Don't call Dan Shak an amateur. Likewise, don't call him a professional poker player, not yet anyway. You see, the successful business man still engages in what made him his fortune, but he's keen to transition into poker by playing primarily High Roller events.
In 2010, Shak defeated Phil Ivey heads up to win the Aussie Millions $100,000 Challenge. That win cemented his reputation as a serious contender, not to mention giving him a $1,107,553 payday. What's more, Shak has finished runner-up in in the 2012 PCA $100,000 Super High Roller, taking home $846,700, and fourth in the 2009 Aussie Millions $100,000 Challenge, pocketing $142,074. As if that wasn't impressive enough, Shak made it back-to-back PCA $100,000 final tables a few weeks back, ultimately finishing in eighth place for $228,960.
Shak has already crossed four million dollars in career earnings, and he's primed to add to that here today as he starts the final table third in chips. If he wins this title for a second time, it might be time to start calling him a pro.
What a year it's been for Vanessa Selbst, and we're not even a full month in! Earlier in January she got engaged, and then she immediately followed that up by defeating a field of 204 players to win the 2013 PCA $25,000 High Roller title for $1,424,420. That win also thrust her ahead of Kathy Liebert and made her the all-time female money winner with $7,004,036 in career earning.
The 28-year-old law graduate from the United States finished fourth in the £20,000 High Roller event at 2010 EPT London, which is one of fourteen six-figure scores or more on her résumé. Selbst of course won both NAPT Main Events held at Mohegan Sun in 2010 and 2011, earning a total of $1.2 million, and she took down the 2010 Partouche Poker Tour Main Event, pocketing $1,823,430.
Selbst is looking to continue her hot start to 2013, but she faces an uphill battle as she begins the final table fifth in chips and only four get paid. With that said, she finds ways to win, so we wouldn't be surprised if she notched her third Aussie Millions score (the other two came back in 2010).
Igor Kurganov is a regular on the European Pour Tour, and he's no stranger to High Rollers. With that said, it was no surprise to see him travel to the Southern Hemisphere for the 2013 Aussie Millions $100,000 Challenge.
Most of Kurganov's winnings have come in big buy-in events like this one. In May of 2011, he took second in the €10,000 High Roller Turbo at the EPT Grand Final in Madrid for €123,000. He then went on to finish third in the EPT Tallinn High Roller for €40,450 and second in the EPT London High Roller for £318,300 after losing to Philipp Gruissem. Then, April of last year, Kurganov broke through in a big way by taking down the EPT Grand Final €25,000 High Roller for €1,080,000. He topped a field of 133 players to win that event, and that included a heads-up victory over poker legend Daniel Negreanu.
Kurganov has already made a name for himself throughout Europe and Asia, and now it's time for him to do so in Australia. He enters the final table second in chips.
Starting as the final table chip leader is Japan's Masa Kagawa with 695,000. Kagawa is a regular in the largest buy-in poker events in the world. Back in 2007, Kagawa won A$250,000 for taking third in the Aussie Millions $100,000 Challenge — a result he'll surely look to best today.
Another notable score on his resumé came back in 2008 when Kagawa took seventh in the £20,000 High Roller at the European Poker Championships in London. There he won £86,000 for his finish.
In total, Kagawa has nearly $1.2 million in lifetime tournament winnings. He plays with fierce aggression and isn't afraid to mix things up in the game. One thing is for sure, Kagawa will not be timid when it comes to knocking heads with the other players at the table.
Germany's Tobias Reinkemeier has over $4.4 million in live tournament winnings and is second on the German all-time money list. He's more of the silent killer on the felt, much like Patrik Antonius, and everyone in the poker world has nothing but good things to say about both his game and his personality.
Andrew Robl was the first player eliminated from this event on Day 1, but he came back after re-entering and put his new life to good use by making the final table.
Robl has over $2.4 million in lifetime tournament earnings, and he's coming off one of his best years ever with just under $1 million in prize money won. The largest score of his poker career came just last year and it was in another $100,000 event as Robl took second in the WPT World Championship $100,000 Super High Roller for $822,375.
In 2010, Robl had another large WPT score, which was also a runner-up finish. He earned $549,003 after Antonio Esfandiari edged him out in the 2010 Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic.
Robl is a regular in the largest cash games and tournaments in the world and considered one of the young superstars of the game. He'll enter the final table second to last in chips with 129,000.
Niklas Heinecker is the shortest stack returning to play for the $100,000 Challenge with 10.5 big blinds, so he'll surely have his work cut out for him today.
Heinecker is known as "ragen70" online, where he plays high-stakes cash games. In the live realm, Heinecker boasts over $225,000 in live earnings. Much of that comes from an 80th-place finish in the 2007 World Series of Poker Main Event where he earned $106,382.
Heinecker hails from Germany and joins fellow countrymen Igor Kurganov and Tobias Reinkemeier at this final table.
Chad HollowayDan Shak looks to win the $100,000 Challenge for a second time.
Welcome back to the 2013 Aussie Millions $100,000 Challenge. Yesterday, 21 players took to the felt for nearly 10 levels of play. Andrew Robl was the first to bust from that field, but he opted to exercise his re-entry option (the only one to do so). That brought the total field to 22 entries, which created a prize pool of A$1,957,000, but by the night only seven remained. Of that four will get paid, with the winner taking home a smooth A$1,000,000. The man best position to capture that prize is veteran high roller Masa Kagawa, who starts the day with 695,000.
Seven players are still in contention, but only four of them will earn a payday as follows: 1st-A$1,000,000; 2nd-A$610,000; 3rd-A$320,000; and 4th-A$237,000. Who will add their name to this prestigious list of champions (click name to learn more about their victory):
Day 2 of the 2013 Aussie Millions $100,000 Challenge will kick off at 14:00 EDT (22:00 EST), which is about half an hour from now. Stay tuned to PokerNews all the latest and greatest from that event as well as Day 1b of the A$10,000 Main Event.
