button in Safari$10,600 Aussie Millions Main Event
Day 2 Completed
2026 Aussie Millions Poker Championship
$10,600 Aussie Millions Main Event
Day: 2
Players Left 176 / 770
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Chip Counts
Level 13
: Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Day 2 in the Aussie Millions A$10,600 Main Event has wrapped up after seven levels of play. The day started with 491 players with 64 more joining during late registration, taking the total entries to 770. That was just 52 players shy of beating the 2019 Main Event registrant record of 822.
Only 176 players made it through the full seven levels of play today and bagged a stack of chips, ready to return to Day 3.
The event created a huge A$7,700,000 total prize pool, with just over 12 percent of the field being paid. The bubble will burst at 95 players who will each lock up the minimum cash of A$20,020. Those who locked up a bag today will have their hearts set on surviving until at least the money bubble bursts. Sights will then turn to the final table, with a seat there locking up at least A$154,000.
The luck two, who make it to heads-up, will be battling for the top A$1,667,050 prize and a chance to take home the ANTON Jewellery winner's ring.
Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liu Yang | China | 1,028,000 | 206 |
| 2 | Tom McMahon | Australia | 986,000 | 197 |
| 3 | Scot Malseed | Australia | 737,000 | 147 |
| 4 | Sooriya Rajeswaran | Australia | 638,500 | 128 |
| 5 | Didier Guerin | Australia | 637,500 | 128 |
| 6 | Aamir Choudry | Australia | 624,000 | 125 |
| 7 | Scott Stewart | United States | 609,500 | 122 |
| 8 | Jason Lefevre | Australia | 560,500 | 112 |
| 9 | Anthony Xu | Australia | 555,500 | 111 |
| 10 | Denis Jankovic | Australia | 539,500 | 108 |
It was Liu Yang who took the chip lead at the end of Day 2, after having a solid run towards the end of play. One hand saw Yang pick up a stack after putting on the pressure and continuing to fire into his opponent. Yang also had some early momenum after seeing to the elimination of Troy McLean, helping take an early standing in the day.
Day 1a and start of Day 2 chip leader Tom McMahon is hot on his tails as he bagged 986,000. McMahon was looking to be the three-day running consecutive chip lead as just 30 minutes before the end of the day he was sitting on over a million in chips, but fell just short of the hold.
Scot Malseed is also sitting high in the counts, and bagged 737,000 after starting the day in the middle of the pack with 157,200. He got a late-night stack up after pinching the pot from his opponent, securing one of the last eliminations of the night.
Prize Pool & Payouts
| Place | Payout (AUD) | Place | Payout (AUD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,667,050 | 15-17 | $60,830 |
| 2 | $1,001,000 | 18-23 | $48,510 |
| 3 | $635,250 | 24-29 | $41,580 |
| 4 | $466,620 | 30-35 | $34,650 |
| 5 | $346,500 | 36-39 | $30,800 |
| 6 | $269,500 | 40-37 | $27,720 |
| 7 | $211,750 | 48-63 | $24,640 |
| 8-9 | $154,000 | 64-79 | $22,330 |
| 10-11 | $154,000 | 80-95 | $20,020 |
| 12-14 | $77,000 |
Scott Stewart was bulldozing his way through Day 2 as he saw to an early elimination of Kevin Lee, giving him a significant chip up. Stewart picked up more later in the day after he led to a significant tumble of Andy Lee. Lee’s kings got cracked, ending his chance for a double title here at the Aussie Millions after he was crowned the A$25,000 Challenge champion just a few days prior.
A number of notables still have a seat in the Main Event including WSOP Main Event Winner Joe Hachem. Sam Higgs and Michael Gathy also will return tomorrow, making for a fierce Day 3.
Other players saw their tournament life come to an abrupt end during Day 2 including Adrian Attenborough, Tristan Wade and Josh Giddey. Attenborough brought through a shorter stack into Day 2 (41,500) and wasn’t able to find a spin early in the day. He was knocked down by Najeem Ajez after getting caught up in a three-way pot with fellow table mate Wade. The next hand saw him get in his remaining change against Gary Fisher, with Attenborough getting rivered.
Giddey built up a stack earlier in the day but then took a tumble back down to around twenty big blinds in Level 11 and got his remaining chips in with king-queen but ran into Jun Wen Ooi’s ace-king and saw no improvement.
The remaining 176 players will resume play tomorrow on May 8 at 12.30 p.m. local time at the Crown Casino here in Melbourne. Action picks up at Level 14 with blinds of 2,500/5,000 and a 5,000 big blind ante. Breaks are scheduled every level, and the day will play through seven levels, then stopping to bag up for Day 4, the penultimate day of play.
