International
Australia is famous for Kangaroos, Wallabies, Boomerangs and the Outback. Now we can add poker and The Aussie Millions to that list.Poker in Australia has been alive and well for a long time, which makes sense, considering the country has been inhabited for over 42,000 years. Maybe poker didn’t start until 1798, when the British Crown established it as a penal colony. It is easy and natural to conjure up images of prisoners playing poker, when they got a break from busting rocks.
The gold rush of 1850 may have helped keep poker active as entertainment also. If Australia’s gold rush was anything like the one in the USA, mining towns were overrun with gamblers and there was a poker game in every saloon.
It doesn’t much matter when poker started in Australia, in a country of 21 million people, there is bound to be a lot of poker being played within its borders, then and now.
One of the most popular places to play poker in Australia is The Crown Casino located in Melbourne. The Crown Poker Room has 50 poker tables offering games of Omaha, 5 Card Stud, and Hold’em with limits ranging from $2/$4 up to No-Limit. They also have daily tournaments and special tournament events like satellites to the Aussie Millions, which will take place at the Crown Casino on January 5-20th 2008.
The inaugural PokerNews Cup was held at the Crown on October 7th with 428 entrants. It was a huge success with local player Dory Zayneh winning $300,000 for his first place finish.
The Crown is also the home poker room of Tanya Hill. After her 8th place finish at the PokerNews Cup and finishing 39th in the 2007 Aussie Millions, Tanya is showing the world that men aren’t the only “Aussies” playing poker down under.
One of the most renown Aussie poker players is of course PokerWorks’ own TonyG.
You can keep up with TonyG’s globetrotting escapades here on his blog. Tony is not only noted for his poker abilities, but as a ‘trash talker’ while playing. In an interview he once explained his ‘trash talking ways’ by saying, “It’s the Australian in me. There is trash talking wherever you go in Australia; not specifically in poker, but in everything.”
This may go against the image some of us have about the Aussies, which most of us got from watching movies like Crocodile Dundee and TV shows with Steve Irwin. No matter if they are really ‘trash talkers’ or not, the world has a soft spot for the Aussies.
For Australians who aren’t globetrotters or in the vicinity of the Crown Casino, online poker is very popular, where unlike the USA, it is still legal. Many poker sites like PokerStars, host tournaments for Australian players only. There are also ‘Aussie’ poker teams online that play against other teams from other countries.
You too can play with the Aussies. PokerWorks has a great selection of online poker rooms just for your playing pleasure. Pick one and have a “g’day at the tables, Mate!”
Looking for Excitement?
How about an opportunity to play poker too? In a far away, exotic place? And even better yet, TV poker! You can be there, thanks to 
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