Altergott Gets Aussie Gold as Main Event Rumbles On
Tuesday, 4 February 2014
The Aussie Millions Main Event got under way at the weekend and, by the time Day 1A and Day 1B had grinded to a halt, two chip leaders in the form of David Malka and Dean Schneider had stolen the limelight.
After sitting down alongside 176 grinders, Malka was the first to surpass a slew of pros, including Liv Boeree, Matthew Aston and Jake Balsinger, to top the daily chip chart ahead of Day 2.
In a similar fashion, Schneider was able to weave his way past 153 runners to finish at the head of the Gareth Dwyer (161,100) and Tolly Sakellariou (133,500) on Monday thanks to an 188,800 haul.
Also putting in a good showing on Day 1B and making into one of the 81 survivor's spots was the likes of Erik Seidel (116,800), Antonio Esfandiari (77,700) and Annette Obrestad (70,400).
Whilst the second batch of hopefuls were playing for a place in Day 2 of the Aussie Millions Main Event, German high roller Max Altergott was sat as the big chip leader with five players remaining in the $25,000 Challenge. Having made his way into Day 2 as one of the top stacks, Altergott was able to lock up $241,785 after a five-way chop with: Martin Jacobson ($285,921), Dan Smith ($278,414), Scott Seiver ($265,538) and Jason Mercier ($263,342).
Despite Altergott getting the smallest cut of the money he was happy to push the pace and, after the players agreed to increase the blinds after every orbit, he watched as his opponents fell before ousting Dan Smith with As 2s vs. Pocket sixes.
After the tournament had finished the five pros posed for photos and joked about how karma had helped Altergott claim the official victory after he was handed the smallest cut of the five-way deal.
Aussie Millions AUD$25,000 Challenge Final Result:
1 Max Altergott - $241,785
2 Dan Smith - $278,414
3 Jason Mercier - $263,342
4 Martin Jacobson - $285,921
5 Scott Seiver - $265,538
6 Dan Shak - $100,000
7 Marvin Rettenmaier - $70,000
8 Tobias Reinkemeier - $55,000