The Australian Poker Championship, commonly known as Aussie Millions, is a series of poker tournaments held at the Crown Casino, in Melbourne, Australia. The Main event of the series is the Southern Hemisphere’s richest poker tournament with a prize pool in excess of AU$7 million.
History
Poker at Crown was introduced in June 1997, with the first major championship held shortly after in July 1998. The Main event was a $1,000 buy in Limit Holdem tournament that attracted 74 entries with a $74,000 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 $1,200,000 prize pool. In January 2005, the Aussie Millions continued to grow with 263 participants paying $10,000 each to enter the No Limit Hold’em Main Event, generating the biggest prize pool ever in the Southern Hemisphere of $2,630,000. Over half the field was from overseas including players from New Zealand, England, Ireland, Norway, Denmark, the USA, Sweden, the Netherlands, Canada, Italy and Lebanon. In 2006, 418 players competed for a share of the $4,180,000 prize pool, including some of the biggest names in the Poker world such as wsop Champion Joe Hachem, along with Phil Ivey, John Juanda and Daniel Negreanu. The 2007 championship commenced on Sunday 14 January, 2007 with the final table held on Friday 19 January, 2007. The buy-in was $10,500 ($10,000+$500). A record 747 players entered, which generated a prize pool of $7,470,000. The top 80 players were “in the money” and received between $15,000 and $1,500,000 each.
The 2008 championship concluded on Sunday 20 January, 2008 with the winner being the 21 year old Russian Alexander Kostritsyn. The buy-in was $10,500 ($10,000+$500). A record 780 players entered, which generated a prize pool of $7,800,000. The top 80 players were “in the money” and received between $15,000 and $1,650,000 each. The 2009 event will feature a total of 15 tournaments. The Main Event will have a guaranteed $2 million first prize. It will also feature ten players taking part in the first Million Dollar Poker Cash Game, the largest poker game of its kind anywhere in the world. Ten players will be required to stake a minimum of $1 million, though it is expected that some players will bring more to the table. The Aussie Millions is now regarded as the largest poker tournament in the Southern Hemisphere and the sixth-largest internationally (by prizepool). It is expected that 800 players will take to the felt for the Main Event, with Fox Sports Net broadcasting the tournament to more than 100 million homes worldwide.
Main Event structure
The structure of the Main Event is slightly different than that of most other major tournaments. While most major Hold ‘em tournaments, including the World Series of Poker Main Event, play at nine-handed tables throughout, the Aussie Millions Main Event begins with eight-handed tables. Play continues eight-handed until the field is reduced to 36 players, at which point all tables are six-handed. The 2009 Aussie Millions Main Event structure will see Day 1 divided into three flights, with blind levels of 90 minutes’ duration. From Day 2 until the completion of the tournament, the blind levels are 120 minutes long.[1]
$100,000 Challenge
The Aussie Millions also features what is billed as the world’s most expensive buy in for any poker tournament, the $100,000 No Limit Holdem Challenge (actual buy in is $100,500, including the $500 entry fee). It has a particularly unusual structure:[1]
- Players start with 100,000 chips, five times that of the Aussie Millions main event and five times that of the wsop Main Event (whose buy in is US$10,000).
- Betting is pot limit preflop and no limit afterwards.
- Players are allowed only 30 seconds to act on their hands. At the start of the tournament, each player is given three extensions of 30 seconds each for use during the tournament.
The $100,000 Challenge was first played in 2006, with 10 entrants. Eighteen entered the Challenge in 2007, 25 in 2008,[1] and 24 in 2010.
