A look back at the Aussie Millions over the years

The Aussie Millions poker tournament has grown from very humble origins when it began in 1998 to its current position as one of the most prestigious poker tournaments in the world; after the initial poker boom of 2003 the tournament gained major notoriety, and grew even larger after Australian Joe Hachem won the World Series of Poker Main Event in 2005.

Just how far has the Aussie Millions come in its 14 year history? Well the tournament that attracts over 700 participants willing to part with the $10,000 buy-in, and has awarded $2 million to its winner each year for three consecutive years now started off as a $1,000 buy-in LIMIT Holdem tournament back in 1998 -when a mere 74 players entered the tournament.

The following Year the Aussie Millions switched to a Pot Limit format and attendance swelled to a whopping 109 players, and finally in 2000 the Aussie Millions changed for the third time in three years, becoming the now familiar No Limit Holdem format.

In 2000 and 2001 the Aussie Millions attendance hovered around 100 players, and the tournament looked to go from a local tournament to a major global tournament in 2002 when the buy-in was raised from $1,500 up to $5,000.Still able to attract 66 players, the Aussie Millions was already showing its potential, and in 2003 the tournament attracted 122 entrants, many from around the globe.

Taking place a little too soon after the 2003 WSOP aired, the 2004 Aussie Millions grew to 133 entrants even with the buy-in doubling to $10,000, a number that would nearly double the next year when 263 players entered the tournament, creating the tournament’s first $1 million first-prize.

The 2006 Aussie Millions was the first held after Joe Hachem’s WSOP Main Event win, and the attendance once again skyrocketed, with over 400 players entering the tournament, and in 2007 attendance would again soar, this time to 747 players!

2008 was the high point as far as attendance numbers, with 780 players entering.

In 2009 and 2010 the Aussie Millions decided to give the winner a massive $2 million in prize-money, making the tournament one of the most top-heavy tournaments in terms of payouts in poker - the 2011 tournament will also award $2 million to the winner despite a slight dip in attendance to 725 players.

In addition to the Aussie Millions Main Event we have also seen an entire tournament series spring up around the Main Event, including the first $100k buy-in tournament in poker history, which began in 2009.The Aussie Millions is now one of the top three tournament series in poker, obviously trailing the World Series of Poker, and battling the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure for the #2 spot.