A Historical Look at the Aussie Millions Main Event

The Aussie Millions has a rich history, dating all the way back to 1998 when Alex Horowitz won what was then referred to as the "1998 Australian Poker Championships" and played in limit hold'em. The buy-in that year was $1,000, and that buy-in remained the same for 1999. In 2000 and 2001, the buy-in was increased to $1,500. For 2002's version, the buy-in was bumped up to $5,000, and in 2003 and on it has always been $10,000.

In 1999, the game was changed to pot-limit hold'em, and then no-limit hold'em from there on out. The largest event to date was in 2008 when Alexander Kostritsyn topped a field of 780 players to win $1,650,000.

The Aussie Millions is without a doubt the Southern Hemisphere's most prestigious poker tournament, and another impressive field of over 600 runners is in the making this time around. For the second year running, the event is partnered with the PokerStars.net Asia-Pacific Poker Tour, and many agree that the partnership has been beneficial on both sides.

Below is a historical table of the event, dating all the way back to 1998:

Year	Entries	Prize Pool (AU$)	Winner	First Prize (AU$)
1998	74	$74,000	Alex Horowitz	$25,900
1999	109	$109,000	Milo Nadalin	$38,150
2000	109	$173,500	Leo Boxell	$65,225
2001	101	$151,500	Sam Korman	$53,025
2002	66	$330,000	John Maver	$150,000
2003	122	$1,220,000	Peter Costa	$394,870
2004	133	$1,330,000	Tony Bloom	$426,500
2005	263	$2,630,000	Jamil Dia	$1,000,000
2006	418	$4,180,000	Lee Nelson	$1,295,800
2007	747	$7,470,000	Gus Hansen	$1,500,000
2008	780	$7,758,500	Alexander Kostritsyn	$1,650,000
2009	681	$6,810,000	Stewart Scott	$2,000,000
2010	746	$7,460,000	Tyron Krost	$2,000,000
2011	721	$7,210,000	David Gorr	$2,000,000
2012	659	$6,590,000	Oliver Speidel	$1,600,000
2013	629	$6,290,000	Mervin Chan	$1,600,000
2014	668	$6,680,000	Ami Barer	$1,600,000