Results
1998 Australian Poker Championships (Limit Hold’em)
- Buy-in: $1,000
- Date: July 26, 1998
- Number of buy-ins: 74
- Total Prize Pool: $74,000
- Number of Payouts: 9
Final Table [2]
| Place |
Name |
Prize |
| 1st |
 Alex Horowitz |
$25,900 |
| 2nd |
Ken Eastwood |
$14,800 |
| 3rd |
David Gorr |
$7,400 |
| 4th |
Leo Boxell |
$4,810 |
| 5th |
Mike Ivin |
$3,700 |
| 6th |
 Jason Gray |
$2,960 |
| 7th |
Michael Marcos |
$2,220 |
| 8th |
 Vince Oliver |
$1,850 |
| 9th |
 Emilia Garvenovak |
$1,480 |
1999 Australian Poker Championships (Pot-Limit Hold’em)
- Buy-in: $1,000
- Date: August 1999
- Number of buy-ins: 109
- Total Prize Pool: $109,000
- Number of Payouts: 18
Final Table [3]
| Place |
Name |
Prize |
| 1st |
Milo Nadalin |
$38,150 |
| 2nd |
Adam Haman |
$21,800 |
| 3rd |
Joe Meissner |
$10,900 |
| 4th |
Sam Khouiss |
$7,085 |
| 5th |
Larry Jones |
$5,450 |
| 6th |
Billy Argyros |
$4,360 |
| 7th |
Brian Mulvihill |
$3,270 |
| 8th |
Vic Thornton |
$2,725 |
| 9th |
John Maver |
$2,180 |
2000 Australian Poker Championships
- Buy-in: $1,500
- Date: Sunday, August 27, 2000
- Number of buy-ins: 109
- Total Prize Pool: $173,500
- Number of Payouts: 18
Final Table [4]
| Place |
Name |
Prize |
| 1st |
Leo Boxell |
$65,225 |
| 2nd |
Gerry Fitt |
$32,700 |
| 3rd |
Gary Benson |
$16,350 |
| 4th |
Jason Gray |
$10,628 |
| 5th |
Martin Comer |
$8,175 |
| 6th |
Charles Cuschieri |
$6,540 |
| 7th |
Joe Humunicki |
$4,905 |
| 8th |
Wendy Boxell |
$4,088 |
| 9th |
Chris Newton |
$3,270 |
2001 Australian Poker Championships
- Buy-in: $1,500
- Date: Friday, August 24, 2001
- Number of buy-ins: 101
- Total Prize Pool: $151,500
- Number of Payouts: 18
Final Table [5]
| Place |
Name |
Prize |
| 1st |
Sam Korman |
$53,025 |
| 2nd |
Eric Sclavos |
$30,300 |
| 3rd |
James Potter |
$15,150 |
| 4th |
Toby Atroshenko |
$9,848 |
| 5th |
John Maitland |
$7,575 |
| 6th |
 Jamil Dia |
$6,060 |
| 7th |
Gerry Fitt |
$4,545 |
| 8th |
Lee Nelson |
$3,787 |
| 9th |
Mick Anderson |
$3,030 |
2002 Australian Poker Championships
- Buy-in: $5,000
- 2-Day Event: Friday, January 11, 2002 to Saturday, January 12, 2002
- Number of buy-ins: 66
- Total Prize Pool: $330,000
- Number of Payouts: 10
Final Table [6]
| Place |
Name |
Prize |
| 1st |
John Maver |
$150,000 |
| 2nd |
John Homann |
$63,000 |
| 3rd |
David Szetho |
$35,000 |
| 4th |
Lee Nelson |
$24,500 |
| 5th |
Chris Newton |
$17,500 |
| 6th |
Toby Atroshenko |
$10,500 |
| 7th |
 Frank Callaghan |
$9,625 |
| 8th |
Mike Guttman |
$7,875 |
| 9th |
Constantin Harach |
$7,000 |
2003 Crown Australian Poker Championships
- Buy-in: $5,000
- Date: Sunday, January 12, 2003
- Number of buy-ins: 122
- Total Prize Pool: $1,220,000
- Number of Payouts: 18
Final Table [7]
| Place |
Name |
Prize |
| 1st |
Peter Costa |
$394,870 |
| 2nd |
Leo Boxell |
$225,640 |
| 3rd |
Harry Demetriou |
$124,102 |
| 4th |
Sam Khouiss |
$101,538 |
| 5th |
Joe Cabret |
$78,974 |
| 6th |
Ram Vaswani |
$67,692 |
| 7th |
Martin Comer |
$56,410 |
| 8th |
 Erich Kollmann |
$45,128 |
| 9th |
Joe Beevers |
$33,846 |
2004 Crown Australian Poker Championships
- Buy-in: $10,000
- Date: Thursday, January 15, 2003
- Number of buy-ins: 133
- Total Prize Pool: $1,330,000
