Aussie Millions 

The official name of this tournament is The Crown Poker Australian Championship, but has been affectionately known as Aussie Millions for a while now. The tournament was launched in 1997 under the name of the Australian Poker Championship. It is now the biggest and most prestigious poker tournament held South of the Equator. 

The tournament has found a home at Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia - one of the most luxurious casinos in the world. Poker players from all over the world are attracted to this casino as it is home to over 40 restaurants and bars, a showroom, and some snazzy nightclubs. There are also 14 cinemas, a bowling lounge and some luxury boutiques, including Prada, Versace and Louis Vuitton.  

The Aussie Millions tournament has grown substantially since its inception. In 2001, the tournament had 40 entrants playing for a prize pool of $200,000. By 2003, the number of entrants had increased to 122 and the prize increased to a whopping $1.2 million. In 2005, there were 263 entrants with a record breaking prize fund of $2,630,000, the largest ever in the Southern Hemisphere. 

European Poker Tour 

Like the World Poker Tour, the European Poker Tour was developed as a television series. This show would follow the world's professional poker players in the major tournaments across Europe. Thanks to a boom in interest in Texas Hold'em Poker, numerous poker talents came to light, including the likes of Ram Vaswani, Marcel Luske and Ross Boatman. 

Major European Poker Tour tournaments were held in Dublin (Ireland), London (UK), Copenhagen (Denmark), Deauville (France), Barcelona (Spain), Baden (Germany), and Monte Carlo (Monaco). The ten finalists and runners up from these preliminary tournaments will then go on to play for the European Poker Tour Grand Champion title. 

The World Poker Tour 

The World Poker Tour was launched between 2002 and 2003 and was the first television show of its kind in the United States. The aim of the show was to bring poker to a wider audience. 

The World Poker Tour is basically just as the name suggests - a tour of the major poker tournaments across the world. The tournament is filmed and it has been recorded that over 5 million viewers tuned in to watch certain tournaments. It is the unique style of filming that makes the show so popular. 

While the tournament is being filmed, a tiny camera is stored in the table, revealing the hole cards of the players to the television audience. The final table has cameras placed around the room, enabling viewers to see the players, their expressions and mannerisms - as if the viewer was sitting at the table with them. 

This setup can be very exciting to the viewer, as they are able to see the cards of players, and are able to work out who is bluffing, who has a strong or weak hand, and who is leading the play. Analysis and strategy is discussed by a panel of commentators, and there is a formal presenter as well. 

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) 

The World Series of Poker is probably the most prestigious, not to mention well known poker events in the world. The event draws the crowds as it offers a fantastic mix of fascination, glamour, nerves and skill. The original concept of the tournament was created by Tom Morehead and began as an invitation-only event in the 1960s. However, the event failed to create much attention and received limited accolades. It was only when Benny Binion, poker player, casino owner and Las Vegas legend, took over that the idea flourished. 

One of the biggest reasons for the popularity of the WSOP was the decision by ESPN to televise the event. Originally this did not go off as well as the filming did not include showing players hands. ESPN then decided to change this approach by filming the live events, including revealing the hands being held on camera. In this way the production team can cut out dull games and only provide commentary on the exciting ones. 

Author bio 

This article was written for All Africa Poker and highlights the most popular poker tournaments around the world.