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After our initial run through of the tournament floor, we've recognized quite a few notables. Martin Drewe, the winner of this very event one year ago, is here to defend his title. Standing in his way is some stiff competition including tournament veteran Mel Judah; 2004 Aussie Millions Main Event Champ, Tony Bloomt; and Australian pro, Brendon Rubie.
The players have scrambled into their seats in Event 1: $1,100 Opening Event and the call has been made to start the deal!
A satellite is currently still kicking on in the main tournament area and has stopped a couple of table's worth of players from taking to the felt. Apparently the satellite is on the bubble and the players who were meant to take their seat now wait tentatively on the rail, while the rest of the field shuffles chips and plays their first hand.
Welcome to the 2012 Aussie Millions Poker Championship here at the Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia. This marks the 10th Anniversary of the Aussie Millions, a series that has gained more prestige each and every year; in fact, leading up to today’s start, we at PokerNews took a historical look back at the Aussie Millions, including how it found it’s feet from 2003-2007, to the booming years of 2008-present, so be sure to check those out before today’s action.
Speaking of which, the Event 1: $1,100 Opening Event kicks off this evening and is the first of 26 events that will be spread over the next two and a half weeks. This particular event will have three different starting days and is featured as a “repecharge”, which means which means that if a player busts on Day 1a or 1b, they will have the option of buying back in on Day 1c.
Last year, this very event drew 1,000 entrants, including 762 unique players (remember, this event is repecharge). A laundry list of notables entered that event including James Akenhead, Annette Obrestad, Maria Ho, Tony Dunst, Richard Ashby, and then-reigning Aussie Millions Champ Tyron Krost. Unfortunately for them all, the tournament belonged to Martin Drewe, who outlasted them all to claim the AUD$200,020 first-place prize.
While we won’t have a winner for a few days, the first flight of Day 1 is the first step to becoming the first Crown Aussie Millions Poker Champion. We’re expecting a strong turnout from the Australian contingent, and perhaps a notable or two from overseas. Only time will tell who’ll play as we get ready to celebrate the Aussie Millions’ 10th Anniversary with the first event of 2012.
2011 Aussie Millions Event #1 Final Table Payouts
Place
Player
Winnings (AUD)
1st
Martin Drewe
$200,000
2nd
Darren Kramer
$128,220
3rd
Justin Cohen
$85,220
4th
Nik Lackovic
$65,220
5th
Vito Dalessadri
$52,220
6th
Antoine Bechara
$42,220
7th
Gabriel Xiourouppa
$32,220
8th
Scott Montgomery
$22,220
9th
Jonathan Palmer
$15,020
Action is set to get underway at 7:10 PM EDT, so be sure to join us for all the action, live, from the floor of the Crown’s Aussie Millions Poker Championship.
