Aussie Millions
Most of the poker events are focused on places in the Northern Hemisphere of the globe, and so those from the land down under came up with their own ideas. It was towards the end of the 20th century, in 1998, that the first Crown Australian Poker Championship, also known as the Crown Aussie Millions, took place. At the time, the tournament had a $1,000 buy-in, and the prize pool for the entire competition was only at $74,000. Because it is a unique poker tournament in that part of the world, however, it quickly grew in popularity, and today even the best players from the Northern Hemisphere flock to join this event.
The event was preceded by Poker At Crown in the year before the Aussie Millions was founded, in June 1997, with the final event taking place a year later, in July of 1998. This time of the year was used until the year 2001, when the event was moved from the winter months to the warmer month of January. At the time, they already had 40 entrants and a $5,000 buy-in, and they were gaining popularity with the poker crowd already. Two years later, the tournament went international at last, with the prize pool reaching $1.2 million because of the 122 entrants that were part of the tournament. Most players came from overseas, but those players from New Zealand that have dominated the tournament when it first began still participated, gaining international fame as well. The game begins with nine players in each table, until there are only thirty-six players left, at which point the players play in tables of six. In the year 2009, the prize pool already reached $6.81 million, with the first prize amounting to $2 million. Today, the Aussie Millions is the biggest tournament in the Southern hemisphere, and it is the sixth largest tournament in the world.