Updated on 22 Feb 26 by
Barry Carter
Poker Expert

Aussie Millions Day 1B, Andrew Robl Wins $100,000 Challenge

A much bigger field on day 1B of the main event with Jason Mercier and Neil Channing leading the way. Plus Andrew Robl defeats Igor 'Lechuckpoker' Kurganov heads-up in the $100,000 Challenge.

$10,000 Main Event Day 1B

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Jason Mercier
Image: PokerNews.com

196 players bought in for the second of three starting days in the main event, making the current total 353.

Given that last year the main event attracted 659 entries and the final starting day is historically the busiest (Last year it saw 317 players), it looks like we have a good shot of at least matching the previous year's attendance.

Back to day 1B and 106 players bagged up their chips for the night ready to return on Wednesday for day 2. Currently residing in the top ten are two big names, Jason Mercier and Neil Channing, who both had it their own way for most of the day.

Other big names who survived include former champion Tyron Krost, Andrew Pantling, Annette Obrestad and Per Linde.

Plenty of notables were sent to the rail on day 1B, including several players from the $100,000 Challenge final table - Vanessa Selbst, Tobias 'pokernoob' Reinkemeier and Niklas 'ragen' Heinecker all went straight from busting the final table to busting the main event.

Tonight will see the final starting day before the entire field combine for day 2 on Wednesday.

Aussie Millions $10,000 Main Event

End of Day 1B Chip Counts

Place Name Chips
1st Francis Rusnak 155,000
2nd Mark Betts 155,000
3rd Matthew Ginn 125,000
4th Farez Dawood 122,000
5th Julius Coleman 120,000
6th Jan Collado 110,000
7th Cole Swannack 105,000
8th Jason Mercier 90,000
9th Jackson 'chenny8888' Zheng 83,000
10th Neil Channing 80,000
...
- Tyron Krost 42,000
- Per Linde 35,500
- Andrew Pantling 32,000
- Annette Obrestad 31,000
Blinds: 400/800/100  |   Players:106 (196)   |   Prize pool: TBD

Andrew Robl wins $100,000 Challenge

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Andrew Robl
Image: PokerNews.com

He is the subject of a new book which tells the exploits of the Ship It Holla Balla poker crew, but today in Melbourne it was Andrew Robl who wrote a new chapter.

He was the first player eliminated from the $100,000 Challenge, but thanks to the new re-entry format this year he bought back in and climbed all the way to the top of the pack.

He defeated PokerStrategist Igor 'lechuckpoker' Kurganov heads-up for the $1 million first prize and the title, which has been won previously by Dan Smith, Sam Trickett, Howard Lederer and Erick Lindgren.

Another former champion in this event was Dan Shak, who also made the money in this event today.

Two PokerStrategists who didn't fare so well today were Tobias 'pokernoob' Reinkemeier and Niklas 'ragen' Heinecker, who alongside Vanessa Selbst missed out on the money.

The next super high roller event is the $250,000 buy-in tournament at the end of the week, which was last year won by Phil Ivey.

Aussie Millions $100,000 Challenge

Final Rankings

Place Name Prize
1st Andrew Robl $1,000,000
2nd Igor 'lechuckpoker' Kurganov $610,000
3rd Masa Kagawa $320,000
4th Dan Shak $237,000
  Players: 1 (22)   |   Prize pool: $2,167,000

Poker Expert

Barry Carter is the editor of PokerStrategy.com and the co-author of The Mental Game of Poker 1 & 2, Poker Satellite Strategy, PKO Poker Strategy, Endgame Poker Strategy, GTO Poker Simplified, Mystery Bounty Poker Strategy and Beyond GTO. In 2025, he won the Global Poker Awards for Best Book and Twitter Personality of the Year.