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$2,500 Victorian Champs Main Event
Day 2 Completed
2026 Victorian Poker Championship
$2,500 Victorian Champs Main Event
Day: 2
Players Left 43 / 715
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Chip Counts
Chip Counts
Level 20
: Blinds 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante
The crown jewel of the 2026 Victorian Poker Championship is one step closer to crowning a winner at Crown Melbourne and two tournament days remain to play down to a winner in the flagship AUD 2,500 Victorian Poker Champs Main Event. Out of a field of 715 entries, only 43 players remain and they have all locked up a portion of the AUD 1,573,000 prize pool already.
Leading the way is a well-known name from the Australian poker community even though he originally hails from Brazil. Higor Seibel bagged up nearly 100 big blinds for Day 3 and claimed 2,250,000 to his name to narrowly beat Bobby Zhang (2,232,000) for the top spot with Jyrki Hilakari (1,933,000) taking the final spot on the overnight podium. Among the big stacks is also Australian PLO specialist Hun Wei "Andy" Lee with 1,449,000.
Top Ten Chip Counts After Day 2
| 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 |
When it comes to poker players from Australia, perhaps none is better known Down Under than the 2005 WSOP Main Event champion Joe Hachem who had a very fruitful day at the tables and bagged up a healthy 964,000 in chips. He will be joined on Day 3 by his son Anthony Hachem, who claimed an even larger tally of 1,131,000.
Other notables with decent stacks include 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). Berdugo was responsible for bursting the money bubble when his ace-ten flopped two pair and Wei Han turned an inferior two pair with the nut flush draw to brick the river, ensuring a min-cash of AUD 4,500 to all remaining 89 players still in contention by then.
Notables to bow out before the money without anything to show for included Sam Higgs, Amin Riyazati, Sean Ragozzini, Luke Martinelli, Celina Lin and Randy Lew, Billy "The Croco" Argyros, and Dennis Huntly to name all but a few notables.
The rise of Zhang on the leaderboard certainly received a major boost when he won a massive three-way all-in to knock out Jiapeng Yang and Jai Painter. The latter had limped by accident and flopped a set in multi-way action only for Zhang in the small blind show the goods with the flopped nut straight.
On the same table, Paris Sitzoukis was flipped to the rail before the money by Vajra Castles whereas Chris Kokkinos saw a roller coaster runout with nines end when Hachem's pocket tens turned the superior full house.
Just before the money bubble, Foster and Idris Hassan played the biggest pot of the tournament until then in which Foster's jacks flopped a set to crack pocket aces. Hassan went from one of the chip leaders to fumes and scraped into the money. Dean Blatt was not as fortunate and ran with queens into aces to miss a cash price by two spots thereafter.
Once the bubble had burst, the action certainly didn't slow down. Hilakari jammed with ace-queen suited and William Lim was poised for a double with ace-king only to get punished by the broadway straight on the flop. Adrian Di Girolamo saw his pocket aces cracked by the pocket queens of Michael Tomeny when four spades appeared on the board.
American expat and local poker room co-owner Joshua Abady staged a major comeback that was sparked by him cracking pocket kings, but Lady Luck had the last laugh when she returned the beat to Abady in the last level of the night. In the last half an hour, the frantic action reduced the field to the final five tables with the big stacks getting richer.
All remaining 43 players have locked up a cash price of AUD 6,000 and they will aim to bag up chips one more time to reach the live-streamed final table. Day 3 is set to continue at 12.30 p.m. local time with level 21, which features blinds of 12,000-24,000 and a big blind ante of 24,000. The levels will remain 60 minutes long and it is expected to wrap up once the final table has been reached.
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 |
Stay tuned right here on PokerNews for continued coverage of the 2026 Victorian Poker Championship until the end of the festival on Wednesday, October 27.
Level 20
: Blinds 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante
Level 20
: Blinds 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante
The remaining 43 players have bagged up their chips and will return tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. local time to play down to the final table. Full chip counts and a recap of today's action are to follow.
Level 20
: Blinds 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante
Yifan Yao moved all in for 244,000, and Ruben Padilla made the call.
Yifan Yao: K♥9♥ 
Ruben Padilla: 10♣10♥
Yao found help on the 3♣K♦6♦ flop, with the board pairing on the 3♥ turn. Yao was set to survive before the 10♠ river gave Padulla a set of tens, sending Yao to the rail before the bags came out.
Level 20
: Blinds 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante
Milan Stojkovic was all-in and at risk during the final hands of the night and needed to dodge an ace or broadway shenanigans to double off Perry Jeffs for around 25 big blinds.
Milan Stojkovic: K♠K♦
Perry Jeffs: A♣Q♠
The K♥8♠6♥3♠2♥ board gave Stojkovic top set for the double.
In the final hand, he then was involved in a single-raised pot to the Q♠J♠7♣ flop which he three-bet against Wadih Barbara, who called. Stojkovic checked the A♠ turn and then folded his Q♥J♦ for flopped two pair when facing a bet of 400,000.
Barbara flashed the K♠ without revealing the other card.
Level 20
: Blinds 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante
The tournament clock has been paused, and three more hands are due to be dealt before play ends for the night.
Level 20
: Blinds 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante
Bobby Zhang flopped a set of tens to send Stephen Cole to the rail and the next eliminations kept on coming.
Manoj Thapa bet the 7♣4♣3♥2♠8♣ river for almost half of his stack and Jyrki Hilakari then moved all-in. Thapa tank-called with the A♠A♥ and was shown the A♣10♣ for the rivered ace-high flush to lave Thapa flabbergasted.
George Giannulidis and Jarred Graham were then knocked out in the same hand by Perry Jeffs to bring the field down to the last 44 players. According to Jeffs, Giannulidis had jammed pocket fives and Graham had ace-queen suited.
Jeffs' J♣J♦ was ahead but fell behind to Graham on the Q♦10♦9♣ flop. The 8♥ turn gave Jeffs the straight and the 10♣ river secured the double elimination.
Level 20
: Blinds 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante
Level 20
: Blinds 10,000/20,000, 20,000 ante
The hand played itself with all of the chips going in preflop between Jarred Graham and Edward Hatzakortzian with the latter as the player at risk for 702,000.
Edward Hatzakortzian: A♥A♦
Jarred Graham: K♠K♦
Following the A♠5♠3♥ flop, Graham needed running cards to avoid a major setback. There was a chance of a chop or even knockout with the 4♠ turn, but the 4♦ river paired the board to award a full double to Hatzakortzian.
