Ross Coveney Leads Australian Poker Cup Final Nine at WPT Australia 2026

WPT Australia 2026 continued at The Star Sydney on Sunday, September 13, with Day 2 of the AUD 1,150 Australian Poker Cup playing down to its final nine.

Ross Coveney emerged with the chip lead heading into the final day, while Soonhyeong Kwon claimed the latest trophy of the festival in the AUD 575 20/20/20 – One Day Event. Elsewhere, the AUD 1,300 Aussie Monster Stack got underway, with 46 players progressing to the final day.

Ross Coveney Leads Australian Poker Cup Final Table

After three starting flights attracted 441 entries, just nine players remain in the AUD 1,150 Australian Poker Cup , with a share of the AUD 441,000 prize pool still up for grabs.

Ireland ‘s Coveney will return with a commanding chip lead after bagging 5,660,000, more than 20 big blinds clear of his nearest rival.

Sam Pantos sits second with 4,365,000, while David Hirst  rounds out the podium positions with 2,615,000.

Matthew Maks returns with 2,505,000, while Yoad Agmon is the only other player above the 30-big-blind mark with 1,835,000.

Australian Poker Cup Final Table Chip Counts

Australian Poker Cup Day 2 Action

Of the 98 players who returned for Day 2, only 56 would make the money, leaving plenty of pressure on the field as the bubble approached.

The unfortunate player to fall just short was Todor Kondevski, who found himself all in for just 35,000 holding pocket jacks against Pantos’ pocket sixes. Kondevski remained ahead through the flop and turn, leaving Pantos needing one of just two remaining sixes on the river to send the field into the money.

One of those two outs arrived, sending a mixture of groans and celebrations around the tournament area as Kondevski became the bubble boy and the remaining 56 players locked up at least AUD 2,000.

From there, Pantos continued to build. He later eliminated Liang Wang with pocket aces to move beyond the one-million mark, before picking off Maks with third pair when ten players remained.

Coveney also began to pull away from the field during the latter stages. One of his biggest pots came against Matthew Jones in 11th place, with Coveney’s pocket jacks already ahead of Jones’ pocket eights before improving to quads on the river.

That pot helped Coveney secure the chip lead heading into the final table, while several familiar names fell short during the run-in. Ken Demlakian finished 19th, Tolly Sakellariou 22nd and Ian Logan 23rd, while Robert Cobain departed in 12th after losing a flip against Tolomeo.

All nine finalists have locked up at least AUD 8,700, while the eventual champion will take home AUD 83,740, the AUD 1,150 Australian Poker Cup trophy and an AUD 1,500 WPT Prime Championship seat.

Soonhyeong Kwon Wins WPT Australia 20/20/20 Event

Another WPT Australia 2026 trophy was awarded on Sunday as Kwon took down the AUD 575 20/20/20 – One Day Event.

Kwon topped a 52-entry field to collect AUD 8,501 from the AUD 26,000 prize pool, with the top eight players making the money.

Kwon defeated Timo Hettinger heads-up for the title, with Hettinger collecting AUD 5,668, while Fei Gu finished third for AUD 3,779.

#5 20/20/20 - One Day Event (575 AUD)

Total Prize USD

$18,770

Total Prize

26K AUD

Entries

52

ITM

8

#	Payout	Player	SPI
1	A$8,501 $6,138	SK Soonhyeong Kwon Australia	513.44
2	A$5,668 $4,092	TH Timo Hettinger Germany	363.06
3	A$3,779 $2,728	FG Fei Gu Australia	296.43
4	A$2,623 $1,894	TS Tanishq Singal Australia	256.72
5	A$1,900 $1,372	ZZ Zheming Zhu Australia	229.62
6	A$1,439 $1,039	NE Nicholas Eykamp Australia	209.61
7	A$1,141 $824	LM Luo Ming Liu Australia	194.06
8	A$949 $685	ZW Zheqi Wang Australia	181.53

Yuanfei Chen Leads Aussie Monster Stack Final Day

Day 1 of the AUD 1,300 Aussie Monster Stack also got underway on Sunday, attracting 180 entries before the field was reduced to 46 players for the final day, with a prize pool of AUD 196,500 being created.

Yuanfei Chen leads the remaining field after bagging 295,000, narrowly ahead of Li Dong on 293,000.

Nicholas Bovey sits third with 216,000, followed closely by Ludwin Castillo on 215,000, Abanob Attia on 205,000 and Theodore Dharmasaputra on 204,000.

The top 24 players will make the money, with a min-cash worth AUD 2,257. The eventual champion will collect AUD 46,196 along with an AUD 1,500 WPT Prime Championship seat, while second place is worth AUD 30,683 and third AUD 22,463.

WPT Australia 2026 Day 5 Schedule

The AUD 1,150 Australian Poker Cup final table headlines Monday’s action at The Star Sydney , with the final nine returning to play down to a champion. The action resumes in Level 26 at blinds of 30,000/60,000 with a 60,000 big blind ante, with levels increasing every 45 minutes.

The final table will also be livestreamed on a delay via Twitch and Facebook, giving viewers around the world the chance to follow the action as the first major event of WPT Australia 2026 crowns its champion.

The AUD 1,300 Aussie Monster Stack also plays down to a winner from 12:30 p.m., with 46 players returning in pursuit of the AUD 46,196 top prize.

The day’s schedule gets underway at 11:30 a.m. with the AUD 400 The Morning Event, before the AUD 1,150 Sydney PLO Open begins at 2:30 p.m.

Somuchpoker will once again be on the tournament floor throughout the day, providing live coverage of the AUD 1,150 Australian Poker Cup final table as a champion is crowned.

All pictures are courtesy of The Star Sydney.

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