Alex Thompson Wins WPT Australia 2026 Championship for AUD 450,900

Alex Thompson entered the final day of the WPT Australia Championship Event with the chip lead and left The Star Sydney with the biggest title of WPT Australia 2026 .

The Australian defeated Filip Radic heads-up to win the AUD 5,000 Championship Event, collecting the AUD 450,900 (~$325,539) top prize.

The tournament attracted 527 entries to create a AUD 2,424,200 prize pool, with 66 players reaching the money.

The result was comfortably the biggest cash of Thompson’s career. At the time of writing, Hendon Mob listed Thompson with $100,391 in recorded live earnings and a previous best cash of $20,147. His WPT Australia 2026 payday alone was more than three times that recorded total and more than 16 times his previous biggest result.

#24 Championship Event (5,000 AUD)

Total Prize USD

$1,750,215

Total Prize

2.4M AUD

Entries

527

ITM

66

#	Payout	Player	SPI
1	A$450,900 $325,539	AT Alex Thompson Australia
2	A$290,000 $209,373	FR Filip Radic Australia
3	A$214,000 $154,503	PB Pranav Bhatt Australia
4	A$159,000 $114,794	JS Jack Sweet Australia
5	A$119,000 $85,915	TH Tingjia Huang Australia
6	A$89,000 $64,256	RH Ryan Henry New Zealand
7	A$68,000 $49,094	JW Jun Wang Australia
8	A$53,500 $38,626	MZ Michael Zhang Australia
9	A$46,000 $33,211	JM Joshua McSwiney Australia

Check the 66 Payouts & Results ...

Alex Thompson: “I Can’t Really Comprehend How Massive It Is”

Thompson had already spent plenty of time thinking about what might happen before the final six returned to decide the title.

The Championship’s structure meant the field had taken its time getting from nine players down to six on the previous day, giving Thompson an unusual opportunity to consider just how significant the result could become.

“I had quite a while to let it sink in on what might be,” Thompson told Somuchpoker after the victory.

“I still can’t really comprehend how massive it is, for sure.”

One of the hands that put Thompson in position to eventually lift the trophy came before the final day.

During Day 3, Thompson found himself in a huge race with ace-king against the pocket queens of Itsuki Aburatani. The flop missed Thompson, but a king on the turn swung the pot his way and helped send him clear at the top of the counts.

Thompson may have appeared calm on the outside, but things were slightly different internally.

“At the table I try and keep my emotions kind of the same and not really worry about the runouts, but definitely there were some internal fistbumps.”

Thompson Starts WPT Australia Final Day in Front

Thompson returned for the six-handed final day with 8,615,000, ahead of Radic with 6,610,000 and Pranav Bhatt with 4,315,000.

Jack Sweet was next with 3,510,000, while Tingjia Huang and Ryan Henry rounded out the final six as the short-stacks.

Henry was the first to fall after surviving a couple of early all-ins and briefly threatening a comeback. Radic eventually stopped the recovery, with his king-ten defeating Henry’s queen-four to send the New Zealander out in sixth for AUD 89,000 (~$64,256).

Sweet then landed a significant blow on the chip leader. Sweet four-bet shoved with king-ten and Thompson called with pocket nines, only for a king on the flop to move Sweet ahead and secure the double.

Thompson quickly regained control.

Huang had already doubled through him once, but Thompson came back for those chips and considerably more in one of the largest pots of the final day.

Thompson made a queen-high straight and fired three streets, with Huang eventually paying off a large river bet with a pair of tens. The pot sent Thompson up to around 12 million and left Huang with only less than a big blind.

Thompson finished the job shortly afterwards, eliminating Huang in fifth for AUD 119,000 (~$85,915).

Thompson Turns Up the Pressure

Bhatt repeatedly found ways to keep his tournament alive.

He tripled from a short stack, won a flip against Thompson and later doubled through Radic to work his way back into contention.

Sweet was unable to produce the same escape.

He moved all-in from the small blind with ace-four, only for Thompson to find pocket nines in the big blind. The pair held to send Sweet out in fourth place for AUD 159,000 (~$114,794), giving Thompson more than half the chips in play.

The chip leader then put Bhatt in one of the toughest spots of the final table.

Thompson raised from the small blind with ace-seven and Bhatt three-bet from the big blind with ace-queen. Thompson responded by moving all-in, putting Bhatt to the test for the rest of his stack.

Bhatt eventually folded the better hand and Thompson extended his advantage.

The eventual champion admitted his path through the final table had been helped by favorable card distribution.

“I didn’t have many super difficult decisions to make on the FT,” Thompson said.

“I was sun running, essentially.”

Bhatt’s resistance finally ended in third place.

Thompson shoved from the small blind with five-four and Bhatt called from the big blind with ace-queen. Thompson paired his four on the flop and Bhatt failed to improve, sending him to the rail for AUD 214,000 (~$154,503).

Thompson went into heads-up play with around 22 million chips against Radic’s four million.

Jack-Ten Seals the WPT Australia Championship Event for Thompson

Radic won the first postflop pot of heads-up play, but Thompson quickly hit the gas again.

The chip leader picked up several pots and extracted more value from Radic, gradually pushing his opponent back down to around a dozen big blinds.

Radic eventually made his stand.

He moved all-in from the button for 3,000,000 with six-five suited and Thompson called from the big blind with jack-ten, giving him his first chance to bring the Championship Event to an end.

Thompson was ahead with jack-high, but Radic picked up an open-ended straight draw on the flop to give himself plenty of ways to continue the battle.

The turn offered no help.

One card remained between Thompson and the biggest victory of his career.

The river also missed Radic, bringing the tournament to an end and sending the rail into celebration as Thompson was confirmed as the WPT Australia 2026 Championship Event winner.

Radic earned AUD 290,000 (~$209,373) for his runner-up finish.

Thompson had started the final day with the chip lead, survived the few setbacks that came his way and then steadily tightened his grip on the tournament until every chip was in front of him.

After the final hand, Thompson was quick to acknowledge the people who had supported him throughout the run.

“I guess my friends behind you, my girlfriend as well, for coming to see me,” he told Somuchpoker.

“I should have said that first, probably. And the Kings Room as well. Shout out to them.”

Even after the celebrations began, Thompson was still trying to process the scale of what he had achieved.

“I still can’t really comprehend how massive it is, for sure.”

His name now belongs to the biggest title awarded during three weeks of tournament poker at The Star Sydney, with the victory also delivering by far the largest cash of his career.

All images are courtesy of The Star Sydney

Follow Us