The

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino i ...

Millions was the first ever

poker tournament A poker tournament is a tournament where players compete by playing poker. It can feature as few as two players playing on a single table (called a " heads-up" tournament), and as many as tens of thousands of players playing on thousands of tabl ...

to be staged in the city-state of

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word ...

. The inaugural event was completed on 12 November 2004. Apparently birthed out of the preceding explosion of

Texas Hold 'em Texas hold 'em (also known as Texas holdem, hold 'em, and holdem) is one of the most popular variants of the card game of poker. Two cards, known as hole cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five community cards are dealt fa ...

popularity, it was conceived of and sponsored by

Prima Poker Microgaming is a privately held gambling software company based in the Isle of Man. The company first developed online casino software in 1994. Overview In May 2009, Microgaming's progressive slot Mega Moolah paid out $6,374,434, the largest ...

. 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 Phillip Dennis Ivey Jr. (born February 1, 1977) 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 numero ...

. 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. 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 Paul Jackson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Paul Jackson (bassist) (1947–2021), American jazz fusion bassist * Paul Jackson Jr. (born 1959), American jazz fusion guitarist * Paul Jackson (poker player), English professional poker playe ...

. Ivey went on to win a second single table invitational tournament adjunct to the Monte Carlo Millions the next day.Hendon Mob database: $120,000 Full Tilt Poker Invitational
/ref> The Monte Carlo Millions has been broadcast in the UK on Pokerzone. In the United States the event aired on

Fox Sports Net Fox Sports Networks (FSN), formerly known as Fox Sports Net, was the collective name for a group of regional sports channels in the United States. Formed in 1996 by News Corporation, the networks were acquired by The Walt Disney Company on Ma ...

. In Canada it was broadcast on CGTV (now

GameTV GameTV is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by Anthem Sports & Entertainment. It currently broadcasts a mixture of game shows, reality competition series, and films. The channel was first launched in 2005 under the ownership of ...

References

{{reflist Poker tournaments in Europe Poker television shows