746 competitors came to "The Land Down Under" recently to battle in the 2010 Aussie Millions Poker Championship main event, and after three day one heats, all but 294 of them were sent away $10,500 Australian Dollars (AUD) poorer.

Thanks to all those players, organizers for this year's main event can boast a total prize pool of $7,460,000 AUD (about $6,722,000 USD), enough to pay 72 places and award the champion an impressive $2 million in local cash.

Despite losing hundreds of known players during those first three starting flights, the main event at the Crown Casino still features many marquee names including Gus Hansen, John Juanda, Sorel Mizzi, Ross Boatman, Howard Lederer, Marsha Waggoner, Dan Harrington, Annette Obrestad and Poppa PokerRoad himself Barry Greenstein, currently sitting in good position with above average chips.

For more information on the 2010 Aussie Millions, or for chip counts, updates and photos from Day 2 visit PokerNews.com.


Story by Mark Anderson