WORLD SERIES OF POKER ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH CROWN FOR MAJOR POKER SERIES DEBUTING IN MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA IN 2013
WSOP ASIA-PACIFIC (WSOP APAC) TO FEATURE MULTIPLE BRACELET EVENTS APRIL 4-15, 2013

With poker’s popularity exploding across the Asia-Pacific, the World Series of Poker (WSOP), in partnership with Australia’s Crown Melbourne, have today reached a multi-year agreement to bring the major poker tournament series to the region commencing in April 2013.

World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific (WSOP APAC) will take place April 4-15, 2013, at Crown Melbourne, and feature five WSOP gold bracelet events.

“Our goal is to establish the worldwide grand slam of poker and use our platform to elevate the game through a series of major championships,” said WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart. “With WSOP Las Vegas growing annually and WSOP Europe poised for long-term success after five years, the time is right to turn our attention to the dynamic poker scene in Asia and Australia. Given Crown’s success with the ‘Aussie Millions Poker Championship’, we couldn’t ask for a better partner than Crown to establish the Asia-Pacific’s definitive poker festival.”

Crown Melbourne is Australia’s leading integrated entertainment resort attracting approximately 18 million local, interstate and international visitors each year. It is one of the largest entertainment complexes in the world showcasing world-class gaming facilities and is the home of the renowned and most prestigious ‘Aussie Millions Poker Championship’ along with the largest poker room outside North America. The world-class complex also boasts Australia’s best restaurant precinct, international designer brand shopping and award winning hotels – Crown Towers, Crown Promenade and Crown Metropol.

“This exciting partnership brings together two industry leaders, and two strong brands, to create a premier poker event in this region,” said Crown Melbourne’s Chief Executive Officer, Greg Hawkins.

“Our agreement firmly aligns with our objective of attracting the very best local and international players, all vying for a coveted WSOP bracelet. We are incredibly proud of what we have achieved with the Aussie Millions and look forward to featuring WSOP Asia Pacific on our poker calendar in April 2013.”

The agreement marks the first time the WSOP is exporting its prestigious tournament series to Australia, and marks just the second expansion of the 42-year-old brand, after the advent of WSOP Europe in 2007. To date, WSOP gold bracelets have only been awarded in Las Vegas (1970-2011), London (2007-2010) and France (2011).

Crown’s agreement with the WSOP includes provisions for international television production of the event and is expected to be shown globally on ESPN.

Legions of locals have been swept up in the Australian poker boom that was ignited when Melbournian and Crown ambassador Joe Hachem became the 2005 World Series of Poker Champion, scooping up $7.5 million in prize money for his efforts.

“It’s thrilling to think the World Series of Poker is coming to Australian soil,” said Joe Hachem. “I know first-hand what a life-changing moment winning the WSOP gold bracelet was and how it served as a catalyst for the growth of poker in Australia and Asia. It will be a dream come true to host a worldwide poker event such as this at Crown. I can’t wait.”

Crown’s CEO Greg Hawkins further added, “This initiative will provide Crown with significant exposure in Asia, Europe and America, and forms an integral part of Crown’s global marketing strategy to attract further international visitors to Australia and Crown Melbourne.”

The complete schedule and dates are expected to be announced later this year.

The Crown Players party at Analdo and Sons was filled to capacity on the evening of the 19th January with VIPs and players to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Aussie Millions and to induct the four new members of the Australian Poker Hall of Fame.
The formal induction was graciously received by the massed spectators who were pleased to see four outstanding players accepted into the Hall of Fame.

2010/11
Leo Boxell
Poker patriarch and skilled champion for decades, Leo recently won the APPT Melbourne for the 4th six figure payday of his impressive tournament career which totals over $1,100,000 in winnings. Leo and his wife Bev have been familiar faces in Australian Poker rooms and he has found big success in the Crown Casino where he won the Crown championship in 2000 then continued his success once the event became the Aussie Millions with almost $500,000 in winnings.

Danny McDonagh
Be it as a planner, promoter or Director of major tournaments Danny has played an integral role in the growth of poker in the Asia Pacific region. At the helm of every major tournament at the Crown Casino from opening day through the 2007 Aussie Millions this Hall of Fame nominee moved on to become APPT Tournament Director and is now the Director of PokerStars’ extensive live poker operations for Asia Pacific. Danny was a founding partner of pokernetwork.com.

2011/12
David Gorr
In 2011, David bested a field of 721 players to take down the Aussie Millions main event title and $2 million in prize money. David has been a staple player in the Australian poker scene for decades and has been a great ambassador for the game in Australia. He currently sits in 4th place on the Australian all-time money list.

Jason Gray
Throughout Jason gray’s impressive poker career, he has accumulated over $1 million in career tournament cashes including a win at the 2007 Victorian Poker Championships and a second place showing at the 2008 APPT Sydney. Jason is not only a force to be reckoned with at the tournament tables, he is also very comfortable at the BB cash tables as well.

