Aussie Millions money
Here are the biggest winners from the 2019 edition of the Aussie Millions Poker Championship

The 2019 Aussie Millions recently wrapped up, and it was another record-setting festival of events Down Under.

In the heat of the Australian summer, while tennis fans from around the world enjoyed another edition of the famed Aussie Open, the Aussie Millions was packing the house at Crown Casino in beautiful Melbourne. The Aussie Millions Main Event generated its largest turnout ever with 822 entries, besting last year’s record attendance of 800 entries. Bryn Kenney captured the Aussie Millions Main Event title and A$1.272 million ($914,617) after a three-way deal, Cary Katz won the $100,000 Challenge for A$1.481 million ($1.074 million), and plenty of other big scores were had. Here’s a look at the biggest winners from the 2019 Aussie Millions.

Top 25 2019 Aussie Millions Money List

1. Toby Lewis – A$1,607,654 ($1,149,064)
2. Cary Katz – A$1,481,760 ($1,074,908)
3. Rainer Kempe – A$1,284,225 ($919,258)
4. Michael Del Vecchio – A$1,275,852 ($916,936)
5. Bryn Kenney – A$1,272,598 ($914,617)
6. Andrew Hinrichsen – A$1,102,408 ($792,305)
7. Manig Loeser – A$772,246 ($555,014)
8. Abraham Passet – A$617,400 ($447,878)
9. Jack Salter – A$541,660 ($390,523)
10. Anton Morgenstern – A$530,640 ($384,767)
11. Clinton Taylor – A$483,000 ($347,132)
12. Guillaume Nolet – A$451,069 ($322,640)
13. Tobias Ziegler – A$431,270 ($311,395)
14. David ‘Chino’ Rheem – A$416,760 ($296,137)
15. Thomas Mühlöcker – A$412,300 ($296,320)
16. Matthew Wakeman – A$380,300 ($273,322)
17. Farid Jattin – A$373,880 ($270,869)
18. Dominik Nitsche – A$350,385 ($251,999)
19. Gyeong Byeong Lee – A$311,985 ($224,207)
20. Kristen Bicknell – A$294,530 ($213,599)
21. Jason Pritchard – A$291,885 ($210,084)
22. Hamish Crawshaw – A$253,334 ($182,037)
23. Vincent Huang – A$251,865 ($180,431)
24. Gautam Dhingra – A$247,039 ($175,716)
25. Bjorn Li – A$235,600 ($169,326)

Toby Lewis tops the list of winners, earning A$1.607 million ($1.149 million) thanks to four cashes in the series. Two of those four in-the-money finishes were for mega bucks, as Lewis placed second in the $25,000 Challenge for A$781,214 ($555,107) and first in the $50,000 Challenge for A$818,054 ($587,936). Lewis’ performances moved him to more than $6.3 million in live tournament earnings and jumped him to sixth place on England’s all-time money list, as ranked by The Hendon Mob.

Katz, who was already mentioned as the winner of the Aussie Millions $100,000 Challenge, was the second-biggest money earner from the 2019 edition of the event. Katz only cashed once, but he won the A$100,000 buy-in event for A$1.481 million ($1.074 million). It was the fifth-largest score of Katz’s poker career, as he moved to more than $18.4 million in live tournament earnings and up to 25th on poker’s all-time money list, also according to The Hendon Mob.

Ranking third was Rainer Kempe, who earned a combined A$1.284 million ($919,258) thanks to two big results. Kempe won the $25,000 Challenge that Lewis came second in and took home A$831,465 ($590,814). He also placed fourth in the $100,000 Challenge that Katz won for A$452,760 ($328,444). Kempe’s success carried over from the 2019 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, where he won more than $1.2 million from three cashes and was the ninth-biggest winner to come out of that series. Just from the PCA and Aussie Millions, Kempe has won more than $2.1 million in prize money in 2019.

You’ll notice that Mike Del Vecchio notched Kenney by a couple thousand dollars on the list. The two were involved in a three-way deal at the end of the Aussie Millions Main Event and took home just about the same amount of money. Del Vecchio had another cash at the Aussie Millions that allowed him to finish higher than Kenney on this list.

In ninth place with A$541,660 ($390,523) won at the 2019 Aussie Millions was Jack Salter, and he’s the player who cashed the most times within the top 25. Salter cashed five times during the festival, but that wasn’t the most times a player finished in the money at the 2019 Aussie Millions. Justin Liberto and Travis Endersby each cashed six times and were the ones to cash the most times. Liberto earned a combined A$181,609 ($131,133) and Endersby scored a total of A$105,488 ($75,571).

If you read our ‘Biggest Winners from the 2019 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure‘ article, then you’ll notice there are a few more repeat names on the two lists, in addition to Kempe. Those players are David ‘Chino’ Rheem, Farid Jattin, and Dominik Nitsche.

Rheem, who won the 2019 PCA Main Event for $1.567 million, finished third in the Aussie Millions $25,000 Challenge to win A$416,760 ($296,137). He was the 14th-biggest money earner from this year’s Aussie Millions as a result of that.

Jattin notably finished seventh in the PokerStars Players NL Hold’em Championship for $746,000 in the Bahamas. In Melbourne, Jattin finished 31st in the Aussie Millions Main Event and then took second in the A$25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha tournament, winning a combined A$373,880 ($270,869).

Nitsche won $606,240 at the 2019 PCA festival and then won another A$350,385 ($251,999) at the 2019 Aussie Millions festival, placing 23rd and 18th on each series’ earnings leaderboard. Down Under, Nitsche took fourth in the $50,000 Challenge for A$323,950 ($232,823) and sixth in the A$5,000 Six-Max NL for A$26,435 ($19,176).