Aussie Millions Ambassador Van Marcus Finds a Big Stack in Mystery Bounty Day 1A
Day 1A of the A$1,500 Mystery Bounty at the Aussie Millions Poker Championship 2026 Presented by CrownBetvdrew 360 entries, with 55 players successfully navigating 15 levels of play to bag chips for Day 2.
The opening flight generated A$324,000 for the regular prize pool along with A$144,000 set aside for the mystery bounty pool, setting the tone for what looks set to be another strong turnout at Crown Melbourne.
Maximilian Sarafin finished atop the counts after building a stack of 721,000, narrowly ahead of Paul Altis (701,000) and Robert Damelian (568,000).
Aussie Millions ambassador Van Marcus also found a bag, finishing ninth overall with 441,000, keeping himself firmly in the hunt heading into Day 2.
All surviving players will return on Thursday, April 30, where action resumes with blinds at 5,000/10,000 with a 10,000 big blind ante.
Day 2 will also mark the start of PokerNews live reporting coverage at the 2026 Aussie Millions, with mystery bounty envelopes coming into play once the money is reached.
Attention now shifts to Day 1B, which kicks off at 12:10 p.m. on Wednesday, April 29.
The second starting flight will again feature 40-minute levels, with late registration remaining open until the start of Level 10.