Kahle Burns opended from early position and it was folded to Rehman Kassam, who shoved for his last 1,325,000 from the big blind. Burns verified the amount and then called to put Kassam at risk.
Rehman Kassam: A♦J♠
Kahle Burns: A♣4♣
Kassam had Burns dominated, but the 10♣Q♣8♠ flop gave Kassam a sweat after giving Burns a flush draw.
The 7♦Q♠ runout bricked out, however, and Kassam was awarded the double up.
Ehsan Amiri moved all in for his last 2,275,000 first to act and it was folded around to Luke Martinelli, who snap-called in the big blind to put Amiri at risk.
Ehsan Amiri: 9♦9♥
Luke Martinelli: A♦A♥
It was unfortunate timing from Amiri, who had run into the preflop nuts. Things looked grim for Amiri on the K♥10♦J♦ flop, but the 9♣ turn vaulted Amiri into the lead with a set of nines.
The 6♥ river changed nothing and Amiri was awarded his second double up of Day 3;
Ron Bean moved all in on the button for about 400,000 and was called by Michael Tomeny in the small blind and Billy Argyros in the big blind.
Both players checked down on the J♠K♣3♠10♦6♥ runout. Tomeny tabled 5♠5♦, Argyros revealed K♥7♣ for a pair of kings, and Bean turned over Q♠9♣ for a straight to be awarded the triple up.
Action folded around to Ehsan Amiri, who shoved for his last 875,000 from the small blind. Ron Bean tanked a bit in the big blind and then announced, "Call" to put Amiri at risk.
Ehsan Amiri: K♣9♥
Ron Bean: J♣10♣
Amiri held a slight lead with his king and remained ahead on the 7♠5♦2♣ flop. The 4♣ turn improved Bean's outs after giving him a flush draw, which got tablemate Billy Argyros to say, "It's never easy."
The 9♠ river left Amiri best with a pair of nines, however, and he was awarded the double up.
"I'm here for a good time, not a long time!" Clifford Lee said as he tossed his last 350,000 first to act. Action then folded around to Romain Morvan, who called in the big blind to put Lee at risk.
Clifford Lee: A♥K♥
Romain Morvan: A♣9♠
The 6♦9♣3♠ flop left Lee drawing slim after pairing Morvan's nine, and the J♣ turn left him one card from elimination. However, the K♠ river spiked Lee's king on the end to award him a dramatic double up.
On the very next hand, action folded around to Morvan in the small blind and he raised enough to put Lee all in. Lee called and another showdown was held.
Clifford Lee: K♦J♦
Romain Morvan: 8♥4♠
It was a chance for Lee to get back to a workable stack, but the K♥6♥5♥10♥8♦ runout improved Morvan to a flush to send Lee out as the first casualty of Day 3.
Welcome back for the third and final day of the $5,000 No Limit Hold'em Challenge here at the Aussie Millions Poker Championship 2026 Presented by CrownBet. What began with 464 entrants has been whittled down to just 26 hopefuls chasing Aussie Millions glory. They will return at 12:30 p.m. local time and play down until just one person is left holding all the chips.
Leading the charge is Aussie Luke Martinelli, who bagged an enourmous stack worth 14,200,000 last night — more than 30 big blinds more than his next closest competitor, Corey Kempson, who ended a distant second with 9,125,000.
Nathan Ong rounded out the podium spots with 7,900,000, but sitting just below him in the fourth spot is 2020 Aussie Millions Main Event ChampionVincent Wan with 7,725,000. In addition to being the last person to win the Aussie Millions Main Event, Wan also won an $1,100 No Limit Hold'em event in the 2008 edition of the iconic series after besting a 527-entry field and besting now retired poker phenom Mike McDonald heads up for $142,302 AUD — his second largest score to date.
Start of Day 3 Top Ten Chip Counts
Place
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Luke Martinelli
Australia
14,200,000
95
2
Corey Kempson
Australia
9,125,000
61
3
Nathan Ong
Australia
7,900,000
53
4
Vincent Wan
Hong Kong
7,725,000
52
5
Xiaosheng Zheng
China
7,175,000
48
6
Kahle Burns
Australia
6,325,000
42
7
Thijs Hilberts
Netherlands
5,875,000
39
8
Joseph Antar
Australia
5,825,000
39
9
Jian Ting Cai
China
5,675,000
38
10
Billy Argyros
Australia
4,925,000
33
Other notables still in the hunts include Kahle Burns (6,325,000), Billy "The Croc" Argyros (4,925,000), Michael Gathy (3,500,000), Joe Hachem (1,875,000), and Jennifer Cassell, who is the last woman remaining in the event and will bring 2,475,000 to work with.
Jennifer Cassell
Everyone remaining has already secured a payout of at least $13,445 AUD. However, a cool $482,405 AUD awaits the eventual champion. Here's a look at the remaining payouts:
Remaining Payouts
Place
Payout
Place
Payout (AUD)
1
$482,405
10–11
$ 32,015
2
$290,280
12–13
$ 26,680
3
$188,895
14–15
$ 23,050
4
$141,725
16–17
$ 19,850
5
$108,955
18–20
$ 17,715
6
$87,510
21–23
$ 15,580
7
$72,570
24–26
$ 13,445
8
$57,630
9
$43,755
As aforementioned, action is set to get underway at 12:30 p.m. local time. Play will resume on Level 22, which features 75,000/150,000 blinds with a 150,000 big blind ante. Levels will remain 60 minutes each and a full redraw will occur once the field reaches the final two tables and again at the final table.
Live stream footage of the event can be found on the Crown Resorts YouTube page here on a 30-minute delay.
With a commanding chip leader, plenty of notables, and nearly half a million awaiting the last player standing, the final day of the $5,000 No Limit Hold'em Challenge is primed for a memorable finish. Be sure to keep it with PokerNews for all the latest until a champion is crowned.
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