Malaysians Michael Soyza and Michael Lim shine at the Aussie Millions

Poker in Malaysia is still illegal but that doesn’t mean they don’t produce some of the finest and toughest poker players around. Take Richard Yong for example, not only is he the highest ranked Malaysian player but he is also one of the driving forces of the Triton Super High Roller Series. Another well-known pro is Christopher Michael Soyza. He is ranked 4th in the country and may well be recognized as the top tournament player with his consistent deep runs since 2015. Adding his name to that list is a new face in the scene, Michael Lim, who stormed past the pros at the Aussie Millions – AU$100K Challenge.

Let’s take a closer look at both of these players, Soyza and Lim, and how they fared at the biggest event Down Under.

New face Michael Lim wins the 100K Challenge

While it is not surprising to see many new faces participate in the Aussie Millions, some even taking down events, it is however the opposite when a new player wins a high roller event such as the AU$100K Challenge.

The two-day AU$100K Challenge fared much better than the earlier high roller AU$50K Challenge with a total of 19 entries for a pot of AU$1,862,000. Some of the heavyweights at the event were Fedor Holz, Jack Salter, Kahle Burns, Sam Greenwood, Dietrich Fast, and Jan-Eric Schwippert who already had two runner-up berths at the festival. All of them however would fall before the money round with only three places paid.

Finishing 2nd was German pro Manig Loeser, and in 3rd was Italy’s Mustapha Kanit. Both of these players may be highly decorated and favored to win, especially Kanit with already two deep runs at the festival, but it was not to be. Stealing their thunder was a new face at the felt, Michael Lim. Not much is known of Lim other than he is listed as Malaysian. If this is Lim’s first live tournament showing then he jumped into the Malaysian rankings as 6th rank with his impressive performance. Lim is on board with a victory and a score of AU$931,000 (US$735,490).

Christopher Michael Soyza runner-up at the Six-Max

It was business as usual for Christopher Michael Soyza who picked up right where he left off in 2017. Soyza opened up the new year with a nice five-digit payout at the Aussie Millions. The 2017 GPI Malaysia #1 ranked player finished 2nd at the AU$1,150 No Limit Hold’em Six Max event that saw 598 entries. The only player he wasn’t able to outlast was USA pro Chance Kornuth. Soyza earned a healthy AU$84,280 (~US$67,400) to inch him closer to 1M in total live earnings. By the rate he has been running these past two years, it is likely we will see him reach that milestone very soon.

Soyza also cashed at the AU$1,150 No Limit Hold’em Accumulator event, adding AU$3,170 to his earnings for his 53rd finish.

Article by Triccia David