- Number of Payouts: 18
Final Table [8]
| Place |
Name |
Prize |
| 1st |
Tony Bloom |
$426,500 |
| 2nd |
Jesse Jones |
$243,700 |
| 3rd |
Kenna James |
$134,000 |
| 4th |
David Hatzis |
$109,700 |
| 5th |
Mark Banin |
$85,300 |
| 6th |
Brian Hull |
$73,100 |
| 7th |
Mike Ivin |
$60,900 |
| 8th |
Han Luu |
$48,700 |
| 9th |
Tino Lechich |
$36,600 |
2005 Crown Australian Poker Championships
- Buy-in: $10,000
- 3-Day Event: Tuesday, January 18, 2005 to Thursday, January 20, 2005
- Number of buy-ins: 263
- Total Prize Pool: $2,630,000
- Number of Payouts: 40
Final Table [9]
| Place |
Name |
Prize |
| 1st |
Jamil Dia |
$1,000,000 |
| 2nd |
Mike Simkin |
$465,000 |
| 3rd |
George Mamacas |
$250,000 |
| 4th |
Martin Comer |
$170,000 |
| 5th |
Stephen McLean |
$110,000 |
| 6th |
Warwick Dunnett |
$80,000 |
| 7th |
Jonathan Paul |
$70,000 |
| 8th |
Gary Benson |
$60,000 |
| 9th |
 Marcel Lüske |
$50,000 |
2006 Crown Australian Poker Championships
- Buy-in: $10,000
- 6-Day Event: Saturday, January 14, 2006 to Thursday, January 19, 2006
- Number of buy-ins: 418
- Total Prize Pool: $4,180,000
- Number of Payouts: 48
Final Table [10]
| Place |
Name |
Prize |
| 1st |
Lee Nelson |
$1,295,800 |
| 2nd |
Robert Neary |
$689,700 |
| 3rd |
 Nenad Medic |
$376,200 |
| 4th |
Shannon Shorr |
$271,700 |
| 5th |
Jeff Sealey |
$209,000 |
| 6th |
Russell Davies |
$167,200 |
| 7th |
Wes Bugiera |
$125,400 |
2007 Crown Australian Poker Championships
- Buy-in: $10,000
- 6-Day Event: Sunday, January 14, 2007 to Friday, January 19, 2007
- Number of buy-ins: 747
- Total Prize Pool: $7,470,000
- Number of Payouts: 80
2008 Crown Australian Poker Championships
- Buy-in: $10,000
- 6-Day Event: Sunday, January 14, 2008 to Friday, January 19, 2008
- Number of buy-ins: 780
- Total Prize Pool: $7,758,500 AUD
- Number of Payouts: 80
Final Table [12]
| Place |
Name |
Prize |
| 1st |
 Alexander Kostritsyn |
$1,650,000 |
| 2nd |
Erik Seidel |
$1,000,000 |
| 3rd |
Michael Chrisanthopoulos |
$700,000 |
| 4th |
Peter Ling |
$500,000 |
| 5th |
Nino Marotta |
$400,000 |
| 6th |
Antonio Casale |
$300,000 |
| 7th |
Peter Mobbs |
$225,000 |
2009 Crown Australian Poker Championship
- Buy-in: $10,000
- 7-Day Event: Saturday, January 17, 2009 to Friday, January 23, 2009
- Number of buy-ins: 681
- Total Prize Pool: $6,810,000
- Number of Payouts: 64
Final Table
| Place |
Name |
Prize |
| 1st |
Stewart Scott |
$2,000,000 |
| 2nd |
Peter Rho |
$1,000,000 |
| 3rd |
Elliot Smith |
$700,000 |
| 4th |
Rajkumar Ramakrishnan |
$400,000 |
| 5th |
Sam Capra |
$300,000 |
| 6th |
Zach Gruneberg |
$210,000 |
| 7th |
Richard Ashby |
$150,000 |
2010 Crown Australian Poker Championship
- Buy-in: $10,000
- 7-Day Event: Sunday, January 24, 2010 to Saturday, January 30, 2010
- Number of buy-ins: 746
- Total Prize Pool: $7,460,000
- Number of Payouts: 72
Final Table
| Place |
Name |
Prize |
| 1st |
Tyron Krost |
$2,000,000 |
| 2nd |
 Frederik Jensen |
$1,100,000 |
| 3rd |
Sorel Mizzi |
$715,000 |
| 4th |
Kosta Varoxis |
$450,000 |
| 5th |
Peter Jetten |
$350,000 |
| 6th |
Steven Friedlander |
$250,000 |
| 7th |
 Annette Obrestad |
$175,000 |
References
External links
Hans Vogl
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