Aussie Millions 2026: Series Recap and Results

Originally from the Lake District, UK, I’ve spent the last few years living and breathing the Southeast Asian poker circuit. Since 2025, I’ve been a fixture on the floor at the APT, PokerStars, and WSOP events, serving as a lead reporter and media specialist for Somuchpoker. My work is about more than just recording action; I manage the social media and digital content that brings action rail to the fans. By combining a business education and creative background, I aim to look past the technical hand histories to capture the actual human grit and drama that happens during a deep run.

Updated: 2026.05.28

The Aussie Millions Poker Championship 2026 is well and truly in the books, and the return of Australian poker’s biggest festival more than lived up to the hype. Held at Crown Melbourne from April 24 to May 10, the series drew 5,668 entries across 18 events and generated a total prize pool of AUD 13,820,670 — dwarfing the AUD 1,000,000 series guarantee and confirming that the six-year wait had done nothing to dampen the appetite for one of Asia-Pacific’s most storied festivals.

Trayner Takes the Title

The headline result belonged to Malcolm Trayner , who outlasted a 770-entry field in the AUD 10,600 Main Event to claim the championship and AUD 1,382,198 after a three-way ICM deal at the final table. Runner-up Dean Blatt collected AUD 1,000,072, with Dejan Boskovic earning AUD 921,030 in third.

“I’ve dedicated my life to poker the last eight years. People often see the wins, but they don’t see the grind and they don’t see the losing months. Winning something like this just means an unbelievable amount to me.”

The 770-entry field was the fifth-largest in Main Event history, and for Trayner — an Australian grinder who was playing AUD 300 buy-in events in Sydney the last time the festival ran — it was a career-defining result.

Series Champions

The Main Event was the centrepiece, but titles were claimed across the schedule throughout the two-week run. The Opening Event set the tone early, drawing a record-breaking 2,144 entries — the largest field in the event’s history — with Joshua Duce taking home AUD 438,400 from a prize pool that nearly tripled its AUD 1,000,000 guarantee.

Event	Winner	Country	Prize (AUD)
Main Event (AUD 10,600)	Malcolm Trayner	Australia	$1,382,198*
$25K Challenge (AUD 25,000)	Andy Lee	Australia	$652,670
$5K Challenge (AUD 5,000)	Joseph Antar	Australia	$482,405
Opening Event (AUD 1,500)	Joshua Duce	Australia	$438,400
$5K Six-Max (AUD 5,000)	Gautam Dhingra	Australia	$341,635
No Limit Hold’em (AUD 2,500)	Diego Ponce	Mexico	$179,665
Mystery Bounty (AUD 1,500)	Gening Dai	Australia	$174,495
Pot Limit Omaha (AUD 1,500)	Christopher Puyat	Australia	$113,395
NLH / PLO (AUD 1,500)	Lorenz Schollhorn	Switzerland	$59,290
8-Game (AUD 2,500)	Elizabeth Thomson	Australia	$55,280
Hyper Turbo NLH (AUD 1,500)	Joshua Cram	Australia	$46,640
H.O.R.S.E. (AUD 2,500)	Sascha Manns	Malta	$43,200
Teams Event (AUD 4,000)	Tsugunari Toma	Japan	$28,675

* Denotes three-way ICM deal

A Triumphant Return for the Aussie Millions

The numbers told the story. The Aussie Millions came back after six years away and immediately reasserted itself as one of the premier stops on the Asia Pacific calendar. Record fields, busted guarantees, and a homegrown Main Event champion — it was about as good a comeback as anyone could have scripted.

All images and figures credited to PokerNews and Crown Melbourne.

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