The Australian Poker Championship

The Australian Poker Championship, a series of poker matches more commonly known as Aussie Millions, is an annual poker tournament held for over ten years at the Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia. It is the Southern Hemisphere's richest poker tournament with a prize pool in excess of AU$7 Million.

Australian Poker Championship Past Winner

Past winners of the Australian Poker Championship include 2007s Gus Hansen, Lee Nelson in 2005, and Peter Costa in 2003. Like other slightly under the rader poker tournaments, Aussie Millions could benefit from a high profile win -- either a true amateur who rises to sudden fame, or a Hellmuth or Johnny Chan caliber popular player. It is difficult to compete with WSOP events, dominated by players with huge personality and flashy playing style, regardless of the huge payout. And Aussie Millions offers what it advertises -- millions and millions for the winner of the final table.

Aussie Million at the Crown Casino

Poker was introdued at the Crown Casino in the summer of 1997, with the first major "Aussie Millions" championship held shortly after in late summer 1998. The Main Event was a $1,000(Australian) buy in Limit Holdem tournament that attracted 74 entries with a $74,000(Australian) prize pool.

The Crown Australian Poker Championship, or the 'Aussie Millions' as it became known, moved to January in 2001, attracting 40 entrants with a $5,000 buy in for a prize pool of $200,000. January 2003 saw the event go international, attracting a field of 122 entrants and a D$1,200,000 prize pool.

Aussie Millions 2005 Tournament

In January 2005, the Aussie Millions proved its growing popularity rivals that of the poker scenes in Europe and Asia. The tournament that year featured 263 participants paying $10,000(Australian) each to enter the No Limit Holdem Main Event, generating the biggest prize pool ever in the Southern Hemisphere: $2,630,000(Australian), about 2.5 million bucks American. Over half the field called a foreign country their home, including groups of players from as far away as New Zealand, England, Ireland, Norway, Denmark, USA, Sweden, Holland, Canada, Italy, Iran and Lebanon.

In 2006, 418 players competed for a share of the $4,180,000 prize pool, including some of the flashier names in the Poker world -- WSOP Champion Joe Hachem, along with Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, and others.

Aussie Millions 2007 Championship

The 2007 Aussie Millions championship took place in January, 2007 with the final table held on Friday the 19th of January. The buy-in was around $10,000 American. A record 747 players entered, which generated a prize pool of around $7.25 million. This huge prize is what put "Aussie Millions" on the map for many players north of the equator. The top 80 players were "in the money" and received between $15,000 Australian and $1,500,000 Australian each.

The 2008 championship concluded on Sunday 20th January, 2008 -- the winner was 21 year old Russian Alexander Kostritsyn. The buy-in was just under $10,000 American. A new record of participants further cemented the increase in interest in poker down under -- 780 players entered, which generated a prize pool of $7,500,000 American. The top 80 players were "in the money" and received between $15,000 Australian and $1,650,000 Australian each.

Aussie Millions Complaints

If there's any complaint to be made about Aussie Millions, it is the same kind of thing that losers and sad sacks have been claiming about the WSOP for years -- that the same handful of guys seem to make the final table. The operations own website advertised this on their front page, claiming that the final table for this year's tournament was "no surprise". The facts don't truly bear this out -- look at the names on the final tables in just the past five years and note the variety of participants. Pay no attention to the naysayers, this is a player's game.

It is expected that there will be over 800 individual players in the $10,500 Buy-In No Limit Holdem Main Event in 2009. Over 2,000 individual entrants will participate in the two week series. Over 400 international visitors are expected to attend from all over the world.

Aussie Millions Melbourne

The Aussie Millions has a huge economic impact on Melbourne, generating approximately 8,000 reserved room nights across Melbourne in January 2007, including over 5,000 at Crown Casino. The Aussie Millions ranks as the sixth largest poker tournament in the world.

The 2007 Aussie Millions held the largest, 'cash buy in' tournament ever, with a $100,500 event attracting 20 players. In 2009 the Aussie Millions will out do even this record, and be home of the World's largest Cash Game with a $1 Million Buy-in.

2008 Aussie Millions Mugging

The poker world was shocked at an event that occured after the 2008 Aussie Millions tournament -- an event that had nothing to do with pocket aces or keyhole cameras. An American player who had competed very well, ending in thirty-first place and winning a $30,000 prize, was violently mugged upon leaving the tournament floor and heading out for a hamburger. Australian officials believe the criminal was watching the tournament to identify people who may potentially be in possession of large amounts of cash. The victim, Jason Potter of Oklahoma, was quoted as wishing "he had taken a check". While this kind of story may not bring the right kind of attention to Australia and Aussie Millions in general, it does provide a good lesson to tournament players. Never take cash.

Aussie Millions garners attention because of its lucrative top prize, a prize that grows each year along with the pool of entrants. A good rags-to-riches story, or a powerful landslide win by a poker legend -- this is all Aussie Millions needs to become as popular in the south as the WSOP is in America.

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