Melbourne, Australia. Tuesday 24 January 2017. Another day was done and dusted in the Crown Poker Room yesterday as Aussie Millions $10,000 Main Event Day 1b is now on the books. We saw 184 players pull up seats throughout the seven levels of play yesterday to take the running total up to 396 – ahead of the 387 that were in contention at the same time last year. With the final Day 1 flight today, time will tell if the 732-player field from 2016 can be eclipsed.

It was another day of exciting poker action, and when all was said and done, it was birthday boy Mustapha Kanit who emerged on top with 215,000. When the clock ticked past midnight, Kanit’s birthday began and a mountain of chips seemed fitting as the perfect gift.

Kanit dominated his table today, picking off attempted bluffs and winning hands in all the right spots. The Italian superstar has over $8.5 million in live cashes to his name and finds himself in a great position to add to that impressive total here this week.

Joining Kanit for Day 2 come Wednesday will be Rhys Jones who bagged up 159,800 by the conclusion of play. Fortune favored Jones straight out the gate as he delivered the first knockout blow in level 1 and things continued to trend well for him throughout the day.