Karamalikis Leads with 14 Left in Aussie Millions Opening Event
Less than 12 months on from being named in the Australian Poker Hall of Fame, Jonathan Karamalikis has bagged the chip lead with 14 players remaining in the 2020 Aussie Millions Opening Event.
Coming into the day slightly below average, the Australian navigated his way through the field of 221 that started the day to sit with over 2,349,000 in chips, slightly ahead of Michael Egan who bagged up 2,267,000.
Karamalikis, who sits with almost US$5 million in lifetime cashes, last won an Aussie Millions Championship ring back in 2010 after winning a A$1,650 Bounty Event for A$122,700. He also has four previous final tables at the prestigious festival stretching back to 2008.
Opening Event End of Day 2 Chip Counts
| Player | Chip Count |
|---|---|
| Jonathan Karamalikis | 2,349,000 |
| Michael Egan | 2,267,000 |
| Jung Woon An | 1,660,000 |
| Ryan Henry | 1,455,000 |
| Egor Bulychev | 1,442,000 |
| Timothy Morgan | 1,348,000 |
| Jo Snell | 1,281,000 |
| Samuel Jefferies | 1,230,000 |
| Andrew Shanahan | 998,000 |
| Jason Elvliano | 803,000 |
| Zack Cowrie | 613,000 |
| Sohrab Rezvanpour | 513,000 |
| Bo Jin | 473,000 |
| Robbie Stewart | 332,000 |
The main thing on the minds of players at the start of the day was the money bubble, with 162 players guaranteed a cash of A$2,730. Loni Harwood, Joey Weissman and former Opening Event champion Benedikt Eberle were all eliminated before the bubble eventually burst midway through the second level of the day.
Eliminations in the money included David Yan (139th - $3,070), Jackson Warne (132nd – $3,070), Kristy Moreno (123rd - $3,415), 2010 Aussie Millions Main Event winner Tyron Krost (109th - $3,415), Ivan Deyra (101st - $3,755), Marc Macdonnell (93rd - $3,755), Corentin Ropert (78th - $4,095), Quan Zhou (75th - $4,095), Gautam Dhingra (73rd - $4,095).
H.O.R.S.E. runner-up Julien Sitbon (71st - $4,435) also cashed, along with fellow European Bart Lybaert (58th - $4,435) and Anthony Spinella (39th - $5,290), Daniel Hachem (32nd - $5,975), Martin Jacobson (21st - $9,555) as well as start-of-day chip leader David Tang (18th - $11,095).
Opening Event Remaining Payouts
| Place | Payout (AUD) | Payout (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $341,325 | $235,514 |
| 2 | $210,775 | $145,435 |
| 3 | $125,445 | $86,557 |
| 4 | $90,625 | $62,531 |
| 5 | $61,450 | $42,401 |
| 6 | $44,375 | $30,619 |
| 7 | $37,550 | $25,910 |
| 8 | $32,425 | $22,373 |
| 9 | $27,315 | $18,847 |
| 10 | $20,825 | $14,369 |
| 11-12 | $16,555 | $11,423 |
| 13-14 | $13,825 | $9,539 |
The tournament resumes on Thursday, January 9 at 12:10 pm and will play down to a winner. Stay tuned to PokerNews for continued highlights from the 2020 Aussie Millions.