The largest poker tournament series in the southern hemisphere is taking place right now, the annual Aussie Millions, at the Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia.
The AU$100,000 Challenge has attracted top talent from around the globe to create a record-setting field for this event with 66 entries Ten of those came from the tandem of Isaac Haxton and Daniel Negreanu, each of whom bought in five times into the event. Negreanu ended the day with 221,500 in chips, while Haxton busted for a fifth time. There are rumors swirling of even more entries to come. Registration and reentry will remain open right up until the start of Day 2 at 12:30 p.m. local time on Saturday and the field could eclipse well over 70.
Many big names in the high roller circuit include Viktor Blom, Patrik Antonius, Jason Mercier, Tom Dwan and Mike Watson.
After Day 1, Mike McDonald leads the remaining 29 players.
Here is a look at the top 10 chip counts entering into Day 2.
|
Rank |
Player |
Chips |
|
1 |
Mike McDonald |
468,500 |
|
2 |
Paul Newey |
428,500 |
|
3 |
Richard Yong |
379,500 |
|
4 |
Antonio Esfandiari |
364,000 |
|
5 |
Phil Ivey |
341,500 |
|
6 |
Tom Dwan |
323,000 |
|
7 |
Igor Kurganov |
310,000 |
|
8 |
Winfred Yu |
301,000 |
|
9 |
Max Altergott |
288,800 |
|
10 |
Paul Phua |
274,000 |
In the AU$10,600 Main Event, 2 Canadians have made the final table from a field of 668 players. Ami Barer is the chipleader entering the final table and Sorel Mizzi is in 3rd spot.
The total prize pool is AU$6,680,000 and the winner will take home AU$1,600,000.
Here is how the final table is stacked up.
| Seat | Player Name | Chips |
| 5 | Ami Barer | 6,570,000 |
| 4 | Vincent Rubianes | 3,865,000 |
| 7 | Sorel Mizzi | 2,830,000 |
| 1 | Jake Balsiger | 2,385,000 |
| 2 | Darren Rabinowitz | 2,365,000 |
| 6 | Andrew Phaedonas | 1,015,000 |
| 3 | Scott Siever | 855,000 |
