Let The Games Begin!

Welcome to the Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia for the biggest tournament outside the US! The much anticipated 2009 Aussie Millions has arrived! It will be highlighted in the coming weeks by the AU$100,000 Challenge, AU$1,000,000 Cash Game and of course the Main Event where one player will walk away with a guaranteed AU$2,000,000!

The first event of the 2009 Aussie Millions Poker Championship, $1,100 No-Limit Hold'em, drew an impressive 342 players to the felt today, for Day 1a. Among the field were big names from Australia including Tony Hachem, 2008 Aussie Millions Final Table-ist Michael Chrisanthopoulos, Jamie Pickering and Graeme "Kiwi G" Putt. Also present were international stars such as 2007 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event champ Annette Obrestad and Hollywood Celebrity Michael Vartan.

Among the casualties on Day 1a were 2008 Crowns Poker Player of the year Andrew Demetriou, Julian Powell, Tony Dunst, AFL star Brendan Fevola, Bill the Croc, Annette Obrestad and Tony Hachem.

The notable survivors of Day 1a included Mel Judah, Jamie Pickering, Michael Chrisanthopoulos and Emad Tahtouh.

The chip count at the end of play looked like this:

David Griffiths 95,000
Christian Heich 71,200
Rodney Snider 69,600
Rob Price 68,300
David Saab 60,900
Graeme Putt 60,800
Jack Efaraimo 58,500
Gary Cleaver 58,100
Naz Sibaei 56,600
Jim Mastorakos 46,700

Check out  PokerNews for all the live updates as Day 1b kicks off tomorrow at 12:30 PM local time.

Links:

PokerNews Video - Welcome to the 2009 Aussie Millions