button in SafariKempson Leads as Burns Seeks Second Aussie Millions Title in Day 2 of $5,000 Challenge
Another outstanding turnout for the Aussie Millions Poker Championship 2026 Presented by CrownBet saw 353 entrants make their way to the Crown Casino for Day 1 of the $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em Challenge. Today, just 142 players will return with bags at 12:10 p.m. for another full day of action.
Leading the charge is Aussie Corey Kempson, who bagged an impressive 1,834,000 by the time the last card was dealt on Day 1.
Claiming the fourth spot overall with 1,557,000 was none other than Aussie Millions ambassador and 2005 WSOP Main Event Champion Joe Hachem. The iconic figure in the Australian poker scene joined late in Day and wasted little time building his chip stack. Hachem enjoyed a late-night surge after picking up Cowboys on the last level of play to secure his spot among the chip leaders.
Day 1 Top Ten Chip Counts
| PLACE | PLAYER | COUNTRY | CHIP COUNT | BIG BLINDS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Corey Kempson | Australia | 1,834,000 | 153 |
| 2 | Xin Xu | China | 1,639,000 | 137 |
| 3 | Itsuki Aburatani | Japan | 1,557,000 | 130 |
| 4 | Joe Hachem | Australia | 1,532,000 | 128 |
| 5 | Jian Ting Cai | China | 1,458,000 | 122 |
| 6 | Sung Chen Yu | Taiwan | 1,396,000 | 116 |
| 7 | Spencer Davies | Australia | 1,377,000 | 115 |
| 8 | Michael Gathy | Belgium | 1,355,000 | 113 |
| 9 | Linus Goh | Australia | 1,320,000 | 110 |
| 10 | Xiaosheng Zheng | China | 1,277,000 | 106 |
Also in the hunt is Aussie tournament legend Kahle Burns, who was able to claim a seven-figure stack worth 1,190,000 last night. Burns is a regular in high stakes events with over $14,000,000 in live-tournament earnings. The last time the Aussie Millions was held in 2020, Burns took down the $100k Challenge for $1,746,360 AUD — his third highest score to date. Burns also made the final table of the 2018 Aussie Millions Main Event and is looking poised to make another deep run at the iconic series.
Other notables who bagged up a nice stack include Angel Guillen (1,160,000), Noman Mirza (1,143,000), Travis Endersby (1,036,000), Van Marcus (896,000), and Tristan Wade (672,000).
Late registration remains open until the start of Level 12 (approximately 1:10 p.m.), with unlimited reentries available. With the prize pool already surpassing $1,600,000 AUD, payouts are expected to be substantial and will be confirmed once final numbers are in.
Day 2 will begin on Level 11, which features 6,000/12,000 blinds with a 12,000 big blind ante. Levels will continue to last 60 minutes each and the plan to play an additional 11 levels today (one more than on Day 1). Players will get breaks after every two levels.
PokerNews will be on the floor throughout, bringing you all the action as the $5,000 No Limit Hold'em Challenge moves toward the money and beyond.