$5,000 Challenge Day 1 | 2026 Aussie Millions Poker Championship

20 hours 29 minutes ago

"The Champ is Here!"

Dan O'Hair

Level 9 : Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante

Heads-up on a board of A♦Q♦6♥A♣ with a large pot already in the middle, 2005 WSOP Main Event Champion Joe Hachem checked from middle position and his opponent on the button moved all in for a bit over 100,000. Hachem tanked a bit and then stuck in a call to put his opponent at risk.

Button: Q♠Q♥ All in
Joe Hachem: A♠K♣

Hachem's hesitance was justified, as he found himself drawing slim to a higher full house against his opponent's queens-full.

Fortune favored Hachem this time, however, as the K♠ river improved him to aces-full and got tablemate Najeem Azez to shout, "The champ is here!" as Hachem was sent the large pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Joe Hachem	800,000 800,000	800,000

Tags: Joe Hachem Najeem Azez

20 hours 44 minutes ago

Mirza Over Seven Figures

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Dan O'Hair

Level 9 : Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante

Noman Mirza already had a bet of 80,000 in front of him on a flop of 7♦9♦J♦ from the small blind and his opponent in the big blind moved all in for a few hundred thousand. Mirza called to put him at risk and hands were revealed.

Big blind: K♠J♠ All in
Noman Mirza: K♦Q♠

Mirza was behind his opponent's pair of jacks, but had plenty of outs to a flush or straight.

The A♣ turn changed nothing, but the 6♦ river completed Mirza's flush to send him a massive pot and push his stack to about 1,200,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Noman Mirza	1,200,000 530,000	530,000

Tags: Noman Mirza

21 hours 3 minutes ago

Wang Scores a Double

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Dan O'Hair

Level 9 : Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante

The player in the cutoff opened to 16,000 and it was folded to Michael Wang, who made it 56,000 to go from the small blind. Action was back on the cutoff and he moved all in, which was enough to put Wang all in for about 280,000. Wang snap-called and a showdown was held.

Michael Wang: 9♦9♠ All in
Cutoff: 4♠4♦

It was a great spot for Wang, but things quickly turned grim for him after the 4♣K♦10♣ improved his opponent to a set.

It was a short-lived mishap for Wang, however, as the 9♣ turn also improved him to a set to take a commanding lead.

The 7♣ river bricked out and Wang was awarded the double up.

Player	Chips	Progress
Michael Wang	570,000 250,000	250,000

Tags: Michael Wang

21 hours 18 minutes ago

Burns Calls Young Down Correctly

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Dan O'Hair

Level 9 : Blinds 4,000/8,000, 8,000 ante

Maxwell Young opened to 16,500 first to act and Kahle Burns defended his big blind.

Burns then proceeded to check-called bets from Young on every street. First for 15,000 on the J♦9♠4♦ flop, then for 50,000 on the 3♥ turn, and finally for 135,000 on the 5♥ river after a small tank.

Young turned over K♥10♣ for a busted gut shot draw and Burns revealed 6♥4♠ for just a pair of fours to claim the sizable pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Kahle Burns	900,000 900,000	900,000

Maxwell Young	395,000 310,000	310,000

Tags: Kahle Burns Maxwell Young

Level: 9

Blinds: 4,000/8,000

Ante: 8,000

21 hours 40 minutes ago

Final Break

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Dan O'Hair

Level 8 : Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

Players have been sent on their last 15-minute break of the day.

Day 1 will conclude after two more levels.

22 hours 3 minutes ago

Bansal Folds to Byrne's Pressure

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Dan O'Hair

Level 8 : Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

Jaxon Byrne opened to 12,000 first to act and was called by the player in the cutoff and Paawan Bansal in the big blind for a three-way pot.

Action checked through on the 7♦6♦4♠ flop, but Bansal led out for 12,000 after the 5♠ brought four cards to a straight on the turn. Byrne called and the cutoff got out of the way.

Bansal sized down for a bet of 6,000 after the A♣ filled out the board and Byrne responded with a raise to 110,000 — sending Bansal deep into the tank.

Bansal tossed a pile of his time banks into the middle and burned up a few of them before ultimately deciding to lay his hand down. Byrne re-checked his hole cards collected the pot without showing.

Player	Chips	Progress
Paawan Bansal	470,000 30,000	30,000
Jaxon Byrne	330,000 140,000	140,000

Tags: Jaxon Byrne Paawan Bansal

22 hours 21 minutes ago

Recent Counts From the Field

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Dan O'Hair

Level 8 : Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Van Marcus	820,000 515,000	515,000
Itsuki Aburatani	775,000 775,000	775,000
Travis Endersby	750,000 450,000	450,000
Maxwell Young	705,000 100,000	100,000
Najeem Ajez	560,000 560,000	560,000
Nickolas Oiberman	555,000 555,000	555,000
Johan Schumacher	510,000 10,000	10,000
Joseph Sandaev	500,000 85,000	85,000
Ke Xu	400,000
Robert Damelian	350,000 35,000	35,000
Masato Yokosawa	290,000 60,000	60,000

Darragh Curtin	290,000 55,000	55,000
Tristan Wade	285,000 50,000	50,000

Michael Gathy	275,000 275,000	275,000

Joseph Antar	235,000 230,000	230,000
Bernardo Crespo	205,000 205,000	205,000
Ehsan Amiri	170,000 205,000	205,000
Connor Walters	120,000 60,000	60,000

22 hours 36 minutes ago

Add PokerNews to Your Mobile Home Screen

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Dan O'Hair

Level 8 : Blinds 3,000/6,000, 6,000 ante

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Level: 8

Blinds: 3,000/6,000

Ante: 6,000