The Monte Carlo Millions was the first ever poker tournament to be staged in the city-state of Monaco. The inaugural event was completed on 12 November 2004. Apparently birthed out of the preceding explosion of Texas Hold 'em popularity, it was conceived of and sponsored by Prima Poker. The field was limited to 80 players and the buy-in was US$14,000. The majority of the competitors were world famous professionals, with the remainder of the field online satellite winners and lesser known professionals.
The 2004 event was dominated nearly start to finish by the world's top tournament player, Phil Ivey. With three players remaining, however, he was outdrawn by Jani Sointula, who would go on to take the title and US$400,000 first prize. [1]
In November 2005, the second MCM tourney featured a 120 player field and a $25,000 buyin. It featured the largest prize pool in European History up to that point, $3 million, with $1 million going to the winner. The tournament was notable for offering the last spot at the final table to the winner of a "second chance" tournament with a field consisting of the players eliminated from the main event. Ivey won the 2005 tournament over Paul Jackson. [2] [3] Ivey went on to win a second single table invitational tournament adjunct to the Monte Carlo Millions the next day. [4]
The Monte Carlo Millions has been broadcast in the UK on Pokerzone. In the United States the event aired on Fox Sports Net. In Canada it was broadcast on CGTV (now GameTV).
Phillip Dennis Ivey Jr. is an American professional poker player who has won ten World Series of Poker bracelets, one World Poker Tour title, and appeared at nine World Poker Tour final tables. Ivey is regarded by numerous poker observers and contemporaries as the best all-around player in the world. In 2017, he was elected to the Poker Hall of Fame.
Juan Carlos Mortensen is an Ecuadorian professional poker player of Danish descent and the first South American Main Event winner of the World Series of Poker. Mortensen is known for his loose play, bluffing tactics, and interesting chip-stacking style.
James Gary Bechtel is an American cotton farmer and poker player, now based in Gilbert, Arizona. He is best known for winning the 1993 Main Event at the World Series of Poker (WSOP). At the time of his WSOP win, he lived in Coolidge, Arizona.
David A. "Devilfish" Ulliott, was an English professional gambler and poker player.
Jani Sointula is a Finnish professional poker player from Helsinki.
Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari, is a professional poker player and former professional magician, known for his elaborate chip tricks. Esfandiari was the face of the now-defunct poker site, UltimatePoker.com.
Johnson "John" Juanda is an Indonesian professional poker player of Chinese descent based in Tokyo, Japan. He has won five World Series of Poker bracelets.
Erick A. Lindgren is an American professional poker player. He has won two World Poker Tour (WPT) titles, two World Series of Poker bracelets, and more than $10,500,000 in tournament earnings during his poker career. As of April 2020 he is 85th on the all-time money list of poker.
Michael Matusow is an American professional poker player residing in Henderson, Nevada. Matusow's nickname of "The Mouth" reflects his reputation for trash-talking at the poker table.
Isabelle Mercier is a professional poker player.
Rob Hollink is a professional poker player based in Groningen. He has won both a European Poker Tour (EPT) title and World Series of Poker bracelet, becoming the first person from the Netherlands to do so, first was at the EPT's inaugural Grand Final of the European Poker Tour in Monte Carlo in 2005 and then he won his first bracelet at the 2008 World Series of Poker in the $10,000 Limit Hold'em World Championship, becoming the first Dutch bracelet winner.
Bon "John" Phan is a Vietnamese-American professional poker player based in Stockton, California, who is a two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner and is a winner and four-time final tablist of World Poker Tour Championships.
John Hennigan is an American professional poker player from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who, in his career, has won six World Series of Poker bracelets and a World Poker Tour (WPT) title.
Ram "Crazy Horse" Vaswani a former professional poker player and the youngest member of The Hendon Mob, a group of professional poker players. He resides in Finchley with his wife Jackie and daughter Hollie.
Paul Jackson is an English professional poker player from Birmingham.
David Singer is an American professional poker player and former attorney.
Michael Martin is an American professional poker player from Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania who was the winner at the European Poker Tour (EPT) £5,200 EPT London Main Event earning £1,000,000.
Diego Cordovez is an American poker player, the only son of the former UN Under-Secretary-General, Diego Cordovez. He has won one World Series of Poker bracelet, and he has 16 WSOP cash finishes, including 7 final tables. He has won over $1.4 million in career tournament winnings. His 16 cashes at the WSOP account for $613,847 of those winnings.
Luke Schwartz-Orbach known as Luke Schwartz is a professional poker player from north London, England.
Bryn Kenney is an American professional poker player from Long Beach, New York.