The 2016 Aussie Millions $25,000 Challenge attracted 100 of the game's best to Crown Melbourne on Friday.
In the first eight levels, 22 of them took advantage of the single reentry option, which brought the total field up to 122 entries, up from 104 the year prior.
The huge turnout created a AUD$2.928 million prize pool that will be distributed to the top 14 finishers with the eventual winner taking home AUD$790,560. After 12 levels of play, just 26 players remained in contention for the top prize, with Steve O'Dwyer and his stack of 519,000 leading the way.