Last Updated on September 6, 2026 by Bala Kumar
The Victorian Poker Championship 2026 runs from Monday 12 October to Tuesday 27 October at the Crown Poker Room, Level 1 Casino, Southbank Melbourne. The series features 21 numbered events with buy-ins from A$500 to A$10,600, headlined by the A$2,500 Victorian Champs Main Event across four Day 1 flights from 21 to 24 October. Main Event satellites run at A$300 up to four times a day for the entire fortnight, and the Australian Poker Tour has guaranteed more than 50 Main Event seats through its own qualifying campaign. Joe Hachem and Van Marcus return as series ambassadors.
One thing to action immediately if you are travelling: Crown’s discounted VPC hotel rates must be booked by 23 September. That deadline is closer than the tournament.
In this article
- What has changed since the 2025 series?
- The full 21-event schedule
- Main Event: flights, chips and the single re-entry rule
- Why there are no published guarantees this year
- Satellites and the APT seat campaign
- The Crown Rewards requirement most overseas players miss
- Where the rake actually sits
- Which event fits your bankroll?
- Practical notes for travelling players
- FAQ
What has changed since the 2025 Victorian Poker Championship?
The series has moved distinctly upmarket, and the schedule makes that obvious the moment you read it.
In 2025, the VPC opened with a A$300 buy-in event carrying a A$100,000 guarantee. It drew 614 entries and built a A$153,500 prize pool, won by Ireland’s Eoin McLaverty. The rest of that schedule sat in a similar band: a A$550 8-Game with 61 entries, a A$400 Terminator with 189, a A$550 NLH 6-Max with 191.
For 2026, the Opening Event is a A$1,250 tournament with four starting flights. The cheapest numbered event on the entire schedule is the A$500 VPC Hyper. There is nothing under A$500 at all.
That repositioning is deliberate, and the context is the Aussie Millions. Crown brought the Aussie Millions back in April 2026 after a six-year absence, and its Opening Event drew a record 2,144 entries for an A$2.78 million prize pool. Crown has clearly concluded that Melbourne can support higher buy-ins than it was offering last year, and the VPC schedule now reflects a room confident in its own draw.
For you, that cuts both ways. The prize pools should be substantially larger than 2025. The fields will also be tougher, and the low-cost entry point that made the 2025 series accessible has gone. Satellites are now the budget route in, not the cheap events.
What is the full Victorian Poker Championship 2026 schedule?
All 21 numbered championship events, in order. Buy-ins are shown as total cost, with the prize pool contribution and admin fee split in brackets. All figures are Australian dollars.
| # | Event | Dates | Buy-in | Stack |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Opening Event NLHE (4 flights) | 12 to 17 Oct | $1,250 (1,075+175) | 40,000 |
| 2 | VPC Turbo | 12 Oct | $600 (500+100) | 30,000 |
| 3 | VPC 600 | 13 Oct | $600 (500+100) | 30,000 |
| 4 | H.O.R.S.E | 14 Oct | $1,250 (1,075+175) | 40,000 |
| 5 | Terminator NLHE ($250 KOs) | 15 Oct | $600 (250+250+100) | 30,000 |
| 6 | Pot Limit Omaha | 16 to 17 Oct | $1,250 (1,075+175) | 40,000 |
| 7 | Freezeout Blitz | 16 Oct | $600 (500+100) | 30,000 |
| 8 | Mystery Bounty (2 flights) | 17 to 19 Oct | $1,250 (775+300+175) | 40,000 |
| 9 | Limit Omaha Hi Lo | 18 Oct | $1,250 (1,075+175) | 100,000 |
| 10 | Deep Freeze NLHE | 19 to 20 Oct | $2,000 (1,750+250) | 50,000 |
| 11 | High Roller $5K Challenge | 20 to 21 Oct | $5,000 (4,550+450) | 250,000 |
| 12 | Victorian Champs Main Event | 21 to 27 Oct | $2,500 (2,200+300) | 60,000 |
| 13 | 8-Game | 21 Oct | $1,250 (1,075+175) | 40,000 |
| 14 | VPC Hyper | 22 Oct | $500 (425+75) | 20,000 |
| 15 | Super High Roller | 22 to 23 Oct | $10,600 (10,000+600) | 250,000 |
