WPT Australia 2026 Weekend Recap: Michael Zhang Leads Final 46 Into Championship Day 3

WPT Australia 2026 entered its final weekend at The Star Sydney with the AUD 5,000 WPT Championship Event taking center stage as the field was cut down to just 46 players.

Michael Zhang will return for Day 3 with the chip lead after bagging 2,252,000, with Alex Thompson his closest challenger on 2,048,000.

The weekend also saw three more trophies handed out, with Majid Saab winning the Second Shot Turbo, Louis Yin taking down the Extreme PLO and Peter Skouteris coming out on top in the Prime Time Turbo.

Meanwhile, the AUD 2,000 Mini-Championship got underway on Sunday and will play to a winner on Monday as the festival enters its final three days.

Michael Zhang Leads Final 46 Into WPT Championship Day 3

The WPT Championship Event is firmly into its business end after a busy Sunday saw the field reduced to just 46 players from the 527 total entries that created an AUD 2,424,200 prize pool.

Zhang emerged with the overnight chip lead after finishing Day 2 with 2,252,000. Thompson is the only other player above the two-million mark with 2,048,000.

There is then a sizeable gap back to Jack Sweet on 1,233,000, while former WPT Prime Champion Joshua Mcswiney finished with 1,177,000 and Filip Radic rounds out the top five on 1,115,000.

Shakti Chauhan, who began Day 2 as the overall chip leader, remains firmly in contention with 990,000. Amir Farazmand follows with 962,000, while Marco Perri, Gening Dai and Jun Wang complete the top ten.

WPT Championship Day 3 Top Ten Chip Counts

There are plenty of other familiar names still chasing the title. Recently crowned WPT Prime champion Cooper Feltham returns with 440,000, while runner-up Ling Liu is also still alive with 393,000. Ehsan Amiri bagged 375,000, Hannah Lee has 347,000 and Hunter Cichy will return with 166,000.

Crazy Three-Way All-In Bursts the Bubble

The money bubble produced one of the sickest hands of Day 2 after just a few hands of hand-for-hand play.

With blinds at 5k/10k, Thompson opened to 20,000 from early position before Wei Zhu jammed for 129,000 from the cutoff. Jinyu Wang went deep into the tank in the big blind before moving all-in over the top for 182,000, with Thompson instantly calling and covering both players.

Wang was in great shape with pocket kings against the ace-king of Thompson and the ace-queen of Zhu. Wang remained ahead on the low flop, while Zhu was left needing running cards to survive.

The turn suddenly opened the door for both Zhu and Thompson as each picked up a wheel draw, before the river completed the backdoor straight for both players.

Wang was sent out on the bubble in brutal fashion, going from one card away from a huge triple-up to leaving empty-handed as the remaining 66 players were guaranteed at least AUD 10,500 (US$7,581).

Among the other notable players to fall short of the money were defending champion Alan Pham , WPT High Roller winner Adam Kharman , Kenta Ito, Australian Poker Cup runner-up Ross Coveney and Zheming Zhu .

By the end of the night, another 20 players had been eliminated, meaning all 46 returning for Day 3 have now secured at least AUD 12,400 (US$8,953).

The eventual champion will receive AUD 450,900 (US$325,539), with AUD 290,000 awaiting the runner-up and AUD 214,000 for third.

WPT Championship Top Ten Payouts

Day 3 begins at the earlier start time of 11:30 a.m. on Monday, September 28, with play resuming in Level 19 at blinds of 10,000/15,000 with a 15,000 big blind ante.

Levels increase to 90 minutes from Day 3, with five levels currently scheduled as the field moves closer to the final table.

Majid Saab Wins Second Shot Turbo

Saturday’s side-event action began with Majid Saab taking down Event #27: AUD 500 Second Shot Turbo.

Saab defeated Kevin Khun heads-up to collect AUD 8,850, with Khun receiving AUD 8,000 for second place.

Matthew Rolfe completed the podium in third for AUD 4,570, while Justin Huang and Vincent Choy rounded out the top five.

Louis Yin Takes Down Extreme PLO

Louis Yin came out on top in Event #28: AUD 1,100 Extreme PLO, which attracted 120 entries.

Yin collected AUD 21,143 for the victory after defeating Andrew Yuen heads-up, with Yuen earning AUD 14,097 as runner-up.

Amin Riyazati finished third for AUD 9,398, followed by Jamal Ishac in fourth and Huayi Zheng in fifth.

Peter Skouteris Wins Prime Time Turbo

Peter Skouteris became the third trophy winner of Saturday after taking down Event #29: AUD 1,100 Prime Time Turbo.

The tournament drew 120 entries, with Skouteris collecting AUD 20,838 after defeating Mitchell Cody heads-up.

Cody received AUD 13,892 for second, while Kenta Ito continued his strong WPT Australia festival by finishing third for AUD 9,262, just one day after winning the Deadset Freezeout.

Gening Dai finished fourth for AUD 6,436, while Gongli Li took sixth for AUD 3,546.

WPT Australia Enters Its Final Three Days

The action continues on Monday with the WPT Championship firmly in the spotlight as the final 46 players return for Day 3 at 11:30 a.m.

The AUD 2,000 Mini-Championship, which began on Sunday afternoon, will also crown a winner when its Final Day gets underway at 12:30 p.m.

Monday’s schedule begins with Event #31: AUD 600 Wave Rider at 10:30 a.m., while Event #32: AUD 1,250 Down Under Dominator starts at 2:30 p.m.

Stay tuned to Somuchpoker throughout the day as we bring you live updates, key hands, eliminations and chip counts from the WPT Championship floor.

Follow the WPT Australia 2026 festival page for the latest schedules, results and coverage from The Star Sydney.

All images are courtesy of The Star Sydney

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