Aussie Millions Aims For Major Event Status

The Aussie Millions poker tournament is hoping to be upgraded to the status of major sporting event and the Crown casino, where the annual event is held, is considering submitting their proposal to the Victoria Major Events Company.
This would place the poker competition alongside the other prestigious events associated with Melbourne, such as Formula One Grand Prix, Australian Open tennis and Australian Masters golf.
The CEO of Crown casino,David Courtney said, “We believe the Aussie Millions meets the criteria for a major event in Victoria and we would like to see it given that status alongside the Spring Racing Carnival and the other major events here,”
The Aussie Millions is the largest poker tournament outside of the U.S.A and is set to grow with the organisers increasing the top prize to $2.5 million.”A first prize of $2.5 million gives the Aussie Millions a status it deserves on Melbourne’s major events program”, Courtney said yesterday.
One of the stipulations required for an upgrade in status is that the event brings in significant revenues for Melbourne and it is believed there will be little disputing this as the event every January attracts thousands of Australian as well as overseas participants and accounts for over 8000 hotel room nights.
“Huge growth in the number of overall participants reflects the increasing popularity of the game locally and internationally,” Mr Courtney said.
However, it is not all plain sailing and some opposition is expected from anti-gambling groups.The Reverend Tim Costello, for instance, is quoted as saying ,”Why don’t we make Sexpo a major event as well? There’s a fundamental difference between a major sporting event that excites and transcends our human condition than a gambling tournament.”
Nevertheless Crown casino is hopeful the Aussie Millions Tournament will be awarded the status it deserves and Australian world poker champion Joe Hachem offered his support by saying “It deserves the title as one of Australia’s majors alongside the Australian Open, Spring Racing Carnival and F1 Grand Prix.”