Aussie Millions

History of the Aussie Millions

The Aussie Millions, also known as the Australian Poker Championship, was founded in 1997 and launched its first championship event in July 1998. The Aussie Millions has from its birth been played at the Crowns Casino in Melbourne Australia, which is known to have some of the best facilities for poker.

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The first championship had 74 registrants, paying the AUD $1,000 buy-in to play the Limit Hold’em tournament, creating a AUD $74,000 prize pool. It was not until in 2000 the game was No Limit Hold’em, as the game had yet to see its rise at that period.

Throughout the years the buy-in for the championship event increased, first being a AUD $1,000 event, then AUD $1,500 in 2000, by 2002 the buy-in had increased to AUD $5,000 and finally from 2003 the buy-in became AUD $10,000 as we know today.

From 1999 until 2001 the Aussie Millions were played in August, but that was changed from the 2002 series. In 2002 they changed the event to be hosted in January, which would continue to be the starting month for every event ever since. Being hosted in January is great for foreign players that want to get away from their own cold country as they come to the summer heat in Australia.

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To keep up with the demands from all the players travelling to play the Aussie Millions, the tournament team decided to create multiple other events for players to play while they were there. This was the beginning of the Aussie Millions as we know it today, having more than 25 events in all different variants of poker and formats.

By 2003 the Aussie Millions had become internationally known, attracting players from all over the world to play the AUD $10,000 tournament. 2003 was also the year where it was the first time a non-Australian won the tournament, when Peter Costa from England won. Aussie Millions continued to grow rapidly the next years, due to the international poker boom and the brand they had created for themselves.

In 2006 the high roller event was taking place for the first time, with a AUD $100,000 buy-in tournament taking place. The tournament was the biggest of its size buy-in wise at the time and had some weird rules such as the tournament were pot-limit pre-flop and no limit post-flop. Another weird rule was that players only had 30 seconds to act, leaving them with not a lot of time to think about the hands. Each player was given a 30 second extension they could use three times throughout the tournaments and that was it.

In 2007 the tournament reached a new status level, with all the world’s top pros coming to play the tournament. Among the players were Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Joe Hachem, John Juanda and Gus Hansen. Gus Hansen later won the 2007 event and wrote a book called “Every Hand Revealed” about it, where he tells in details about his thought process throughout the tournament. The turnout for the tournament was almost double the size of the year before with 747 players and Aussie Millions was more popular than ever. The tournament was broadcasted all over the world with a 10 series special, attracting a wide audience. Since 2007 the amount of players in the main event has been stable, with the other events growing in popularity.

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Today Aussie Millions attracts more than 2,000 players from all over the world to their events, making them one of the biggest tournament series in the world. Aussie Millions also attracts the best and richest players in the world with their high roller events, the $100,000 challenge and $250,000 challenge, costing respectively AUD $100,000 and AUD $250,000 in buy-ins. With the rich variety of different events, Aussie Millions has become one of the favorite destinations of the live poker players as well as for the rail-birds watching the events streamed live on their computer. In 2013 the total prize pool for all the events hit over AUD $16 million, which is the biggest ever for the series.

 

Aussie Millions

History of the Aussie Millions

The Aussie Millions, also known as the Australian Poker Championship, was founded in 1997 and launched its first championship event in July 1998. The Aussie Millions has from its birth been played at the Crowns Casino in Melbourne Australia, who is known to have some of the best facilities for poker.

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The first championship had 74 registrants, paying the AUD $1,000 buy-in to play the Limit Hold’em tournament, creating a AUD $74,000 prize pool. It was not until in 2000 the game was No Limit Hold’em, as the game had yet to see its rise at that period.

Throughout the years the buy-in for the championship event increased, first being a AUD $1,000 event, then AUD $1,500 in 2000, by 2002 the buy-in had increased to AUD $5,000 and finally from 2003 the buy-in became AUD $10,000 as we know today.

