2020 Aussie Millions

A$25,000 Challenge
Day: 1
Event Info

2020 Aussie Millions

Final Results
Winner
Farid Jattin
Prize
983,646 AUD
Event Info
Buy-in
25,000 AUD
Prize Pool
4,056,000 AUD
Entries
169
Level Info
Level
22
Blinds
20,000 / 40,000
Ante
40,000
Players Info - Day 1
Entries
169
Players Left
33

O'Dwyer Tops 33 Survivors on Day 1 of the A$25,000 Challenge; Rheem and Sinclair Among Big Stacks

Level 12 : 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Jack Sinclair Among the Big Stacks After Day 1
Jack Sinclair Among the Big Stacks After Day 1

The second High Roller event of the 2020 Aussie Millions has gathered the interest of High Roller regulars from near and far who all headed to the poker room of the Crown Casino complex in Melbourne to take part in the A$25,000 Challenge.

One year ago, the very same tournament attracted a field of 151 entries and that was surpassed thanks to 169 entries, which generated a prize pool of A$4,056,000. Reaching the seven-handed final table guarantees a payday of A$131,820 and the winner will walk away with A$1,074,840 and the ANTON Jewellery Championship ring.

After six levels of 40 minutes each and six levels of 60 minutes each, the field was cut down to just 33 survivors and Steve O'Dwyer was the only player to bag up more than half a million in chips, topping the leaderboard with 560,000. Chino Rheem follows in second place with 486,000, George Wolff is right on his heels with 478,000 to complete the overnight podium.

Other notables with above-average stacks in a field with High Roller regulars from all over the world are the 2018 WSOP Europe Main Event champion Jack Sinclair (415,500), Sam Greenwood (395,000), Dietrich Fast (354,500), Chin Wei Lim (324,000), Koray Aldemir (318,500), and Kenny Hallaert (259,000).

Among those to bust without anything to show for were defending champion Rainer Kempe, Dan Smith, Ben Lamb, Sam Grafton, Stephen Chidwick, Erik Seidel, Timothy Adams, Manig Loeser, and Michael Addamo. Kahle Burns arrived in Melbourne to become one of the latest entries but couldn't find a bag for Day 2, same also applied for the 2020 Aussie Millions champions Jorryt van Hoof and Sherif Derias.

A$25,000 Challenge Payouts

PlacePayout (AUD)Payout (USD)
1A$1,074,840$743,155
2A$730,080$504,785
3A$466,440$322,501
4A$344,760$238,371
5A$243,360$168,262
6A$172,380$119,185
7-8A$131,820$91,142
9-10A$111,540$77,120
11-12A$91,260$63,098
13-17A$70,980$49,076

When the cards went in the air, more than 50 players were already seated and the field grew bigger by the minute. Several High Rollers had arrived in Melbourne to take part in the Aussie Millions for the first time such as Orpen Kisacikoglu, Martin Zamani, Ivan Deyra, Andras Nemeth, and Matthias Eibinger to name just a few.

Things looked promising for Eibinger and Kempe when they nearly doubled their stacks, but the former lost a big pot with jacks against the king-queen suited of A$25,000 PLO High Roller third-place finisher Najeem Ajez and Kempe ended up second-best with pocket tens against quads deuces on his first bullet. Eibinger busted shortly after the registration closed and Kempe could not spin up his stack in th second attempt either.

Shortly before the dinner break, Bart Lybaert took over the top spot after dominating his six-handed table and sending Richard Sheils to the rail when both flopped top pair. Lybaert was unable to keep up the momentum but ended up with an above-average stack nonetheless while others such as Steve O'Dwyer, Chino Rheem and George Wolff pulled ahead of him.

For the 2018 Aussie Millions Main Event champion Toby Lewis, the near-endless streak of success in Melbourne seemed to continue but the Brit came up short with ace-queen against the ace-king of Chin Wei Lim to depart in the final level of the night. Other notables such as Sam Grafton, Mikita Badziakouski, and David Yan also vanished prior to bagging and tagging.

All remaining 33 players will return to their seats on Thursday, January 16th, 2020, as of 2.30 p.m. local time to determine a champion. The blinds will recommence at 2,500-5,000 with a big blind ante of 5,000 and the levels will remain 60-minutes long. Stay tuned to find out who will earn the first seven-figure payday of the 2020 Aussie Millions, as the PokerNews team will be on the floor to provide all the action.

Day 2 Seat Draw

TableSeatPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
71Tyron KrostAustralia218,00044
72Nicholas WrightAustralia165,00033
73Jack SinclairUnited Kingdom415,50083
74Derek IpHong Kong287,00057
75Vincent HuangAustralia82,00016
      
81Bart LybaertBelgium354,50071
82Michael ZhangUnited Kingdom90,50018
84Farid JattinColombia178,50036
85Justin LibertoUnited States309,00062
86Masato YokosawaJapan337,50068
      
101Nick PupilloUnited States145,00029
102Koray AldemirGermany318,50064
103Martin ZamaniUnited States236,00047
104Elio FoxUnited States131,50026
105Sam GreenwoodCanada395,00079
106Sam HiggsAustralia226,00045
      
141George WolffUnited States478,00096
142Alex TrevallionAustralia256,50051
143Steve O'DwyerIreland560,000112
144Najeem AjezAustralia341,50068
145Igor YaroshevskyyUkraine288,00058
146Nino UllmannGermany195,00039
      
161Spiros MaroulisAustralia212,00042
162Joshua DuceAustralia155,50031
163Ami BarerCanada190,00038
164Yake WuChina166,00033
165Dietrich FastGermany378,00076
166Seth DaviesUnited States59,50012
      
171Kenny HallaertBelgium259,00052
172Geoffrey MooneyAustralia64,00013
173Tom RaffertyAustralia168,50034
174Chino RheemUnited States486,00097
175Chin Wei LimMalaysia324,00065

Tags: Ben LambChin Wei LimChino RheemDan SmithDietrich FastErik SeidelGeorge WolffJack SinclairJorryt van HoofKahle BurnsKenny HallaertKoray AldemirManig LoeserMichael AddamoRainer KempeSam GraftonSam GreenwoodSherif DeriasStephen ChidwickSteve O'DwyerTimothy Adams