A total of 724 players entered the Aussie Millions Main Event so far. This is the first time the field has gone over 700 since 2011. Late registration will remain open until the end of the first level of play on Day 2.
Day 1a: James Obst, Phillip Gruissem
The first starting day of this eagerly awaited Main Event saw 180 players stump up the AU$ 10,600 buy in, with the Australian contingent making good headway on home turf. Australian pro, James Obst finished the day as chip leader, bagging up a very comfortable 212,100 stack. Philipp Gruissem was another notable name who had a good start to proceedings, and he'll be taking 97,900 into the day 2 field. David Lim is also still very much in contention, with 62,700. Xuan Liu has 44,800 and last year's champion, Manny Stavropoulos, is still alive with 17,500.
Crown Casino (Photo PokerStars blog)
Day 1b: KC Wong, Alex Rocha
207 players lined up for the second starting day here in Melbourne, with many notable names dotted around the field. Dominik Nitsche busted after half a dozen hands,with set over set, before being joined on the rail later in the day by fans favourite, Antonio Esfandiari. In contrast, the man who battled hard all year to almost win the Asian Player of the Year title in 2015, KC Wong, had a great day, taking 163,000 into day 2. He would have the day 1b chip lead, if not for the only player above him – American poker pro, Alex Rocha. He brings 166,000 into day 2.
KC Wong – 163,000 chips (Photo PokerStars blog)
Day 1c: Jens Lakemeier, Martin Jacobson, Terry Fan
The final starting day field saw 337 hopefuls take their seat, bringing the total number of entries up to 724. The final numbers for prize pool and payouts, will not be released just yet, with the total field size set to grow further, as late registration rolls on into the first 2 levels of day 2. As things stand, it is one of the larger Aussie Millions Main Event fields that has ever been seen. Flying the flag for Germany, Jens Lakemeier fought his way to the top of the chip counts for day 1c, taking 175,000 chips into day 2. Former WSOP Main Event champ, Martin Jacobson takes a dangerous looking 107,800 forward too, with Terry Fan hot on his heels with 107,100. Chance Kornuth has an opportunity to add to his earlier victory at the 2016 Aussie Millions, with a 78,400 stack, and Randy “Nannonoko” Lew is also looking good, with 68,900. Erik Seidel is very much in the mix with a healthy stack of 61,400 and Jason Mercier is also in a good position with 60,100. He is followed by other notable names such as Chen-An Lin with 50,400 and Aaron Lim with 36,300. Kitty Kuo has 33,600 Bryan Huang is holding on with 21,600 and Celina Lin is looking a little precarious with 19,100.
Martin Jacobson 107,800 chips (photo PokerStars blog / PokerNews)
Phil Ivey won't be joining us for day 2, and the same can be said for Jeff Rossiter, Kosei Ichinose, John Juanda, Aditya Agarwal, Steve O'Dwyer, and Fedor Holz.
We still have plenty of action to unfold over the coming days though, with many notable names still in with a chance of taking home this great Main Event title.
Chips counts: here
Louis Hartwell
Graduated in Media Communication at the University of Lausanne, Louis Hartman is a co-founder of somuchpoker.com. He began his career in Cambodia as freelance journalist. In same time he was making his living by playing poker every night at that time. Intense learner, he read dozens of poker strategy books to improve his skills during many years. With a strong interest about poker "behind the scene" in Asia and his communication skills, Louis launched Somuchpoker in 2014.
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