Aussie Millions

Every year players from all around the world embark on their annual journey down under to the southern hemisphere’s largest poker tournament. Boasting a status of the world’s sixth largest poker tournament, seasoned pros such as; Gus Hansen, Joe Hachem, Phil Ivey, John Juanda, Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein, Kathy Leibert, Scott Fischman, Chip Jett, David Williams, Antonio Esfandiari, Mike Sexton, Tony G, Jesse Jones, Clonnie Gowan, Kenna James, and Erik Seidel.

The Aussie Millions was first held in July of 1998 under the name ‘Australasian Poker Champinship and was initially a $1000 Limit Holdem event. There were 74 entries on that day with a total prize pool of $74,000. In 2001 it moved to January and changed names to what we all now know as the Aussie Millions. That year also saw the buy-in move to $5000 and had 40 entries for a prize pool of $200,000. 2003 attracted 122 entries for the Aussie Millions first prize pool of over a million dollars which was $1.2 million.

2005 marked the year that the Aussie Millions would scale to new heights with the introduction of a $10,000 buy-in. With 263 entries we were able to witness a poker tournament in Australia with a $2.63 million prize pool. This year also marked the internationalisation of the tournament with over half of the field coming from abroad. Players came from all corners of the globe which helped the Aussie Millions become the iconic poker tournament it is today.

As we moved into 2006 we saw that the Aussie Millions truly was on the world poker map. With professionals coming from all over, it had now become one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world. In 2006 we saw 418 players join the action for a $4.18 prize pool. As you can see the trend of the dollars flooding into this tournament was still on the steady incline.

For me, perhaps 2007 is the year that will turn out to be the most significant in propelling the Aussie Millions into the status it has today. Gus Hansen, one of the most loved poker professionals in the world won the Main Event that made headlines all around the world. Newspapers, blogs and websites covered the event and readers became even more enthusiastic about following the tournament when they learned that Gus Hasnen was getting deep into the Aussie Millions 2007. It was also the year that we saw the numbers of entrants increase by over 70%, to reach the sky heights of 747 entrants. Gus Hansen took home $1.5 million this year after a tournament record prize pool of $7.47 million.

In 2008 we saw a real up-and-comer win the Main Event at the Crown Casino in Melbourne. The young Russian professional Alexander Kostritsyn took the event out and won $1.65 million as the poker world took notice of the young man. He would go on to have several big cashes in 2008, highlighting the quality of the field of the Aussie Millions.

As the days keep on ticking down to the Aussie Millions 2009 $10,500 Main Event, we are set for another record breaking year. Will it be a seasoned pro or will it be a young Australian poker player to win the Aussie Millions 2009? Only time will tell, but one thing is for certain, the 2009 Main event at the Crown Casino will be the biggest yet. It will receive the most coverage it ever has, there will be more hype about it and the publicity will be astronomical.

Make sure you get in on the action by finding out how you can qualify for the Aussie Millions 2009. Satellites to the Main Event are running at most poker rooms and are offering you packages that include the buy-in and travelling expenses. Poker Shark’s number one recommendation is to qualify through Pacific Poker because they are running satellites to the Aussie Millions 2009 specifically for Australian poker players. The competition there is soft, making its easier for you to qualify. The $109 satellites are my personal recommendation as the best value for money. Don’t let me make the decision for you, check out all the information on the satellites available to you so you can choose your satellites to qualify for the Aussie Millions 2009.