After the first level of the day, the room is filling up fast and the field has grown to 75 total entries.
It's expected to be another massive turnout, with late registration open until the start of Level 12.
Level: 2
Blinds: 1,000/1,500
Ante: 1,500
`Action folded to Ron Bean on the button and he raised to 2,500. It then folded Darragh Curtin in the big blind, who three-bet to 15,000. Bean made the call.
After the flop came 4♥3♠8♦ Bean called a bet of 22,000 from Curtin.
The turn brought the 6♥ and Curtin fired out a bet again, this time for 55,000. Bean gave it quick thought before mucking his hand to give the pot to Curtin.
The 22 early entries are in their seats, and action is officially underway for the $5,000 Challenge at the Aussie Millions Poker Championship 2026 Present by CrownBet.
Level: 1
Blinds: 500/1,000
Ante: 1,000
The Aussie Millions Poker Championship 2026 Presented by CrownBet is in full swing at Crown Melbourne, and today sees the start of Event #8: the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Challenge.
Day 1 gets underway at 12:10 p.m. on Friday, May 1, 2026, with players scheduled to play 10 levels before bagging up for Day 2, which resumes at the same time on Saturday, May 2. The tournament features a 250,000 starting stack and 60-minute levels, along with a 30-second shot clock to keep play moving.
The $5,000 buy-in includes $4,600 toward the prize pool, and late registration is open until the start of Level 12 on Day 2. Play begins at 500/1,000 with a big blind ante, and the event will run eight-handed until the final table, where it switches to nine-handed. Time banks are distributed throughout play.
| Level | Small Blind | Big Blind | BB Ante |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 500 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| 2 | 1,000 | 1,500 | 1,500 |
| 3 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 |
| 4 | 1,500 | 2,500 | 2,500 |
| 5 | 1,500 | 3,000 | 3,000 |
| 6 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 4,000 |
| 7 | 2,500 | 5,000 | 5,000 |
| 8 | 3,000 | 6,000 | 6,000 |
| 9 | 4,000 | 8,000 | 8,000 |
| 10 | 5,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 |
Be sure to follow PokerNews for live updates and coverage of this event, and the entire 2026 Aussie Millions.
$5,000 Challenge
Day 1 Started
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