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$2,500 Victorian Champs Main Event
Day 3 Completed
2026 Victorian Poker Championship
$2,500 Victorian Champs Main Event
Day: 3
Players Left 9 / 715
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Final Table
Level 28
: Blinds 60,000/120,000, 120,000 ante
The penultimate day of the 2026 Victorian Poker Championship series started with fireworks, as action was fast and furious for the 43 returning contenders in the $2,500 Victorian Champs Main Event. It finished with the final nine players standing, looking to finish the week with a trophy at Crown Melbourne.
The tournament drew a total of 715 entries, generating an impressive prize pool of AUD 1,573,000. That left the field battling for the top prize of AUD 350,000, while a spot at the final table was worth AUD 30,500.
After three days of play, the top position on the leaderboard belongs to Hun Wei Lee (9,955,000) who scored a series of knockouts to bag up almost a quarter of the chips in play. Sitting in second spot is Bobby Zhang (8,455,000), who scored the last knockout of the night to bag up 70 big blinds for the final day.
Headlining the remaining field is Joe Hachem (2,735,000), sitting in seventh position as the 2005 WSOP Main Event champion looks to add another title in his home country. Hachem caught a big double early in the day, vaulting him up the counts where he was able to remain for the rest of the day.
Final Table Seat Draw
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jyrki Hilakari | Australia | 1,435,000 | 12 |
| 2 | Bobby Zhang | Australia | 8,455,000 | 70 |
| 3 | Hun Wei Lee | Australia | 9,955,000 | 83 |
| 4 | Ben Richardson | Australia | 4,545,000 | 38 |
| 5 | Michael Tomeny | United States | 4,010,000 | 33 |
| 6 | Nektarios Dimitrakis | Australia | 4,130,000 | 34 |
| 7 | Joe Hachem | Australia | 2,735,000 | 23 |
| 8 | Zac Miravet | Australia | 2,430,000 | 20 |
| 9 | Higor Seibel | Brazil | 5,125,000 | 43 |
Day 3 Action
The first two hours of play saw plenty of big pots and eliminations, as 12 players hit the rail before the first break of the day. The final hand of the level saw Ruben Padilla flop quads to take out Andrew Kyriakou. That gave Padilla one of the bigger stacks in the room, but he was unable to build any more momentum and finished in 20th place.
It then took a little more than two further levels to reach the final two tables, before action slowed as the pay jumps began to grow. Start of day chip leader Higor Seibel (5,125,000) remained near the top of the leaderboard, but was caught by Lee after a double knockout on Level 25.
Shortly after, Anthony Hachem hit the rail in 14th position, unable to hold on the river against Lee.
The last hand of the night saw Naz Sibaei flop a set after moving all in, but Zhang made a flush to burst the final table bubble.
Players will return at 2:00 p.m. local time, when cards go back in the air with 20 minutes left in Level 28. Blinds will continue at 60,000/120,000 with a 120,000 big blind ante, and levels will remain 60 minutes in duration with breaks after every two hours of play.
Three additional time bank cards will be handed out at the start, and all of the action will be broadcast on the Crown Resorts YouTube channel on a 30-minute delay.
The first elimination of the day will trigger a $7,500 pay jump, with the top three finishers earning six-figure scores.
Final Table Payouts
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | $350,000 |
| 2 | $210,000 |
| 3 | $135,000 |
| 4 | $90,000 |
| 5 | $72,500 |
| 6 | $58,000 |
| 7 | $47,500 |
| 8 | $38,000 |
| 9 | $30,500 |
Just one day remains at Crown Melbourne, so be sure to follow along as the PokerNews team will continue to provide full coverage until the final hand is dealt.
Level 28
: Blinds 60,000/120,000, 120,000 ante
Level 28
: Blinds 60,000/120,000, 120,000 ante
The final nine players have drawn for new seats and posed for photos, and are bagging up for the night.
Stay tuned for full chip counts, and a recap of the action-packed day.
Level 28
: Blinds 60,000/120,000, 120,000 ante
Naz Sibaei opened to 300,000 on the button, and Bobby Zhang moved all in from the small blind. Sibaei made the call, and was at risk on the final table bubble.
Naz Sibaei: 9♥9♦ 
Bobby Zhang: K♣Q♣
The dealer fanned out the 8♣A♣9♣ flop, giving Sibaei a set but Zhang made a flush. the 2♠ turn and J♥ river completed the board, and Sibaei's set was not enough to avoid a tenth-place finish.
Level 28
: Blinds 60,000/120,000, 120,000 ante
The short stacks over on the other table had gotten some shoves through while Zac Miravet was the shortest stack on his table with around 20 blinds. He defended his big blind against the min-raise by Higor Seibel and checked the Q♣J♠5♦ flop, Seibel bet 190,000 and was called.
Miravet bet the 9♠ turn for 250,000 and then opted to call a raise to 750,000 by Seibel with around 1.3 million behind.
That led them to the K♣ river on which Miravet jammed and Seibel called. Miravet tabled the J♥10♠ and was lucky to chop, as Seibel had turned the straight already with his K♠10♥.
Level 28
: Blinds 60,000/120,000, 120,000 ante
For two hands in a row, Nektarios Dimitrakis raised to 400,000. He won the blinds in the first attempt and then faced the button shove by Naz Sibaei for around 2.1 million. Dimitrakis used two time banks without asking for an exact count and then folded.
Joe Hachem raised to 360,000 from the small blind next, Dimitrakis defended the big blind to the Q♠9♠2♣ flop. Hachem bet 200,000 to force out his opponent as Dimitrakis folded the 5♥5♠ face-up.
"How did I fade that one?" Hachem grinned on the table of pocket fives this evening.
Level 28
: Blinds 60,000/120,000, 120,000 ante
Hun Wei Lee opened to 260,000 from under the gun, and Vajra Castles looked at his cards in the big blind before moving his short stack all in. Lee made the call, and the hands were turned up.
Vajra Castles: Q♠10♦
Hun Wei Lee: J♣10♣
Castles was ahead until the J♠9♠6♠ flop, which gave Lee top pair. The 6♦ turn and 2♥ river changed nothing, and Castles exited in 11th position.
Level 28
: Blinds 60,000/120,000, 120,000 ante
Just before the blinds had gone up, the table with the two shortest stacks saw some action albeit without showdown. Higor Seibel raised to 200,000 and Hun Wei Lee three-bet to 750,000. It folded back to Seibel and he four-bet to 3,000,000 with few chips behind to force a fold.
Yixian Wang then raised to 800,000 from under the gun with 20,000 behind and everyone folded including Ben Richardson in the big blind. The blinds then went up and everyone folded to Richardson, who pushed all-in. Wang glanced at his cards and then snap-called for just under one million.
Yixian Wang: A♠K♦
Ben Richardson: K♥8♣
The 10♣9♣7♠ flop was a huge sweat and it got even worse for Wang on the 5♣ turn, as Richardson picked up the flush draw on top. He would hit both draws with the J♣ river to eliminate Wang in 12th place for AUD 17,500.
Level: 28
Blinds: 60,000/120,000
Ante: 120,000
