Aussie Millions Attendance Up in Prelim Events

The 2017 Aussie Millions got underway when the PokerStars Championship Bahamas was still running while most events at the Atlantis were under-performing expectations, the opening events at the Crown Casino saw growth in every event. Five events are in the books, which mirrors the schedule of 2016, and on average entrants are up 18.4%.

	2016	2017	Growth
Event 1	1,320	1.565	+18.5%
Event 2	39	49	+25.6%
Event 3	126	153	+21.4%
Event 4	217	237	+9.2%
Event 4	196	230	+17.3%

The uptick in preliminary events is a good forecast for upcoming Main Event – which has seen substantial fluctuations over the past ten years. The largest growth came in 2016 when entrants jumped by nearly 13%. The past ten Main Events mostly reflect a pretty standard deviation of numbers but the boost in 2016 is the largest since the Australian pre-boom era.

Year	Entrants	Growth
2016	732	+12.9%
2015	648	-2.9%
2014	668	+6.2%
2013	629	-4.5%
2012	659	-8.5%
2011	721	-3.3%
2010	746	+9.5%
2009	681	-12.6%
2008	780	+4.4%
2007	747

 

Fluctuations in the Main Event and preliminary events are expected year-to-year, but the market for Super High Roller events shouldn’t change too much each year due to the pool of players whose bankroll can handle the most extreme buy-ins. The 2016 $250,000 Challenge had the smallest field in four years and dropped a massive 36%.

Year	Entrants	Growth
2016	16	-36%
2015	25	-16%
2014	30	+66%
2013	18	+12.5%
2012	16	-20%
2011	20