25,000 Challenge recap 2017 – Aussie Millions Poker Championship

James Chen Leads After Day 1

Melbourne, Australia. Sunday 22 January 2017. The year couldn’t have started any better for James Chen from Taiwan. Coming from a High Roller win in the Macau Poker Cup September last year, he was heading for Australia with a good feeling and some cash in his pocket. He played the $2,500 H.O.R.S.E. event last week and won it for AUD$39,700 ($29,322). He parlayed that win into a ticket for the $25,000 Challenge and turned it into a straight out win worth a massive AUD$861,840. His name will go into the record books as the winner of the biggest ever $25,000 poker tournament on Australian soil, with 133 players.

The second day of the $25,000 Challenge at the 2017 Aussie Millions saw 25 players out of 133 entries return to the poker room at Crown Melbourne. With just 14 players finishing in the money, it promised to be an exciting day. The day lived up to the highest of expectations with plenty of action right from the get go when the tournament director announced the shuffle up and deal at 2:30 p.m.

Dan Shak, Jason Pritchard and Sam Higgs were just some of the early exits. Another player to head to the rail well before the money stage of the tournament commenced was defending champion Chance Kornuth. He got it all in with ace-three against ace-king and did not get any help from the board.