Aussie Millions $100k Challenge Fail

Maybe it’s because of the glut of recent Super High Roller events across the globe, or perhaps the thought of losing out to a ‘semi-retired’ German wunderkind – but whatever the reason, the $100K challenge at the Aussie Millions was looking decidedly empty this year.

So empty, in fact, that the organizers had to delay the start and then cut it from a 3-day event down to just 2, the same number as the amount of players who had registered by the original deadline!

The 41 runners of last year has dwindled to a mere 18 this time round, and that’s almost how many played the $250K challenge in 2016 – a strange anomaly which also saw last year’s winner Fabian Quoss sitting out this week, citing the fact he hasn’t been playing much so perhaps $100K might be better spent elsewhere.

It’s not just Quoss who’s missing from the line-up, however. Where’s Jason Mercier? Where are Philip Gruissem and Igor Kurganov? We know Dwan and Ivey have been MIA for a while, but there are some serious names we’d expect to see who just… well…aren’t there.

Fedor Holz put in an appearance and as expected is up there with chip leaders after day 1, as are Sam Trickett and Nick Petrangelo, but where are all the ‘Asian businesmen’? Where, for that matter, is Antonio Esfandiari? Patrik Antonius? Or Jeff Rossiter, Andrew Lichtenberger and Brian Rast?

These are all huge names in the SHR’s, and we’ve now seen 70 entries in 2015 drop to 41 last year and now 18 (with a $1000 rake rebate!) – while other SHR’s have been thriving, with extra days put on by the organizers in Prague and the Bahamas to accommodate the mega-rolled millionaires of the felt. It’s a genuine mystery!

It has also made the play a bit of a mystery and maths problem, with many players ( Kempe and Shak among them) busting out before the end of registration at level 7, with play then reduced to a single table –only to see a couple of new entries and the tables having to be split again!

It’s also made the prizes look a bit shabbier than usual for such a high-profile event. When Quoss defeated Ben Tollerene heads-up to the title last year he walked off with the equivalent of US$1,012,636 (AUS$1,446,480) and the three paid spots this year combined aren’t massively ahead of that number.

Top spot will get AUS$882,000 which is $668,000. A decent chunk of change for anyone but – this is the Aussie Millions and their 2nd highest buy-in event (designed for millionaires) isn’t making anyone a millionaire!

This is the first year in a while, though, that the Aussie Millions hasn’t had the backing of PokerStars, the Amaya-owned giants re-branding leaving the Melbourne annual festival as a stand-alone event. Has this made it less-attractive for the big names? I can’t think why it would specifically but whatever the reason, it’s a strange occurrence.

So, over to you dear reader. Answers below as usual – the riddle of the missing millionaires!