38 Players Turn Out for 2011 Aussie Millions $100k Challenge

Published on January 22nd, 2011 4:36 pm EST

Earlier in the month, 38 players turned out for the $100,000 buy-in Super High Roller event at the 2011 Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure (PCA).

Two weeks later, another $100k buy-in event was set to take place at the 2011 Aussie Millions - the $100,000 Challenge.

From 2007-2010, the largest turnout for the Aussie Millions $100k Challenge was 25 players (2008). In 2010, a total of 24 players turned out for the event, creating a total prize pool of $2.4 million AUD.

A total of 38 players turned out for the $100k Challenge this year, creating a total prize pool of $3.8 million AUD. I don't think that anybody was expecting this strong of a turnout - a number of the players who participated in the tournament took to Twitter to express their surprise at the size of the field.

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Many members of "Team Full Tilt" turned out for the $100k Challenge, including the likes of Phil Ivey, Tom "durrrr" Dwan and Patrik Antonius.

The original 38 entrants have now been whittled down to 8, with the final table of the event taking place on Sunday afternoon (local time). Here are the chip stacks heading into the final day of play:

Sam Trickett, 961,000
David Steicke, 622,000
Erik Seidel, 619,000
James Obst, 571,000
Jeffrey Lisandro, 454,000
David Benyamine, 363,000
Tony Bloom, 148,000
Chris Ferguson, 89,000

The top six spots in the event will pay, with the winner receiving $1.525 million AUD and the runner-up $975,000 AUD. The Australian dollar is nearly on par with the US Dollar right now, which means that the eventual winner will walk away with around $1.5 million USD.

A few notes:

-David Steicke won the $100k Challenge in 2009 and will be looking to become the first two-time winner of the event

-Erik Seidel recently finished in 4th place in the $25k High Roller event at the 2011 PCA

-Erik Seidel would pass $12 million in total lifetime tournament cashes with a victory in this event

-Tony Bloom finished in 4th place in the 2010 Aussie Millions $100k Challenge and in 2nd place in the 2009 $100k Challenge

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The final table of the $100k Challenge will get underway on Sunday afternoon (local time).


Photo: GreasieWheels.com

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Filed Under: Tournament Results