Who Follows Up Alexander Trevallion as $25,000 Challenge Champion?
It's time for the first High Roller tournament of the 2016 Aussie Millions, and PokerNews is here to bring you all the updates you can ask for.
The $25,000 Challenge at the Aussie Millions goes back to 2012 when 20 players participated and Dominykas "domcee" Karmazinas from Lithuania took down the lot. Before that, just a $25,000 shoot-out invitational was held by Full Tilt Poker who was the sponsor of the event at that time.
Since the inaugural tournament in 2012, the tournament has grown each and every year. Last year a total of 104 entries were made into the tournament, creating a prize pool of AU$2,496,000. An incredibly international final table was won by an Aussie; Alexander "alextrev1111" Trevallion from Sydney took down the tournament for almost A$650,000 after striking a deal heads-up with Germany's Tobias Reinkemeier.
This year the $25,000 Challenge plays before the Main Event starts, and PokerNews will be there from start to finish. This two-day tournament will start Friday January 22nd at 2:10 pm. Players will start with a stack of 50,000 and a duration of 40-minutes for the first 6 levels. After that the tournament will switch to 60-minute levels. Late registration is available for 8 levels and players are allowed a single re-entry into the tournament in case they bust. The tournament may commence up to 8-handed, moving to 6-handed as soon as practicable after registrations closes. The total structure for the event you can find here (.PDF). A total of 12 levels will be played on the first day.| Year | Entries | Prize Pool | Player | Country | Prize in A$ | Prize in $ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 20 | A$500,000 | Dominykas Karmazinas | Lithuania | A$200,000 | $205,895 |
| 2013 | 30 | A$723,000 | Igor Kurganov | Russia | A$275,000 | $290,317 |
| 2014 | 65 | A$1,560,000 | Max Altergott | Germany | A$241,785* | $211,522* |
| 2015 | 104 | A$2,496,000 | Alexander Trevallion | Australia | A$645,150** | $521,835** |
** denotes a deal with Tobias Reinkemeier (2nd, A$614,850)