Crown Australia Poker Championship – The Aussie Millions

The largest poker tournament in the southern hemisphere, the Crown Australia Poker Championship attracts players from around the world.

Overview of the Crown Australia Poker Championship

The Crown Australia Poker Championship is more commonly known as the Aussie Millions. It is the largest and richest live poker tournament held in the Southern hemisphere, the sixth largest poker tournament in the world and it attracts hundreds of poker players from around the world. It is held annually at the Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia in January. The Aussie Millions offers a variety of games including limit Texas hold'em, no limit Texas hold'em and pot limit Texas hold'em, pot limit Omaha, pot limit crazy pineapple and a mix of different limit games. Fox Sports Net broadcasts the event internationally.

Structure of the Crown Australia Poker Championship Main Event

The main event structure differs slightly from other major poker events. The event begins with eight handed tables and continues as such until the field is reduced to 36 players. The tables are then divided into six-handed tables for the duration of the tournament. Day 1 sees blinds of 90 minutes duration, with day 2 onwards seeing blinds of 120 minutes. It also features the world's most expensive poker event – a AU$100,500 (AU$100,000 buy-in, plus a AU$500 entry fee) no limit Texas hold'em challenge. This event began in 2006 with 10 entrants. In 2007, 18 players entered and in 2008, 25 players entered.

History of the Crown Australia Poker Championship

The first poker tournament at the Crown Casino was introduced in July 1998, shortly after poker had been introduced at the casino in 1997. It was then known as the Australasian Poker Championship. The main event of the tournament hosted 74 players in a $1,000 limit Texas Hold'em event that awarded AU$74,000. The Aussie Millions tournament or the Crown Australia Poker Championship, as it was to become known, was first held in January in 2001 and it attracted a total of 40 entrants with a $5,000 buy-in main event and a $200,000 prize pool. In 2003, the event went international and attracted 122 entrants and offered monetary prizes of more than AU$1 million. In 2006, more than 745 players entered the tournament with players from countries including Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, Italy, Norway, Holland, Sweden and more. Well known poker professionals such as Joe Hachem and Daniel Nagreanu entered. The 2008 Aussie Millions hosted eighteen separate events with the main event being a AU$10,500 no limit Texas Hold'm event. The 2009 Aussie Millions awarded AU$2 million to the winner, Stewart Scott. It awards a total prize pool of around AU$7 million. In 2010, the Crown Casino is expecting more than 2,000 individuals to participate across the championship events and more than 800 to compete in the AU$10,500 buy-in no limit main event. More than 400 international visitors are expected to participate.

Entering the Crown Australia Poker Championship

On the day before the Aussie Millions begins, the Crown Casino holds satellite tournaments with buy-ins of $1,150. Players can also enter satellite tournaments for the event through a number of different online poker rooms.