Eight Years of Grinding Paid Off: Malcolm Trayner Takes the 2026 Aussie Millions Main Event Crown

The Aussie Millions Poker Championship 2026 has its first champion in six years. Australia’s Malcolm Trayner outlasted a field of 770 entries in the AUD 10,600 Aussie Millions Main Event to claim the title and AUD 1,382,198, the result of a three-way deal struck at the final table. Dean Blatt finished as runner-up for AUD 1,000,072, with Dejan Boskovic rounding out the podium at AUD 921,030.

A Long Time Coming

The victory lands at a milestone moment for Australian poker . The Aussie Millions returned in 2026 after a six-year hiatus, and it did so in style: 770 entries in the Main Event made it the fifth-largest field in the tournament’s history. Trayner, who was grinding AUD 300 buy-in tournaments in Sydney the last time the festival ran, has come a long way.

“I’ve dedicated my life to poker the last eight years,” Trayner said. “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. I can’t express how much it means to me to win the most prestigious tournament in Australia.”

Final Table Results

* Denotes three-way ICM deal

How the Final Table Played Out

The final table opened cautiously, with players content to trade small pots for the first hour. Short stack Patrick Barba was the first to force action, shoving ace-jack into Sheldon Mayer’s queen-six and surviving after pairing his ace. Meanwhile, Dean Blatt steadied his stack with two timely double ups: first winning a race against Dejan Boskovic, then flopping a set of kings against Ricky Vikas’ ace-king.

Trayner imposed himself with quiet efficiency, accumulating chips through well-timed aggression to build a commanding stack. The first elimination came when Kanaan Youkhanna moved in with ace-jack and ran into Boskovic’s pocket nines, losing the coin flip to bust in seventh.

Vikas’ tournament took a rollercoaster turn: he paid off multiple streets holding top pair against Boskovic’s turned set, only to claw back with a runner-runner flush holding eight-seven suited against Blatt’s flopped trip tens. Barba’s run ended soon after, his last chips gone in a three-way showdown with just king-high.

Vikas bowed out in fifth after moving all in over a Trayner raise with jack-ten suited, only for Blatt to wake up with ace-jack suited in the big blind and four-bet jam. Trayner folded and Vikas could not improve.

Mayer exited in fourth in a hand that showcased Trayner at his best. Mayer opened the button with queen-jack and Trayner called with five-four. Both players paired the flop, but Trayner turned trips and called Mayer’s turn bet before shoving the river — Mayer paid off top pair and was eliminated.

The Deal

With three players remaining, the table paused to discuss an ICM arrangement. Trayner held a commanding lead with 26,025,000 chips against Blatt (11,325,000) and Boskovic (8,850,000). The original payouts stood at AU 1,667,050 for first, AUD 1,001,000 for second, and AUD 635,250 for third. An ICM deal was struck, with Blatt and Boskovic each transferring $25,000 to Trayner on top of the calculated figures. All three agreed to play on for the trophy, ring, and champion’s title.

Heads-Up Drama

Boskovic’s exit came quickly once play resumed: he moved in with king-jack suited and ran into Trayner’s king-queen, the kicker holding to bring the tournament to heads-up.

Trayner entered the duel with a near 4:1 chip advantage, but Blatt had other ideas. He chipped back into contention by making a flush on one hand and then inducing a Trayner bluff into a full house on another. The momentum swung decisively when Blatt got all in with ace-ten against Trayner’s ace-jack, and spiked a ten on the turn to take the lead.

“I thought I was going to lose heads up,” Trayner admitted. “It was such a rollercoaster ride.”

Trayner steadied himself and retook the lead with two back-to-back doubles: ace-king over Blatt’s ace-six, then ace-five winning a flip against pocket threes. Two hands later it was done. Blatt opened ace-ten and Trayner moved all in with pocket sevens. Blatt called off, the board ran clean, and Trayner was champion.

“Unbelievable,” was how he summed it up.

Quotes, data and images courtesy of PokerNews.