There was just a short announcement by Crown's Jim Preston, who was joined by the Premiership Winning Captain of Hawthorn Luke Hodge. Preston welcomed all the players to the 2014 Aussie Millions Main Event, and then Hodge gave the ceremonial "Shuffle up and deal."
Today marks the start of three starting flights, and players have a full day of action in store. The plan is to play seven 90-minute levels with a 15-minute break after each. There will also be a 75-minute dinner break.
We're headed out to the field to see who is taking their shot at poker glory here on Day 1a.
Welcome to PokerNews' coverage of the 2014 Aussie Millions!
Starting at 2:15 p.m. local time, our team will be live from Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia for updates straight from the tournament floor to your screens. Today, things begin with the Main Event, and are then followed by the $25,000 Challenge beginning at 6:15 p.m.
Last year, Mervin Chan bested the field to claim the title. This year, thanks for a joint partnership with the PokerStars Asia-Pacific Poker Tour, the Main Event is highly expected to attract even more runners. Some even expect this to be the largest Aussie Millions Main Event ever held.
With three starting days, things will be spread out nicely to begin, but then on Wednesday is when all survivors will come together under one roof. Over the course of those starting days, you'll see players such as Phil Ivey, Jason Mercier, Daniel Negreanu, Dan Shak, Justin Bonomo, Dan Smith, Liv Boeree, and Barry Greenstein all get involved, but only time will tell if one of those stars will be named the eventual winner or not.
Start time will be here before you know it, so be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews for when the cards get underway! We'll see you in a bit.
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