A Little History Lesson on the Aussie Millions

The Aussie Millions goes way back: People were playing it well before most tournaments in Europe and the States were even initiated. Back in 1998, it was Alex Horowitz who won what was then referred to as the "Australian Poker Championships." Horowitz won the championship playing limit hold'em and bought in for just $1,000. He walked away with a quarter of the $74,000 prize pool.

The buy-in remained $1,000 in 1999 but the game was changed from limit hold'em to the more popular pot-limit hold'em. In the year 2000, the buy-in was upped to $1,500 and the game transitioned to no-limit hold'em. The game would stay no-limit hold'em from there on out but the buy-in would drastically increase over the years. While it was still a $1,500 in 2001, things sped up from there on, as the 2002 edition demanded players to buy in for $5,000. Only a year later, in 2003, it was doubled to $10,000.

In 2007, none other than Gus Hansen reigned supreme, besting a field of 747 to walk away a $1.5-million winner. His run to Aussie gold was televised and featured in a popular television show. Hansen himself wrote down every single hand he played and wrote them all up in his famed book Every Hand Revealed. The next year, the Aussie Millions attracted its biggest field to date with 780 players. Russian player Alexander Kostritsyn beat a field of 780 players to take home $1,650,000. Kostritsyn would become one of the most feared online players as he ruled the Full Tilt Poker tables as "PostFlopAction" and today just about runs PokerStars under his screen name "joiso."

The Aussie Millions is without a doubt the Southern Hemisphere's most prestigious poker tournament. Last year, while part of the PokerStars Asia Pacific Poker Tour, the tournament attracted a massive field of 732, just about unprecedented for a $10,000 event outside of Las Vegas. This year, the Aussie Millions operates once again as a standalone event.

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
2015	648	$6,480,000	Manny Stavropoulos	$1,385,500
2016	732	$7,320,000	Ari Engel	$1,600,000

Big things are expected this year and PokerNews will be there to cover it all. PokerNews will bring all the live updates, quality photos and a PokerNews-hosted livestream commentated on by Jason Somerville. Find the schedule of events PokerNews will cover on the floor below.

Over on AussieMillions.com you can find the entire schedule of events as PDF. Check the 2017 Aussie Millions landing page for everything you need to know about the Aussie Millions.

Day	Tournament	Buy-In
Jan. 20	$25,000 Challenge - Day 1	$24,000 + $1,000
Jan. 21	$25,000 Challenge - Day 2	$24,000 + $1,000
Jan. 22	Main Event - Day 1 Flight 1	$10,000 + $600
	$100,000 Challenge Day 1	$98,000 + $2,000
Jan. 23	Main Event - Day 1 Flight 2	$10,000 + $600
	$100,000 Challenge Day 2	$98,000 + $2,000
Jan. 24	Main Event - Day 1 Flight 3	$10,000 + $600
Jan. 25	Main Event - Day 2
Jan. 26	Main Event - Day 3
Jan. 27	Main Event - Day 4
Jan. 28	$100,000 Challenge - Final Table
Jan. 29	$250,000 Challenge - Day 1	$245,000 + $5,000
	Main Event - Final Table
Jan. 30	$250,000 Challenge - Day 2