2015 Aussie Millions $100,000 Challenge Day 1: Jason Mo Leads; Erik Seidel Second
Day 1 of the 2015 Aussie Millions $100,000 Challenge has come to a close. After a star-studded starting day that saw 63 entries generated, it was Jason Mo who finished on top with a stack of 637,000 in chips — more than six times what he and everyone else started the day with.
Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jason Mo | United States | 637,000 |
| 2 | Erik Seidel | United States | 493,500 |
| 3 | Connor Drinan | United States | 403,500 |
| 4 | Stephen Chidwick | United Kingdom | 365,500 |
| 5 | Dani Stern | United States | 358,500 |
| 6 | Jake Abdalla | United States | 357,000 |
| 7 | Philipp Gruissem | Germany | 271,000 |
| 8 | Sam Greenwood | Canada | 270,500 |
| 9 | Dan Smith | United States | 266,500 |
| 10 | Mike McDonald | Canada | 260,000 |
Mo's rise to the top started early when he busted Fabian Quoss in the second level of the day. That gave Mo an early big stack, but the real shot to the top came in the final level of the night when he doubled in a huge way through Jeff Rossiter.
On the hand against Rossiter, Mo was all in preflop with the A♥A♣ for 235,200. Rossiter had the A♠K♣, and he wasn't able to come from behind after the board ran out J♠3♠3♦8♦Q♦. That put Mo with around 475,000 in chips, from which he moved up the ranks even more, including scooping a big one from Doug Polk.
Polk was the final elimination of the night, but he will still have the opportunity to return tomorrow if he would like to. Registration and reentry will remain open until the start of Day 2, and that very well means this field could grow even larger.
Rossiter had himself quite the day as well, and the most impressive part came in a confrontation with Daniel Cates that resulted in the latter throwing chips across the table at Rossiter.
During Level 4 with the blinds at 500/1,000/100, Cates ran his pocket kings into the pocket aces of Rossiter. It was the second time on the day that Cates had run his cowboys into two rockets, and this time he ignited with quite the temper tantrum. First, after the money went in and Rossiter tabled the A♠A♥, Cates yelled out, "Are you f***ing kidding me?!?!" before throwing his cards across the table in the direction of Rossiter.
Cates' hand was the K♥K♠, and someone at the table pointed out to Cates that he could still win the hand. Then, the flop, turn, and river ran out 10♦10♣3♦3♥5♣ to give Rossiter the win, and Cates exploded by grabbing a handful of chips and throwing them like a baseball player across the table at Rossiter. Some of the chips bounced on the table in front of Rossiter, one or two hit him in the chest, and a couple more stumbled onto the floor. After doing so, Cates just sat there, visibly steamed with what had occurred. Rossiter took it quite well, whereas many people might've freaked out in their own right after having chips hurled at them.
The tournament staff was quickly called, and the discussion began with what was to happen now that it wasn't fully clear that Rossiter had Cates covered. Eventually, it was ruled that Cates had less chips than Rossiter and he was eliminated. Angrily, Cates stormed to the rail for the second time on the day, but we could still see him return for a third bullet if he reenters before the start of Day 2.
Other notable players advancing with healthy stacks were Erik Seidel (493,500), Connor Drinan (403,500), Stephen Chidwick (365,500), Dani Stern (358,500), and Jake Abdalla (357,000).
The cards are scheduled to be in the air at 2:15 p.m. local time on Monday, and the day won't see an end until the final table is reached. Be sure to stay tuned right here to PokerNews for continued coverage of this big buy-in extravaganza, and don't forget to slide over to our reporting from the 2015 Aussie Millions Main Event as well.
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