2014 Aussie Millions $250,000 Challenge Day 1: Seidel Leads; Ivey, Mercier Survive
Day 1 of the 2014 Aussie Millions LK Boutique $250,000 Challenge came to a close on Sunday, and it was another record-setting day of action in beautiful Melbourne, Australia. At the completion of play, a total of 37 entries were generated, setting a new record in this event. Of those, 18 survived to make Day 2 with none other than Erik Seidel leading the way with 944,000 in chips.
Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Erik Seidel | 944,000 |
| 2 | Tom Dwan | 815,000 |
| 3 | Isaac Haxton | 800,000 |
| 4 | Jason Mercier | 767,000 |
| 5 | Yevgeniy Timoshenko | 705,000 |
| 6 | Tony Bloom | 623,000 |
| 7 | Phil Ivey | 622,000 |
| 8 | Christoph Vogelsang | 620,000 |
| 9 | Tobias Reinkemeier | 550,000 |
| 10 | Paul Newey | 482,000 |
One of the big hands Seidel won en route to grabbing the chip lead came in Level 8 with the blinds at 6,000/12,000/1,000 when he eliminated Daniel Negreanu. The two raised back and forth on the J♣7♥3♣ flop to get all of the money in the middle with Negreanu at risk. He had the 9♣8♣ for a combo draw against Seidel's 3♠3♥ for bottom set. The turn was the Q♠ and the river the A♠ to miss Negreanu and send Seidel up over 900,000 in chips.
Seidel has a nice gap of over 100,000 in chips between him and Tom Dwan in second place with 815,000. From there, Isaac Haxton (800,000), Jason Mercier (767,000), and Yevgeniy Timoshenko (705,000) round out the top five. Timoshenko is currently riding a bit of a hot streak after taking down the $100,000 Challenge in the early hours of the morning for AU$2,000,000.
Much like the $100,000 Challenge event, this event saw several players fire multiple bullets. Igor Kurganov finished the day on 235,000 and entered three times, while Rono Lo bagged up 325,000 and fired two bullets. PokerStars Team Online member Haxton famously fired six bullets in the $100,000 Challenge and busted all of them before coming into this event and firing off two worth AU$250,000 each. He did end up making the second bullet a very successful one by finishing third overall heading into Day 2.
Negreanu, Philipp Gruissem, Viktor Blom, and Mike "Timex" McDonald also fired two bullets, but all three of them busted both and did not return for a third time. Registration and reentry will remain open until the start of Day 2 on Monday, so we'll have to wait and see if anyone rocks up for a first, second, or third attempt in this prestigious event.
Speaking of Day 2, the cards will be in the air at 12:30 p.m. local time. The plan is to play down to a winner, and Day 2's levels will be extended to 60 minutes in length. While you wait for Day 2 to roll around, though, be sure to head over to PokerNews' coverage of the Main Event final table. With AU$1,600,000 up top to the winner after a field of 668 runners showed up, it's an exciting event you won't want to miss the conclusion of.
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