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James Chen wins first championship ring of 2017 Aussie Millions

Taiwan’s James Chen has won the first ANTON ring of the 2017 Aussie Millions Poker Championship series, outlasting 48 other players to win event #2: $2,500 H.O.R.S.E. held in the Crown Casino Poker Room last Friday.

James Chen Aussie Millions Poker — Chen is well known in Taiwan with many impressive wins prior to his first Aussie Millions victory.

After heading into the third day of the event with double the chip stack of any other player, Chen beat four homegrown talents and a UK player with an impressive past record to walk away with the top prize of AUD$39,700 (USD$29,322) in prizes, holding a total of USD $619,330 in career tournament winnings since he stated playing professionally in 2014.

Chen is a well known poker player back in Taiwan, having achieved his most significant wins back-to-back in the Macau Poker Cup High Roller Events in 2015 and 2016. It was there he scooped up a combined total of USD$839,180 in career winnings, and his latest victory in the Aussie Millions places him fifth on the Taiwan All Time Money List.

Australia’s Dylan Honeyman was in fourth place for the final day but was the first to leave the tournament, exiting on Day 3 with AUD$7,710. With USD$548,715 in total live tournament prizes, Honeyman’s career milestone was during the 2016 Aussie Millions Main Event, where he secured fifth place for AUD$340,000 in winnings.

Fellow Aussies Jarryd Godena and Jarrett Bullock exited in fourth and fifth place, for AUD$12,125 and AUD$8,825 in winnings, respectively. Both bowed out with improved performance and winnings from last year’s event.

Richard Ashby was the only European player to cash in and entered the final day in fifth place. Despite being the most experienced player present on the final table, he came third place with a prize of AUD$16,535, adding to his $2,325,031 in previous tournament winnings.

Australian Rainer Quel secured the runners-up position, entering the final day in third place in chips. Collecting AUD$25,355, this is his biggest live poker tournament cash win.

The Aussie Millions is an annual poker tournament held every January at Crown Casino Melbourne, attracting players and spectators from around the world with a prize pool of over seven million dollars, making it the highest paying poker tournament in the Southern Hemisphere. Check out our Aussie Millions guide for past winners, schedules and how to enter future tournaments.