Event #9: $25,000 Challenge
Dia 1 Iniciado
Event #9: $25,000 Challenge
Dia 1 Iniciado
It's time for the first High Roller tournament of the 2016 Aussie Millions, and PokerNews is here to bring you all the updates you can ask for.
The $25,000 Challenge at the Aussie Millions goes back to 2012 when 20 players participated and Dominykas "domcee" Karmazinas from Lithuania took down the lot. Before that, just a $25,000 shoot-out invitational was held by Full Tilt Poker who was the sponsor of the event at that time.
Since the inaugural tournament in 2012, the tournament has grown each and every year. Last year a total of 104 entries were made into the tournament, creating a prize pool of AU$2,496,000. An incredibly international final table was won by an Aussie; Alexander "alextrev1111" Trevallion from Sydney took down the tournament for almost A$650,000 after striking a deal heads-up with Germany's Tobias Reinkemeier.
This year the $25,000 Challenge plays before the Main Event starts, and PokerNews will be there from start to finish. This two-day tournament will start Friday January 22nd at 2:10 pm. Players will start with a stack of 50,000 and a duration of 40-minutes for the first 6 levels. After that the tournament will switch to 60-minute levels. Late registration is available for 8 levels and players are allowed a single re-entry into the tournament in case they bust. The tournament may commence up to 8-handed, moving to 6-handed as soon as practicable after registrations closes. The total structure for the event you can find here (.PDF). A total of 12 levels will be played on the first day.Year | Entries | Prize Pool | Player | Country | Prize in A$ | 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** |
The plane Antonio Esfandiari and Brian Rast were in, had to divert to Sydney because of bad weather in Melbourne here this morning. Their plane is now scheduled to depart around 4pm and as late registration is open till 8:40pm, they are gonna make it. So we'll see them later today!
Our flight take-off delayed until 4PM - so I won the bet, but... @CrownPoker when is 25k late reg open until??Follow @tsarrast
The tournament clock is counting down to the tournament start (in about 10 minutes), and tells us there are 29 players registered currently. We're pretty sure that number will increase drastically soon.
Nível: 1
Blinds: 100/200
Ante: 0
Jogador | Fichas | Oscilação |
---|---|---|
Elliot Smith | 50,000 | |
Jason Koon | 50,000 | |
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Stephen Chidwick | 50,000 | |
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Paul Newey | 50,000 | |
Brian Yoon | 50,000 | |
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Nick Yunis | 50,000 | |
[Removed:17] | 50,000 | |
Ben Tollerene | 50,000 | |
Chance Kornuth | 50,000 | |
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Jeff Rossiter | 50,000 | |
Niall Farrell | 50,000 | |
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Eugene Katchalov | 50,000 | |
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Connor Drinan | 50,000 | |
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Steve O'Dwyer | 50,000 | |
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Pratyush Buddiga | 50,000 | |
Michael Egan | 50,000 |
Unless you're living in Australia, getting to Melbourne can prove to be quite the trek. That was certainly the case for some pros who were at the PCA just last week.
Australian pro Brendon Rubie, who currently ranks 22nd on Australia's all-time money list with $1,179,432 in live tournament earnings, has been living in Honduras with Nick "FU_15" Maimone, who won the 2016 PCA $25K High Roller for $996,480, and originally wasn't going to make the trip.
However, he changed his mind at the last minute, and after 40 hours of travel — which included an unexpected stop in Sydney for his plane to refuel — he arrived in Melbourne.
Another player who was on that same flight was one of Chile's best, Nick Yunis:
Longest flight lifetime became even longer after an unexpected pit stop in Sydney to re-fuel! At last we made it to Melbourne, AUSTRALIA!! #Follow @nickyunis
Both Rubie and Yunis are in action today, so we'll be sure to keep an eye on them to see if their voyage results in riches here in the $25,000 Challenge.
Jogador | Fichas | Oscilação |
---|---|---|
Brendon Rubie (Brendan Rubie) |
50,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
Here are some more familiar names:
Jogador | Fichas | Oscilação |
---|---|---|
Tom Hall | 50,000 | |
Mike McDonald | 50,000 | |
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David Peters | 50,000 | |
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Christopher Frank | 50,000 | |
Sergio Aido | 50,000 | |
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Sam Greenwood | 50,000 | |
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Alex Trevallion | 50,000 | |
Philipp Gruissem | 50,000 | |
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After unknown action we picked things up on the flop when the board showed . [Removed:17] bet from the cutoff and the player on his left called after which Nick Yunis called from the small blind as well.
The turn brought the and Yunis checked, after which Yan bet another 4,300.
"That teddybear is really intimidating," the player on the button said to Yan, who's sporting a teddybear t-shirt.
After a while the button folded, and Yunis made the call once more.
The river completed the board with the and this time Yan checked behind with Yunis checked to him.
Yan showed for king-high, and Yunis raked in the pot with .
Jogador | Fichas | Oscilação |
---|---|---|
Nick Yunis |
55,000
5,000
|
5,000 |
[Removed:17] |
44,000
-6,000
|
-6,000 |
Christopher Frank raised to 500 from the button and EPT12 Malta champ Niall Farrell defended his big blind to see a flop, which they both checked. Action repeated itself on the turn, and then Farrell tossed out 700 on the river.
Frank snap-called by tossing in a single chip, but mucked just as soon as Farrell rolled over the for a pair of eights.
Jogador | Fichas | Oscilação |
---|---|---|
Niall Farrell |
51,200
1,200
|
1,200 |
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Christopher Frank |
48,800
-1,200
|
-1,200 |