Time to Up the Stakes; The 2019 Aussie Millions AU$100,000 Challenge is Here
Welcome back to the 2019 Aussie Millions for Day 1 of Event #20: AU$100,000 Challenge from Crown Melbourne in Melbourne, Australia.
The final high stakes tournament of the series is here and running simultaneously with the penultimate day of the Main Event where just 38 players remain and the final table of seven will be reached later this evening.
The AU$100,000 Challenge has a long history that dates back to 2006 when it was first run at the Aussie Millions as the Speed Poker Million Dollar Challenge. From there, the event evolved into what it is today, and some of the best players from around the World have tasted victory and walked away with million-dollar-plus scores.
Last year, Michael Lim captured victory after defeating Manig Loeser heads-up to capture the AU$931,000 first prize over the 19-entrant field. Although record fields have continually been set this Aussie Millions, it is unlikely the 76-entrant field set in 2014 will be broken this time round, but with several seats given away in a satellite last night, a decent size field is still expected.
| Year | Entries | Prize Pool | Winner | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 19 | AU$1,862,000 | Michael Lim | Malaysia | AU$931,000 |
| 2017 | 18 | AU$1,764,000 | Nick Petrangelo | United States | AU$882,000 |
| 2016 | 41 | AU$4,018,000 | Fabian Quoss | Germany | AU$1,446,480 |
| 2015 | 70 | AU$6,860,000 | Richard Yong | Malaysia | AU$1,870,000 |
| 2014 | 76 | AU$7,486,000 | Yevgeniy Timoshenko | Ukraine | AU$2,000,000 |
| 2013 | 22 | AU$2,167,000 | Andrew Robl | United States | AU$1,000,000 |
| 2012 | 22 | AU$2,200,000 | Dan Smith | United States | AU$1,012,000 |
| 2011 | 38 | AU$3,800,000 | Sam Trickett | United Kingdom | AU$1,525,000 |
| 2010 | 24 | AU$2,400,000 | Dan Shak | United States | AU$1,200,000 |
| 2009 | 23 | AU$2,300,000 | David Steicke | Hong Kong | AU$1,200,000 |
| 2008 | 25 | AU$2,500,000 | Howard Lederer | United States | AU$1,250,000 |
| 2007 | 18 | AU$1,800,000 | Erick Lindgren | United States | AU$1,000,000 |
| 2006 | 10 | AU$1,000,000 | John Juanda | Indonesia | AU$1,000,000 |
In 2006 the event was the AU$100,000 Speed Poker Million Dollar Challenge before becoming the AU$100,000 from 2007 until present.
Players will begin with 250,000 in starting chips and levels will last 40 minutes on Day 1, and 60 minutes thereafter. Day 1 will be nine levels in length and end at approximately 9 p.m. (AEDT), and registration and re-entries are open until the end of the first level on Day 2 (approximately 1:10 p.m. on Saturday, February 2).
Day 1 action kicks off at 2:15 p.m. (AEDT) with the PokerNews Live Reporting Team providing continuous live updates of all the AU$100,000 Challenge. So stay tuned right here to PokerNews.com for all the live coverage from the 2019 Aussie Millions.
Tao Chen checked from the big blind. Thomas Muehloecker bet 3,500 from the cutoff. Chen called. 
and Chen check-called another bet of 9,000 by Muehloecker. 
completed the board and Chen opted to check for a third time. Muehloecker thought for a moment and bet 16,000. Chen then raised it up to 50,000. Muehloecker took a minute before making the call. 
.
for ace-high. 
for top pair and took down the monster pot.
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and Soyza bet out 12,000 and Nitsche folded.
flop failed to connect for Burns apart from leaving him with runner-runner flush and straight outs.
and Muehloecker was eliminated.
and Aldemir thought for a moment before checking his option. Lewis then moved all in for 115,500 which had Aldemir's stack of 96,000 covered. The bet was snap-called. 
on the river only improved Aldemir's hand to a flush which guaranteed him the pot.
to see Hata's kicker play as he took down the pot resulting in Lewis hitting the rail.
