WPT Australia: Roberto Damelian Wins Outback Survivor Bounty as Prime Gets Underway

The eighth day of WPT Australia 2026 saw the AUD 1,500 WPT Prime Championship Event get underway at The Star Sydney , with 235 entries recorded in the opening flight.

Travis O’Grady finished Day 1a with the chip lead, while Adam Kharman enjoyed a successful day after finishing third in the AUD 1,200 Outback Survivor Bounty before immediately max-late registering for the Prime Championship and bagging the third-biggest stack.

Elsewhere, Roberto Damelian completed his comeback heads-up to win the Outback Survivor Bounty, while the races for Player and Team of the Festival continued to take shape.

Travis O’Grady Leads WPT Prime Championship Day 1a

The first of four opening flights in the AUD 1,500 WPT Prime Championship Event drew 235 entries, with players starting with 40,000 chips and playing through 16 40-minute levels.

By the end of the night, 32 players had secured a place in Day 2, just shy of the money, with O’Grady setting the pace after bagging 717,000.

Kenta Ito finished close behind on 674,000, while Kharman completed the top three with 601,000.

Lachlan Hoenig was the only other player to finish above the half-million mark with 550,000, while Liu Yang rounded out the top five on 482,000. David Hirst survived the day’s grind, bringing through a stack of 310,000 just outside the current top ten.

WPT Prime Championship Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts

Roberto Damelian Battles Back to Win Outback Survivor Bounty

While Day 1a of the Prime Championship played out, Damelian added another title to his resume after taking down the two-day AUD 1,200 Outback Survivor Bounty.

The two-day event attracted 148 entries, with Damelian battling back heads-up against Michael Kanaan to secure the victory, the AUD 24,975 top prize and the event’s WPT boomerang trophy.

Kanaan collected AUD 16,622 for his runner-up finish, while Kharman earned AUD 11,929 for third before making the quick turnaround into the Prime Championship.

Damelian is no stranger to success on the Australian circuit, having amassed more than USD 1.45 million in live tournament earnings across a career stretching back more than 15 years.

He didn’t quite complete the victory in time to enter Day 1a of the Prime Championship, but with three more starting flights remaining, there will be further opportunities for him to try and book a place in Day 2.

#13 Outback Survivor Bounty (1,150 AUD)

Total Prize USD

$73,732

Total Prize

103.6K AUD

Entries

148

ITM

21

#	Payout	Player	SPI
1	A$24,975 $17,775	RD Roberto Damelian Australia	964.41
2	A$16,622 $11,830	MK Michael Kanaan Australia	681.94
3	A$11,929 $8,490	AK Adam Kharman Australia	556.80
4	A$8,720 $6,206	CB Cadeyrn Barthelson Australia	482.21
5	A$6,493 $4,621	TE Travis Endersby Australia	431.30
6	A$4,928 $3,507	YL Yang Li Australia	393.72
7	A$3,812 $2,713	WT Weiming Tang Australia	364.51
8	A$3,008 $2,141	MH Minh Hai Henry Tran Australia	340.97
9	A$2,421 $1,723	CP Ciaran Paxman Australia	321.47

Check the 21 Payouts & Results ...

Player and Team of the Festival Races Taking Shape

With a third of the events completed at WPT Australia 2026 , the races for Player of the Festival and Team of the Festival are beginning to take shape.

Ailen Ji , who is listed as Yushun Ji in the standings, currently leads the Player of the Festival race with 600 points after winning the Australian Poker Cup .

Thomas Lee sits close behind on 585 points following a first and runner-up finish, while Simon Javor occupies third place on 530.

The eventual Player of the Festival will receive a trophy along with an AUD 5,000 WPT Passport, which can be put toward future WPT tournaments.

In the Team of the Festival standings, Not A Hobby holds the top spot with 1,005 points, ahead of Value-Regs on 925 and GoldBet on 340.

Not A Hobby is captained by Zac Vigar, who has contributed 405 points, with Nick Lee, Troy Sweet, Jack Sweet and Joshua Baraba completing the lineup.

The top three teams will receive AUD 7,500, AUD 4,500 and AUD 3,000 respectively, with the winning team also taking home the Team of the Festival trophy.

With 24 events still to be tallied, there remains plenty of opportunity for both standings to change over the remainder of the festival.

WPT Australia 2026 Day 9 Schedule

WPT Australia 2026 continues on Friday, September 18 with the second starting flight of the AUD 1,500 WPT Prime Championship Event .

Day 1b begins at 12:30 p.m. and follows the same structure as the opening flight. Players receive a 40,000 starting stack and are scheduled to play through 16 40-minute levels, with unlimited re-entries available until the start of Level 11.

The day’s action begins earlier at 10:30 a.m. with the AUD 500 One Shot Grind, a one-day event featuring a 25,000 starting stack and 20-minute levels.

All images are courtesy of The Star Sydney.

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