From 1999 until 2001 the Aussie Millions were played in August, but that was changed from the 2002 series. In 2002 they changed the event to be hosted in January, which would continue to be the starting month for every event ever since. Being hosted in January is great for foreign players that want to get away from their own cold country as they come to the summer heat in Australia.

To keep up with the demands from all the players travelling to play the Aussie Millions, the tournament team decided to create multiple other events for players to play while they were there. This was the beginning of the Aussie Millions as we know it today, having more than 25 events in all different variants of poker and formats.

By 2003 the Aussie Millions had become internationally known, attracting players from all over the world to play the AUD $10,000 tournament. 2003 was also the year where it was the first time a non-Australian won the tournament, when Peter Costa from England won. Aussie Millions continued to grow rapidly the next years, due to the international poker boom and the brand they had created for themselves.

In 2006 the high roller event was taking place for the first time, with a AUD $100,000 buy-in tournament taking place. The tournament was the biggest of its size buy-in wise at the time and had some weird rules such as the tournament were pot-limit pre-flop and no limit post-flop. Another weird rule was that players only had 30 seconds to act, leaving them with not a lot of time to think about the hands. Each player was given a 30 second extension they could use three times throughout the tournaments and that was it.

In 2007 the tournament reached a new status level, with all the world’s top pros coming to play the tournament. Among the players were Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Joe Hachem, John Juanda and Gus Hansen. Gus Hansen later won the 2007 event and wrote a book called “Every Hand Revealed” about it, where he tells in details about his thought process throughout the tournament. The turnout for the tournament was almost double the size of the year before with 747 players and Aussie Millions was more popular than ever. The tournament was broadcasted all over the world with a 10 series special, attracting a wide audience. Since 2007 the amount of players in the main event has been stable, with the other events growing in popularity.

Today Aussie Millions attracts more than 2,000 players from all over the world to their events, making them one of the biggest tournament series in the world. Aussie Millions also attracts the best and richest players in the world with their high roller events, the $100,000 challenge and $250,000 challenge, costing respectively AUD $100,000 and AUD $250,000 in buy-ins. With the rich variety of different events, Aussie Millions has become one of the favorite destinations of the live poker players as well as for the rail-birds watching the events streamed live on their computer. In 2013 the total prize pool for all the events hit over AUD $16 million, which is the biggest ever for the series.

Aussie Millions Events

When the Aussie Millions were created, it was created to just be an Australian championship tournament and had no other tournaments or side-events running. Crown Casino quickly realized that they needed to have other tournaments for the players showing up as well for players that couldn’t afford the large buy-in for the main event. They created a schedule with 10 different events with buy-ins from AUD $360 to $1,500 (Later AUD $10,000), to ensure everybody could play a tournament.

Since the creation of the schedule, Crowns Casino has improved it every year, creating more and more events, removing outdated events and so on. By 2013 the Aussie Millions had 26 official events, the highest amount of tournaments in the schedule ever. For the 2014 Aussie Millions they have decided to remove some tournaments, having 20 official events only.

The events are being played in many different poker variants, with the popular Texas Hold’em and Omaha as the main variants, but also with H.O.R.S.E, 8 Game Mixed and Mixed Texas / Omaha. Having the special games attracts many of the best players that have moved away from the popular poker variants and into small niche games instead. The tournaments have a buy-in of AUD $1,100 up to AUD $250,000, depending on the event.

The $100,000 challenge was created in 2006 in order to create the biggest tournament buy-in wise in the world. The tournament has been on the program ever since and is known for its weird rules.

The $250,000 challenge was added to the schedule in 2011, due to the fact that many other tournaments had a buy-in of a comparable size. The challenge was at the time the biggest tournament in the world, but was overtaken by the WSOP that hosted a $1 million tournament. The challenge attracts all the biggest players from all over the world and players such as Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan, Erik Seidel, David Benyamine and Annette Obrestadt have all played the tournament.