Remaining Main Event Schedule
| Day | Date | Start Time | Level Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 3 | Friday, May 8 | 12:30 p.m. | 90 minutes |
| Day 4 | Saturday, May 9 | 12:30 p.m. | 90 minutes |
| Final Day | Sunday, May 10 | 2:30 p.m. | 90 minutes |
Stay tuned into PokerNews for the Day 3 action, keeping up to date with the chip counts, bad beats and bust outs throughout the day.
Level 13
: Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Level 13
: Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
1,028,000
268,000
|
268,000 |
|
||
|
986,000
114,000
|
114,000 |
|
||
|
737,000
62,000
|
62,000 |
|
638,500
590,300
|
590,300 |
|
637,500
418,200
|
418,200 |
|
624,000
559,800
|
559,800 |
|
609,500
20,500
|
20,500 |
|
||
|
|
560,500
478,900
|
478,900 |
|
555,500
514,400
|
514,400 |
|
|
539,500
495,700
|
495,700 |
|
|
535,000
535,000
|
535,000 |
|
528,000
328,000
|
328,000 |
|
||
|
512,500
147,500
|
147,500 |
|
|
511,000
511,000
|
511,000 |
|
510,000
399,100
|
399,100 |
|
506,000
393,900
|
393,900 |
|
502,000
331,000
|
331,000 |
|
492,500
12,500
|
12,500 |
|
490,000
80,000
|
80,000 |
|
||
|
484,500
484,500
|
484,500 |
|
455,000
303,200
|
303,200 |
|
453,500
372,500
|
372,500 |
|
430,000
40,000
|
40,000 |
|
|
||
|
425,000
350,800
|
350,800 |
|
421,000
380,100
|
380,100 |
Level 13
: Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Action has stopped, and the remaining 177 players have bagged to return to play Day 3 tomorrow.
Stay tuned for the full recap of the day, which will be posted shortly.
Level 13
: Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
In the 963rd episode of the PokerNews Podcast, Chad Holloway, Mike Holtz, and Ben Ludlow are back to talk about the recent concerns and unanswered questions surrounding CoinPoker. The offshore site has come under fire for deceptive and unclear marketing, as well as concerns over player funds. Poker pro Manig Loeser recently spoke out about them, and there's been mounting pressure on social media from the likes of Pokerbots1 and Todd Witteles accounts.
The crew also takes a look at the set-over-set cooler that benefited Alan Keating in a $1.2M pot, poker thriving in Texas with the WSOP Circuit at TCH, and the High Roller for One Drop at the EPT Monte Carlo. Speaking of big tournament series, PokerNews is on-site in the southern hemisphere at the recently relaunched Aussie Millions. Chad turned to his colleagues in the land down under for an update on all things Aussie Millions.
Finally, mark your calendar for the upcoming Mixed Game Festival XIV, which will kick off at the end of the month and continue into the summer.
Find out all about those stories and more in this week's episode of the PokerNews Podcast! Oh, and be sure to check out the audio version of the PokerNews Podcast that is available on all major podcasting platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and SoundCloud.
A new PokerNews Podcast drops every Thursday at 8a PT / 11a ET / 4p UK time. Remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you do not miss an episode!
Level 13
: Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
In one of the final hands of the night, Dale Bryan was all in and at risk for his remaining 61,500 with pocket nines. He was covered by Najeem Ajez who was sitting with pocket eights.
Dale Bryan: 9♦9♥
Najeem Ajez: 8x8x
Bryan was looking to hold and the 4♣A♦7♦ flop kept him ahead.
There was a small sweat on the 6♦ turn, with Ajez picking up a gutshot straight draw, but Bryan held on the 7♠ river to secure him the double and a seat in Day 3.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
480,000
179,000
|
179,000 |
|
|
133,000
98,600
|
98,600 |
Level 13
: Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
The floor has announced that the final five hands should be played before bagging for Day 3.
Level 13
: Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Scot Malseed called and covered his opponent from an early position and saw him build a late night stack after getting in King-Jack against his opponents Ace-Jack.
Opponent: A♣J♥
Scot Malseed: K♣J♠
It was a lucky run out for Malseed on the K♥K♦5♥9♠5♣ board, which saw to his opponent being eliminated and him climbing in the chip counts with less than 30-minutes left of the day.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
675,000
517,800
|
517,800 |
Level 13
: Blinds 2,000/4,000, 4,000 ante
Action was picked up with Sam Ruha all in for 56,000, and Manny Rodrigues putting him at risk.
Sam Ruha: A♣Q♠
Manny Rodrigues: A♦K♠
Once the cards were on their backs, Ruha got out of his seat and put on his jacket but quickly sat down once the board ran out 3♠3♣Q♦9♣10♠ as Ruha hit his queen on the flop to double up.
The tabled joked with Ruha, saying "The stand up and put your jacket on was too powerful. You can only use that once though"
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
380,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
|
125,000
64,500
|
64,500 |