| 16 | 2-7 Triple Draw | 23 Oct | $1,250 (1,075+175) | 40,000 |
| 17 | Turbo High Roller | 24 Oct | $1,000 (875+125) | 40,000 |
| 18 | Joe Hachem Special Feature Event | 25 to 26 Oct | $2,000 (1,750+250) | 50,000 |
| 19 | Mini Main Event | 26 to 27 Oct | $1,000 (850+150) | 40,000 |
| 20 | High Roller $5K Challenge PLO | 26 to 27 Oct | $5,000 (4,550+450) | 250,000 |
| 21 | Closing Event NLHE | 27 Oct | $700 (600+100) | 30,000 |
The mixed-game coverage is the most complete of any Australian festival this year: H.O.R.S.E, 8-Game, 2-7 Triple Draw, Limit Omaha Hi Lo and two separate Pot Limit Omaha events, including a A$5,000 PLO High Roller. If you play anything other than No-Limit Hold’em, this schedule is unusually well built for you, and those fields are historically small. The 2025 8-Game drew 61 entries and the PLO Shot Clock drew 42.
Note Event 9, the Limit Omaha Hi Lo. It starts with a 100,000 chip stack, by far the deepest opening stack outside the high rollers, which is a structural quirk worth knowing before you sit down.
How does the A$2,500 Main Event work?
| Element | Detail |
|---|---|
| Buy-in | A$2,500 (A$2,200 to prize pool, A$300 fee) |
| Starting stack | 60,000 chips |
| Blind levels | 40 minutes on Day 1, 60 minutes from Day 2 |
| Day 1 flights | Four, on 21, 22, 23 and 24 October, all at 12:10pm |
| Day 2 | Sunday 25 October, 12:30pm |
| Day 3 | Monday 26 October, 12:30pm |
| Final table | Tuesday 27 October, 12:30pm |
| Re-entry | Single re-entry only |
That last row is the detail that changes how you should play, and almost nobody talks about it.
Nearly every other event on this schedule allows unlimited re-entries. The Main Event allows exactly one. That single restriction has real consequences. It caps field inflation, so the prize pool will be smaller relative to the number of unique players than an unlimited-re-entry event would produce. More importantly, it changes correct strategy: in an unlimited format, thin high-variance spots early are cheap because you can simply fire again. Here, your second bullet is your last. Marginal coinflips on Day 1 are worth more careful thought than they would be in the Opening Event.
Sixty thousand chips with 40-minute levels is a comfortable structure for the buy-in. You will not be short early, and there is no need to force anything in the first few levels.
Four flights spread across four consecutive days from Wednesday to Saturday means a weekend arrival still gives you two shots. If you can choose, Wednesday 21 October is the flight most likely to be quieter, since the field builds toward the weekend.
Why are there no published guarantees this year?
Because Crown has not published any, and it is worth being upfront about that rather than inventing numbers.
The official 2026 tournament schedule lists buy-ins, stacks, blind levels and re-entry rules for all 21 events. It does not list a single prize pool guarantee. Compare that with 2025, when the Opening Event carried a stated A$100,000 guarantee, or with European stops like the concurrent WSOP Circuit events, which lead their marketing with guarantee figures.
There is a straightforward reason. Crown is coming off a record Aussie Millions and has priced this series to attract volume on reputation rather than on underwritten prize pools. When a room is confident of its turnout, a guarantee is a cost with no marketing benefit.
Practically, this means you cannot shop this festival for overlay. There is no published floor to beat. What you can do is reason from history. The 2025 series produced roughly A$2 million in total prize pools at markedly lower buy-ins. With the Opening Event alone jumping from A$300 to A$1,250 and 21 events on the card, a substantially larger series total is the reasonable expectation, though the exact figures will only be confirmed as each event closes registration.
How do you satellite into the Main Event?
