Following an open raise to 1,000 by Keith Danker Gois, five players behind all called. The J♥8♠4♠ flop saw Danker Gois bet 2,000, Adrian DiGirolamo called and Leo Boxell then called all-in for 1,300 while everyone else got out of the way.
The Q♠ turn was checked to the 8♦ river on which Danker Gois bet 6,000, DiGirolamo folded.
Danker Gois revealed A♠K♠ for the ace-high flush and Boxell's J♦9♦ were no good.
Denzel Barkho cold four-bet to 14,000 and his opponent reluctantly folded, exclaiming he "had a strong hand" because he "three-bet against an early position raise". Barkho flashed the 4♥ before collecting the pot.
The same player teased Barkho into calling a raise to 800 which ended up in four-way action to check around a A♠8♣3♣ flop. On the 7♥ turn, Barkho check-raised from 2,000 to 8,500 and Frank Tripodi was the only caller.
Barkho then fired a bet of 22,000 and his opponent tank-called to reveal the A♥8♦ for aces and eights to win a very healthy pot.
Barkho opened to 1,500 soon after and was called by Keith Danker Gois in the cutoff and Adrian DiGirolamo in the small blind. The Q♠J♦3♠ flop was checked to Barkho who bet 3,500 and was called twiced. They checked the 6♠ turn to the 8♥ river on which DiGirolamo pushed all-in for 18,200.
Both opponents folded and DiGirolamo flashed the 5♦2♦ for a bluff with five-high.
Shirley Tang raised to 600 and picked up two callers including Luke Ewards. Riff Mustafa then three-bet to 3,600 and Tang clicked it back to 9,000. It folded back to Mustafa who called.
On the 9♥7♥6♣ flop, Tang bet 6,000 to receive a call and the same action repeated on the 6♥ turn for 13,000. Tang then jammed the 5♥ river when the straight flush board emerged. Mustafa called for 31,500 with A♥K♣ for the ace-high flush and caught Tang on a move with the J♣J♦.
She was all-in shortly after to pick up two callers. On the K♥8♦7♠ flop, Halil Bozdugan check-called a bet of 2,000 by Luke Edwards and then led the 9♣ turn for 2,000, Edwards called. Bozdugan check-called 2,000 on the K♣ river and Tang's 5♦4♦ were exposed briefly.
Edwards won the side and main pot with K♠J♠ for trips kings, as the 8♣2♣ of Bozdugan were no good either.
When sitting down, Bruno Portaro had jokingly predicted that Dean Blatt would take all of his chips and that indeed became true towards the end of the first level. According to Portaro, he got it in with a pair and flush draw only to run into Blatt's flopped set.
"Gamble on the first bullet, but not on the second," Portaro concluded and will be back later today.
The second player to bow out was Anthony Ronalds in a clash with Bobby Oparaocha. On the 10♥6♦3♥ flop, Oparaocha made it 9,000 to go to get called by Ronalds and did so again for 18,000 on the 10♣ turn.
The 4♥ river completed a possible flush and Oparaocha bet 10,000. Ronalds sighed and used two time banks before he eventually jammed for around 27,000. Oparaocha quickly called to get shown Q♠Q♥, which he had beat with the A♥K♥.
Ronalds left the table with a "nice hand".
It should not take long for a milestone to be reached today at the 2026 Victorian Poker Championship, as the fourth and final flight of the $2,500 Victorian Champs Main Event begins at 12:10 p.m. local time.
With more than 400 entries already registered this week at Crown Melbourne, the tournament prize pool is expected to surpass A$1,000,000 early on Day 1d. This marks the last chance to play the opening 12 levels and earn a bag for Day 2, where late registration will remain open through the end of Level 13.
The top three on the leaderboard thus far have all set the pace after their opening flights, with Samuel Cheng (420,500) the latest to claim the overall lead after topping Day 1c. That was the largest flight of the week with 188 entries, and that total will certainly be challenged today.
Sitting close behind is Day 1b leader Wadih Barbara (414,500), while Tom McMahon (392,000) led the opening flight and rounds out the top three.
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Samuel Cheng | Australia | 420,500 | 105 |
| 2 | Wadih Barbara | Australia | 414,500 | 104 |
| 3 | Tom McMahon | Australia | 392,000 | 98 |
| 4 | Chin Chan | Australia | 384,500 | 96 |
| 5 | Yixian Wang | Australia | 384,500 | 96 |
| 6 | Farhad Mohajerani | Australia | 373,000 | 93 |
| 7 | Mario Doria | Australia | 365,000 | 91 |
| 8 | Hongbo Ju | Australia | 354,000 | 89 |
| 9 | Jeapeng Kang | Australia | 342,500 | 86 |
| 10 | Shouzheng Hu | Australia | 323,000 | 81 |
Among the notable names already into Day 2 is Mario Doria (365,000), who bagged up a healthy stack to sit inside the top ten overall. Doria was joined on Day 1c by 2005 WSOP Main Event champion Joe Hachem (63,500), along with his son Anthony Hachem (145,000).
Other familiar faces to survive their opening flights include Michael Tomeny (232,000), Higor Seibel (245,000), Van Marcus (127,000), Matthew Wakeman (253,000), Chris Kokkinos (186,500), Amin Riyazati (115,500) and Randy Lew (168,500).
The last flight of the week will follow the same structure as completed ones, with players sitting down to starting stacks of 60,000 chips. The schedule calls for 12 levels to be played, each lasting 40 minutes with breaks after every two hours of play.
Blinds will begin at 100/200 with a 200 big blind ante, and time clocks will once again be in play from the start. All players will receive four time bank cards upon registration, worth an additional 30 seconds each.
All players that find a bag will then join the 151 survivors from the opening three flights, and the field will combine on Sunday, October 25 to resume the battle towards the money bubble.
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No subscriptions, no paywalls, just the hands, chip counts, and bustouts that matter most. It’s simple: log in, search for any player in our live coverage, hit the star, and they’ll be added to your personalized MyPlayers list. You’ll see their progress across all live-reported events, with chip counts and updates pinned right where you need them at the top.
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| Date | Day | Time |
|---|---|---|
| October 24 | 1d | 12:10 p.m. |
| October 25 | 2 | 12:30 p.m. |
| October 26 | 3 | 12:30 p.m. |
| October 27 | 4 | 12:30 p.m. |
Don't miss any of the action from inside the Crown poker room, as the PokerNews team continues to provide full coverage as the last flight of the $2,500 Victorian Champs Main Event begins.
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