button in SafariWho Will Reach the Final Table of the 2026 Victorian Poker Champs Main Event?
Two days remain to determine a winner in the pinnacle event of the 2026 Victorian Poker Championship here at Crown Melbourne and the flagship AUD 2,500 Victorian Poker Champs Main Event is down to the final 43 players out of a field of 715 entries. All have their eyes set on large slices of the AUD 1,573,000 prize pool and have locked up AUD 6,000 so far.
Originally hailing from Brazil, Higor Seibel has been more or less adopted by the Aussie poker community and he returns as the chip leader with nearly 100 big blinds to his name, leading the way on a stack of 2,250,000 to his narrowly ahead of Bobby Zhang (2,232,000) whereas Jyrki Hilakari (1,933,000) occupies the final spot on the podium. Among the top ten players heading into Day 3 is also Australian veteran and PLO specialist Hun Wei "Andy" Lee with 1,449,000.
Top Ten Chip Counts for Day 3
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Higor Seibel | Brazil | 2,250,000 | 94 |
| 2 | Bobby Zhang | Australia | 2,232,000 | 93 |
| 3 | Jyrki Hilakari | Australia | 1,933,000 | 81 |
| 4 | Naz Sibaei | Australia | 1,890,000 | 79 |
| 5 | Wadih Barbara | Australia | 1,760,000 | 73 |
| 6 | Michael Tomeny | United States | 1,753,000 | 73 |
| 7 | Thomas Pearce | Australia | 1,643,000 | 68 |
| 8 | Martin Pound | Australia | 1,610,000 | 67 |
| 9 | Zac Miravet | Australia | 1,531,000 | 64 |
| 10 | Hun Wei Lee | Australia | 1,449,000 | 60 |
Many eyes will be however on the progress of beloved 2005 WSOP Main Event champion Joe Hachem who sits in the middle of the pack with a very healthy 964,000 in chips. Among the Day 3 contenders is also his son Anthony Hachem who returns with 1,131,000.
Further notables in the field include the likes of Dylan Foster (1,273,000), Jeison Berdugo (1,100,000), Mario Doria (792,000), the 2017 Aussie Millions champion Shurane Vijayaram (691,000), and Ben Richardson (438,000).
The action is set to resume at 12.30 p.m. local time and the action continues with levels of 60 minutes each and restarts with level 21, which features blinds of 12,000-24,000 and a big blind ante of 24,000. Day 3 is scheduled to play down to the nine-handed final table for the grand finale, which is also set to live stream until a winner has been crowned.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $350,000 | 10-11 | $23,000 |
| 2 | $210,000 | 12-13 | $17,500 |
| 3 | $135,000 | 14-15 | $14,000 |
| 4 | $90,000 | 16-17 | $11,500 |
| 5 | $72,500 | 18-20 | $10,000 |
| 6 | $58,000 | 21-23 | $9,000 |
| 7 | $47,500 | 24-26 | $8,000 |
| 8 | $38,000 | 27-35 | $7,000 |
| 9 | $30,500 | 36-43 | $6,000 |
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Follow all of the exclusive live updates of the 2026 Victorian Poker Championship right here on PokerNews until the end of the festival on Wednesday, October 27.