Kazuhiko Yotsushika leads star-studded $25,000 Challenge at the Aussie Millions

The world's very best gathered once again at the Crown Casino, Melbourne, to take home the A$960K first prize.

The Aussie Millions is well-underway with several small-stakes events already crowning champions, and the first day in the $25,000 Challenge just ended. The event attracted the sharpest poker minds from all around the world.

Some of the favorites have already been busted, with the likes of Dominik Nitsche, Mustapha Kanit, Thomas Muehloecker, Andras Nemeth, and Manig Loeser.

However, the remaining field is still filled with a chunk of sharks. Lesser known Kazuhiko Yotsushika of Japan ended the day on the top of the leaderboard with 538,500, but household names follow, like Toby Lewis (487,500), Jack Sinclair (432,500), Chino Rheem (381,000), the Germans Rainer Kempe (354,000), and Koray Aldemir (347,000), Kitty Kuo (287,500), or Vojtech Ruzicka (206,000) will all return with a comfortable stack for Day 2.

The field is 13 spots away from the money, as only the top 17 will receive a prize with the lowest being an A$63,420 payout. It's safe to say though, that these guys (or girls) are all aiming at the A$960,360 first-place prize.

Payouts

Place Prize (AUD)
1 960,360 AUD
2 652,320 AUD
3 416,760 AUD
4 308,040 AUD
5 217,440 AUD
6 154,020 AUD
7 117,780 AUD
8 117,780 AUD
9 99,660 AUD
10 99,660 AUD
11 81,540 AUD
12 81,540 AUD
13 63,420 AUD
14 63,420 AUD
15 63,420 AUD
16 63,420 AUD
17 63,420 AUD

End of Day 1 Chip Counts

Kazuhiko Yotsushika 538,500
Toby Lewis 487,500
Martijn Gerrits 447,000
Jack Sinclair 432,500
Andy Lee 414,500
Chino Rheem 381,000
Rainer Kempe 354,000
Koray Aldemir 347,000
Luke Marsh 312,000
Kitty Kuo 287,500
Gautam Dhingra 286,000
Jack O'Neill 278,500
Hideki Izutsu 276,500
Elliot Smith 272,000
Sosia Jiang 252,500
Najeem Ajez 248,000
Jack Salter 244,000
Vojtech Ruzicka 206,000
Jiachen Gong 202,000
Vishal Maini 199,500
Taylor Black 161,000
Robert Heidorn 155,000
Matthew Wantman 144,500
Michael Zhang 137,000
Tsugunari Toma 97,000