The Chairman of Australian Poker Hall of Fame Maurie Pears thanked Crown, Pokernetwork and all players and Casino staff for their sponsorship, assistance and generosity throughout the year whilst Crown Director of Poker Jim Preston made the formal and popular presentations to an enthusiastic audience.

The APHOF will seek some expansion next year and a more prominent place in Australasian poker internationally. There will be continued inductions to those skilled players who have served the game of poker so well.

David Gorr Aussie Millions 2011 receives congratulations for induction from Maurie and Jim.

Photo Courtesy of Poker Asia Pacific 

Sydney local and online phenom Brendon Rubie has taken down the opening event at this year’s Aussie Millions, the $1,100 buy-in Repecharge No Limit Holdem Event. As a reward for his efforts, Brendon ships $200,000 and the first gold ring of the series.

The Opening event at Crown was a $1,100 buy-in Repecharge No Limit Holdem event. The repecharge format was first featured at Crown several years ago and creates some of the largest prize pools on the tournament calendar. A repecharge event is a type of re-buy tournament, because if you are eliminated on day 1a, then you may return on day 1b or day 1c and have a second chance at building a chip stack. Conversely, if you are not eliminated on day 1a, then you can come back on day 1b or day 1c and continue building your stack for play on day 2 where all remaining players combine their stacks from the earlier day 1′s. The event featured three day 1′s for players seeking to build a large chip stack heading into the 2nd days play. On Day 1a, the Opening event at Crown saw 274 players who attempted to build their stacks. Day 1b drew 251 players, and day 1c drew an incredible 421 players creating a prize pool of $946,000.

With such a massive field of players, Crown management made the executive decision late on day 2 to continue playing out the final table on the unscheduled day 3, a move that no doubt resonated well with players and media, as the same event last year ended up finishing at 7am in the morning.

Final table chip counts heading into the final were as follows.
Seat 1 – Tam Truong – 934,000 Chips
Seat 2 – Tamara Volkoff – 191,000 Chips
Seat 3 – Brendon Rubie – 1,625,000 Chips
Seat 4 – Sean Robey – 262,000 Chips
Seat 5 – Sherif Derias – 696,000 Chips
Seat 6 – Rob Angood – 1,384,000 Chips
Seat 7 – Scott Wilson – 2,628,000 Chips
Seat 8 – Manny Stavropoulos – 554,000 Chips
Seat 9 – John Thomson – 363,000 Chips
Seat 10 – Naz Sibaei – 849,000 Chips

Scott Wilson and Brendon Rubie sat at the top of the leader board heading into the final table, and that is exactly where they sat at the end of the event, with Rubie eventually besting Wilson for the first title of the series.

Brendon Rubie had the support of his girlfriend from the rail for the final table along with some of the cream of the crop of Australian Poker with some witnesses saying they could even spot fellow online poker phenom Jonathan “MONSTERDONG” Karamalikis railing the young Sydneysider all the way to victory.

One thing is for sure, this year’s Aussie Millions is shaping up to be one of the greatest ever in the history of the event, and the opening event has been won by what some would say is the nicest guy in poker. ‘Well done Brendon’

1- Brendon Rubie – $200,000
2- Scott Wilson – $125,000
3 – Rob Angood – $80,000
4 – John Thomson – $61,000
5 – Tam Truong – $49,000
6 – Manny Stavropoulos – $39,000
7 – Sherif Derias – $29,000
8 – Naz Sibaei – $19,000
9 – Tamara Volkoff – $14,500

By Rob Huxley of Miller’s Guide

The ever popular Joe Hachem Deepstack Series returns to Crown this November, for it’s eighth instalment. Designed to give players a chance to hone their Deepstack, Championship style play without blowing their entire bankrolls.

From Thursday 10th through Sunday 20th November 2011, the Crown Poker Room will again be packed with tournament hopefuls vying for that elusive Championship title. The majority of events on this schedule are No Limit Holdem, with a sprinkling of some mixed games for good measure.

The highlight of the Series is the $550 buy-in Main Event. This event is arguably the best value for money tournament in the world. The event runs using Crowns unique “repechage” format, whereby players who have been eliminated from either of the Day 1 Flights are eligible to pay another $550 and re-enter.

With so much value in this Series, you would be crazy to miss it.

Click here to check the schedule.

Ted Whitten Jnr welcomes you to join him to help find a cure for Prostate Cancer.
Head to Crown and play poker to help raise money for the E.J. Whitten Foundation, and put on yourbest poker face to honour a true football legend who dedicated his life to Australian Rules Football.
Hosted by Tony Hachem, the $300 buy-in event with $100 rebuys will see the winner take home a $10,600 seat in the 2012 Aussie Millions.
Time: 3.00pm arrival for a learn to play session for a 4.15pm start
Date: Sunday 25 September 2011
Place: Crown Poker Room, Level B2, Crown Entertainment Complex
To register visit www.crownpoker.com.au