Erik Seidel won the first $250,000 challenge in 2011, Phil Ivey won it in 2012 and Sam Trickett won in 2013. All winners has been awarded a first prize of over AUD $2,000,000.

Main Event Winners and Prizes

The main event of the Aussie Millions is also known as the Australian Poker Championship and is seen as a prestige tournament by Australians. Since its launch in 1998, Australians have won the event 9 times in total. Below you can see a list of the winner of each year and the first prize they received.

Year

Winner

Prize (AUD $)

1998

Alex Horowitz

$25,900

1999

Milo Nadalin

$38,150

2000

Leo Boxell

$65,225

2001

Sam Korman

$53,025

2002

John Maver

$150,000

2003

Peter Costa

$394,870

2004

Tony Bloom

$426,500

2005

Jamil Dia

$1,000,000

2006

Lee Nelson

$1,295,800

2007

Gus Hansen

$1,500,000

2008

Alexander Kostritsyn

$1,650,000

2009

Stewart Scott

$2,000,000

2010

Tyron Krost

$2,000,000

2011

David Gorr

$2,000,000

2012

Oliver Speidel

$1,600,000

2013

Mervin Chan

$1,600,000


Aussie Millions Events

When the Aussie Millions were created, it was created to just be an Australian championship tournament and had no other tournaments or side-events running. Crown Casino quickly realized that they needed to have other tournaments for the players showing up as well for players that couldn’t afford the large buy-in for the main event. They created a schedule with 10 different events with buy-ins from AUD $360 to $1,500 (Later AUD $10,000), to ensure everybody could play a tournament.

Since the creation of the schedule, Crowns Casino has improved it every year, creating more and more events, removing outdated events and so on. By 2013 the Aussie Millions had 26 official events, the highest amount of tournaments in the schedule ever. For the 2014 Aussie Millions they have decided to remove some tournaments, having 20 official events only.

The events are being played in many different poker variants, with the popular Texas Hold’em and Omaha as the main variants, but also with H.O.R.S.E, 8 Game Mixed and Mixed Texas / Omaha. Having the special games attracts many of the best players that have moved away from the popular poker variants and into small niche games instead. The tournaments have a buy-in of AUD $1,100 up to AUD $250,000, depending on the event.

The $100,000 challenge was created in 2006 in order to create the biggest tournament buy-in wise in the world. The tournament has been on the program ever since and is known for its weird rules.

The $250,000 challenge was added to the schedule in 2011, due to the fact that many other tournaments had a buy-in of a comparable size. The challenge was at the time the biggest tournament in the world, but was overtaken by the WSOP that hosted a $1 million tournament. The challenge attracts all the biggest players from all over the world and players such as Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan, Erik Seidel, David Benyamine and Annette Obrestadt have all played the tournament.

Erik Seidel won the first $250,000 challenge in 2011, Phil Ivey won it in 2012 and Sam Trickett won in 2013. All winners has been awarded a first prize of over AUD $2,000,000.


Main Event Winners and Prizes

The main event of the Aussie Millions is also known as the Australian Poker Championship and is seen as a prestige tournament by Australians. Since its launch in 1998, Australians have won the event 9 times in total. Below you can see a list of the winner of each year and the first prize they received.

Year

Winner

Prize (AUD $)

1998

Alex Horowitz

$25,900

1999

Milo Nadalin

$38,150

2000

Leo Boxell

$65,225

2001

Sam Korman

$53,025

2002

John Maver

$150,000

2003

Peter Costa

$394,870

2004

Tony Bloom

$426,500

2005

Jamil Dia

$1,000,000

2006

Lee Nelson

$1,295,800

2007

Gus Hansen

$1,500,000

2008

Alexander Kostritsyn

$1,650,000

2009

Stewart Scott

$2,000,000

2010

Tyron Krost

$2,000,000

2011

David Gorr

$2,000,000

2012

Oliver Speidel

$1,600,000

2013

Mervin Chan

$1,600,000