Saout tabled 
and saw his straight draw complete on the 
river after the on the turn had been a blank.
|
|
|
500,000 | 100,000 | ||
|
|
Busted |
33 Remain
With about half an hour left for the day.
|
|
|
450,000 | 325,000 | ||
|
|
|
320,000 | 15,000 | ||
|
|
|
280,000 | -5,000 | ||
|
|
|
220,000 | -80,000 | ||
|
|
|
205,000 | 131,000 | ||
|
|
|
180,000 | 5,000 | ||
|
|
|
180,000 | 80,000 | ||
|
|
|
180,000 | 15,000 | ||
|
|
|
80,000 | 47,000 | ||
|
|
Busted |
Sammartino Doubles Through Salter
Jack Salter open shoved his last 80,000 or so from the cutoff. Dario Sammartino, on the button with 30,600, called all in and both blinds folded.
Jack Salter:
Dario Sammartino: 
The 
flop already brought some help for Sammartino, and he locked in the double up with the on the turn and 
on the river.
|
|
|
70,200 | 4,200 | ||
|
|
|
47,000 | 16,400 |
37 Remain
The last level of the day has just started. 37 players from 133 entries remain.