Michael Lim Wins 2018 Aussie Millions $100,000 Challenge (A$931,000)
Michael Lim is the winner of the 2018 Aussie Millions $100,000 Challenge! He adds his name to the long list of winners of this prestigious tournament after seeing off a field of 19 players here at the Crown casino in Melbourne.
Coming into the day with a comfortable stack of 45 big blinds, he navigated a star-studded field and an up-and-down day for all who participated to emerge with $931,000 in prize money and the coveted ANTON Jewellery championship ring.
Second-place Manig Loeser adds another big score to his poker resume; the German now has over $6m in lifetime cashes, with recent successes on the Triton Super High Roller Series in Macau and Montenegro.
Here are the results for the players who finished in the money:
| Place | Name | Country | Payout (AUD) | Payout (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Lim | Malaysia | $931,000 | $735,490 |
| 2 | Manig Loeser | Germany | $558,600 | $441,294 |
| 3 | Mustapha Kanit | Italy | $372,400 | $294,196 |
The final day began with six players, but it grew to nine by the end of the first level with Fedor Holz and Jack Salter joining the field, with David Steicke the final entrant with 40 seconds left in the level. This meant that this year’s $100,000 Challenge was officially bigger than last year’s, albeit by one entry.
The payouts were confirmed shortly after registration closed, with the top three players receiving A$372,400, A$558,600 and A$931,000 respectively, with first place receiving the ANTON Jewellery championship ring in addition to their prize money.
Once registration closed it was Michael Lim who lead the field, but, following the elimination of Holz at the hands of Christian Christner, it was Christner who moved ahead. A short while later, Steicke was eliminated at the hands of fellow Australian Kahle Burns, but Burns would follow his compatriot out the door when he ran top-pair into the overpair of overnight chip leader Mustapha Kanit to bust in seventh.
Kanit hadn’t really been in any big pots all day, but a clash with Christner put a big dent in his stack. Christner check-called three times on a queen-high paired board with Kanit showing pocket sixes, only to be denied by the Aces of Christner.
That left the Italian short, but he doubled in back-to-back hands to move back to within touching distance of a seven-figure stack.
The next elimination was that of $25,000 and $50,000 Challenge runner-up Jan-Eric Schwippert, who lost a flip to Christner to bust in sixth. At this point, Christner held more than half the chips in play five-handed, but it wouldn’t last long.
Another clash with Kanit would level out the chip counts, this time with Kanit showing the pocket Aces. There then followed a long stalemate between the remaining five players; a pre-bubble bubble of sorts.
First, Manig Loeser doubled through Lim, and Salter doubled through Kanit. Salter then moved into the chip lead after winning a pot vs Christner, but Loeser then doubled through the Brit to leave Salter short and he would bust next, running ace-six into the kings of Lim.
Loeser was far and away the chip leader at this point after doubling through Salter, and a strong period of aggression from him – raising five of seven hands (the only two times he didn’t raise were walks!) - he cracked the Queens of Christner in a blind on blind confrontation, when Loeser turned a flush.
It was the German who held the chip lead heading into heads-up play, and he continued to turn the screw throughout the early goings. But just when it looked like Loeser had Lim on the rocks, the Malaysian doubled twice in quick succession to turn the tables.
From then on it was Lim who controlled proceedings, and in the final hand it was his turned flush which handed him the title and the ring at around 22:30pm local time.