With 25 total entries in this year's 2015 Aussie Millions LK Boutique $250,000 Challenge, a prize pool of AU$6.105 million was generated. The top five spots will pay, with a min-cash earning the players AU$551,000.
The top prize will be what everyone is chasing, and that's set at a whopping AU$2.205 million.
Make it three for three! The first three hands at Table 10 have all resulted in eliminations.
The most recent was Brian Rast, who finished fifth in the Aussie Millions Main Event yesterday for AU$315,000 and opted to buy-in to this event at the start of play. His time lasted exactly three hands.
His demise came when he jammed under the gun for 241,000 and Isaac Haxton three-bet shoved for 246,000 from the cutoff. The rest of the players folded and Rast found he had some major kicker problems.
Rast:
Haxton:
The flop changed nothing, though the turn did give Rast a flush draw. The dealer burned one last time and put out the . It was a blank as far as Rast was concerned.
"I almost made the final table," he joked before taking his leave from the tournament.
One hand after Ole Schemion fell on Table 10, fellow German Igor Kurganov followed him out the door.
It happened when Kurganov raised to 50,000 from the button and Doug Polk three-bet all in from the big blind. Kurganov thought for a bit before calling off for approximately 550,000, and he no doubt regretted it.
Kurganov:
Polk:
Kurganov was dominated, and things got even worse when the flop delivered Polk a set. The turn gave Kurganov some hope to a gutshot straight, but it didn't come in as the blanked on the river.
In the first hand of the day, Ole Schemion open-shoved for 149,000 under the gun and Doug "WCGRider" Polk, who was next to act, made the call. The rest of the players got out of the way and the cards were turned up.
Schemion:
Polk:
The flop didn't do the young German any favors, and neither did the turn. Schemion, who finished runner-up in the AU$100,000 Challenge two days back, slapped the table in hopes of hitting a king on the river, but it wasn't in the cards as the blanked.
The LK Boutique $250,000 Challenge, which has now taken place five times at the Aussie Millions, kicked off yesterday with 23 entries, including two by Doug "WCGRider" Polk and three from Scott Seiver, though that number could go up as registration and reentry are open until the start of play today.
On Day 1, several players hit the rail and did not return including Ryan Fee, Isaac Haxton, Steve O'Dwyer, Philipp Gruissem, and Sam Trickett. Whether or not they give it another go today remains to be seen.
Leading the 10 survivors is Phil Ivey, who has captured this title two out of the last three years. Ivey bagged 958,000 in chips, with the aforementioned Polk sitting in second place with 863,000. Other notables still in contention are Richard Yong and Ole Schemion, who finished winner and runner-up respectively in the $100,000 Challenge. Yong took home AU$1.87 million for the win, while Schemion earned AU$1.35 million.
Cards will be in the air at 2:30 p.m. local time. Once registration closes the prize pool and payouts will be tallied up, and then it'll be onward to crown a LK Boutique $250,000 Challenge champion. The plan is to play down to the final table of seven in Crown's poker room, and from there the finalists will relocate to the featured TV table in the exhibition hall to finish things off. We'll be here every step of the way to bring you all the action straight from the tournament floor, so stay tuned!