What is the APL Million Tournament?
The Australian Poker League Million Tournament is one of the top events of the calendar year for serious poker players. The event is played over the course of more than a week and a half from 27th February to 9th March. It is not only mentally grueling for the players, but it is also quite hair-raising for spectators too.
The event is held at the Star Sydney Poker Room, which is a colossal venue that has been home to huge poker plays through the years. When we say huge, we don't just mean the number of participants or the courage of some of the players either. The total prize money stands at a rather head-spinning $1,000,000, and the last man/woman standing will take home $250,000.
The event is a prime example of just how far online poker has come over the years, and many of the contestants actually did, or still do participate in online poker events.
Last year’s event hosted more than 1,250 competitors, and we expect that this number will be higher this year. For those of you who are intrigued about the buy-in, there are many different categories that include buy-ins as low as $240.
Anybody can actually take part in the event, so if you fancied trying your hand against some of the world's best, entries are still being accepted online, or you can enter on the day.
Who Will Take Part?
Regular Australian poker players are more than welcome to enter and take part, but you would need to be rather skilled if you are going to make it through the preliminaries and into the money zone. For when we said that some of the worlds best will be in attendance, we weren't kidding!
Take last year's winner, Huss Hassan, as an example. Not only did he take home $300,000 for winning the APL event, but he has also won previous APL titles netting him a rather nice $100,000. This sort of achievement doesn't just happen by chance, not only are the player's excellent mathematicians, but they are also great poker players.
We mentioned the number of participants before, but we must reiterate, these participants aren't just any old poker players. They take the game seriously, and players are up against more than 1,200 incredibly skilled and often fearless poker gamers.
With that being the case, the event promises to be a showstopper!
What Else is Happening at the Event?
Putting the action at the tables aside, there is plenty more fun stuff happening a the event. Probably the most appealing of these is the player's party, which is open to all participants and their guests. The player's party will have cocktails on offer, some top-drawer entertainment, and of course – you can support the players who have made it onto the final table.
If you'd like a bit more information considering the specifics of the table action, however, we've got this outlined for you right here:
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APL Million Event
This no-limit hold'em competition will start on February 29th with the first tables, and the final table will be held on Sunday, March 8th. The buy-in for this main event is $1,500, so it isn't exactly a 'no worries' buy-in amount – it's for serious contenders.
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Monster Stack
This is another no-limit hold'em event that is held across March 3rd and March 4th. The buy-in is slightly less for this event, but it's still quite a hefty $1,100. Play starts around midday each day, but the action will go on for hours!
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NLH Challenge
The third and final no-limit hold'em event is the NLH Challenge, which takes place on March 4th and March 5th. This is actually the largest buy-in out of all the events, with a $3,000 price tag should competitors want to take part.
Why Should I Be Interested?
Whether you've engaged in online poker before, or you've tried your hand at a physical real money casino or poker room, you'll know all too well that poker is one of those games that requires extreme skill, and occasionally – sheer luck!
In our opinion, it's one of the most exciting casino games out there, and we love to see the greats of the game do battle. Maybe you have zero interest in attending the event, or it's just too far, which is completely understandable depending on where you are reading this from.
Here's the good news – the event can be streamed online, which is a great way to learn poker strategies, see how the top competitors play certain hands, and just generally enjoy watching the event unfold.
To get yourself ready for the event, you can have a squiz at our poker strategies guide.
It's sure to be a classic, so either get your tickets now if you want to play or clear your schedule to tune in for all of the live-streaming action!
