The 2015 Aussie Millions Poker Championship schedule has been released, courtesy of the venue hosting the event, the Crown Melbourne in Australia. The schedule has 21 events listed and will kick off on Wednesday, January 14, 2015 and conclude on Monday, February 2. The Crown Melbourne is one of the most luxurious entertainment resorts in Australia.
The popular gaming resort has promised the event to be “a festival of poker” with event buy-ins ranging from AUD $1,150 ($1,070 USD) all the way up to AUD $250,000 ($232,822 USD).
Details About the 2015 Aussie Millions Revealed
The 2015 Aussie Millions, according to the official press release, is going to be a, “comprehensive slate of the game’s most popular variations,” as stated by those organizing the event. On top of the prize pools promised, there will be a total of 20 prestigious Aussie Millions LK Boutique Championship Rings awarded to the winner of each tournament, except for the Main Event.
The winner of that tournament will take home an estimated AUD $1.6 million ($1.4 million USD) first place prize, as well as a unique “Main Event Champion” bracelet designed by LK Boutique, which has an estimated value of AUD $25,000 ($23,282 USD).
As is the case annually, the Crown Melbourne aims to host an event that rivals a World Series of Poker (WSOP) or World Poker Tour (WPT) championship event. Crown Melbourne’s Director of Poker, Jim Preston, stated, “Crown Melbourne’s Aussie Millions Poker Championship has effectively become one of the top poker majors and a favourite amongst some of the most renowned players in the world, and the stage has never been brighter.”
The Aussie Millions, which is hosted in the middle of summer for the Southern Hemisphere, is expected to bring in approximately 4,000 guests from around the world. With the expected total prize pools combining to about AUD $30 million ($27.9 million USD), it is no wonder why this series brings out the best in the business.
Tournament Schedule Highlights
Most of the events on the schedule have buy-ins of either AUD $1,150 ($1,070 USD), AUD $2,500 ($2,328 USD), or AUD $10,600 ($9,871 USD). The series will kick off on January 14, 2015 with the 2-day (with four Day 1s) AUD $1,150 ($1,070 USD) No Limit Hold’em tournament. Other poker variations, such as HORSE, 8-Game Mixed, and Pot Limit Omaha are also on the schedule.
Some of the bigger events are expected to bring out poker’s royalty. The first eye-popping tournament will be Event #8, an AUD $25,000 ($23,282 USD) No Limit Hold’em Accumulator tournament. Another will be in Event #11, played on January 25, which will be an AUD $100,000 ($93,129 USD) event. The first of multiple Day 1s for the Main Event will start the same day, which is an AUD $10,600 ($9,871 USD) No Limit Hold’em affair. The “LK Boutique $250,000 Challenge” ($232,822 USD), is the Super High Roller event on the schedule and starts on February 1 and concludes the next day.
History of the Aussie Millions
The Aussie Millions dates back to 1998 and has become a popular stop for top professionals and poker-enthusiastic tourists. Gus Hanson, a popular poker pro and winner of the 2007 Aussie Millions Main Event stated, “The exquisite effort by Crown to make it a great event for the novice, the aspiring amateur and the high-stakes pro keeps you coming back time after time.”
Last year in the Main Event, Canadian Ami Barer won the 668-player field, besting well-known pro Sorel Mizzi for a $1.6 USD million first-place prize. In the High Roller ($100,000 buy-in) event, Yevgeniy Timoshenko won AUD $2 million ($1.86 million USD) and in the Super High Roller event ($232,822 USD buy-in), Phil Ivey was able to win it all for AUD $4 million ($3.72 million USD).