This is where the 2026 schedule is genuinely generous, and it compensates for the loss of cheap championship events.
| Satellite | Buy-in | Target | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main Event Satellite | $300 (250+50) | Main Event ($2,500) | Runs up to four times daily |
| Main Event Satellite, 10 seats guaranteed | $360 (300+60) | Main Event ($2,500) | 20 Oct, 6:10pm |
| Opening Event Satellite | $300 (250+50) | Opening Event ($1,250) | 12 to 14 Oct |
| 5K Challenge Satellite | $550 (500+50) | $5K Challenge (NLH and PLO) | 19, 20 and 25 Oct |
| Super High Roller Satellite, 1 in 10 | $1,150 (1,060+90) | Super High Roller ($10,600) | 21 Oct, 6:10pm |
| Mini Main Satellite | $240 (200+40) | Mini Main Event ($1,000) | 25 to 26 Oct |
| Format satellites | $300 (250+50) | H.O.R.S.E, PLO, 8-Game, 2-7, Omaha Hi Lo, Mystery Bounty, Deep Freeze | Various evenings |
The A$300 Main Event satellite is the engine of the whole festival. It runs at 10:10am, 2:10pm, 4:10pm, 6:10pm and 8:10pm on various days across the full sixteen days, giving roughly 8.3 to 1 leverage on the A$2,500 buy-in. Arriving three or four days before your target flight and taking multiple shots at A$300 is a materially cheaper path than buying in directly, and the schedule is clearly designed to encourage exactly that.
The one to circle is the A$360 satellite on 20 October with 10 seats guaranteed. A guaranteed seat count is a different proposition to a standard satellite: if the field falls short of ten times the buy-in, the guarantee still pays out ten seats, which is where genuine overlay lives at this festival. It is the single best value item on the schedule.
Separately, the Australian Poker Tour is the official satellite partner and has committed to guaranteeing more than 50 Main Event seats through qualifying events held in Melbourne over the months leading up to the series, with at least 30 of those awarded at its Satellite Showdown at Crowne Plaza Melbourne Carlton. If you are Melbourne-based, check the APT schedule before paying full price at Crown.
The Crown Rewards requirement
This catches out visiting players every year, so plan for it.
Every player in every VPC event must be a Crown Rewards member. It is not optional and it is not something you can do online at the table. Membership requires appropriate identification and must be arranged in person at a Crown Rewards desk at Crown Melbourne. Entry is restricted to those 18 and over.
If you are flying in for a specific flight, build in time to join before registration closes. Landing at Tullamarine on the morning of your Day 1 and expecting to sit down by 12:10pm is optimistic. Arrive the day before, join Crown Rewards, and register early.
Where does the rake actually sit?
Crown states that 100 percent of the buy-in goes to the prize pool, with the separate admin fee covering administration and staff wages, inclusive of GST. That makes the true cost easy to calculate, and the number varies more than you might expect.
| Event | Buy-in split | Fee as % of total |
|---|---|---|
| VPC Turbo / VPC 600 | $500 + $100 | 16.7% |
| Opening Event / mixed games | $1,075 + $175 | 14.0% |
| Main Event | $2,200 + $300 | 12.0% |
| $5K Challenge | $4,550 + $450 | 9.0% |
| Super High Roller | $10,000 + $600 | 5.7% |
Fee efficiency improves sharply as you climb. The A$600 events cost you nearly three times as much proportionally as the Super High Roller does. That is normal for live poker, but if you are planning to fire ten small events across a fortnight, the cumulative fee is worth budgeting for honestly rather than treating as noise.
Which event should you play?
Under A$700. The A$500 VPC Hyper on 22 October or the A$700 Closing Event on 27 October. The Hyper has 12-minute levels and a 20,000 stack, so it is fast and high-variance. The Closing Event, at 24 levels with a 30,000 stack, is the better structure of the two for the money.
A$600 to A$1,250. The A$600 Terminator on 15 October is the standout. The A$250 bounty portion means half your prize pool contribution sits on other players’ heads, which suits players who like action and gives short stacks constant value. If you play mixed games, the A$1,250 H.O.R.S.E, 8-Game or 2-7 Triple Draw offer small fields and a real title for the same money as a mid-tier Hold’em event.
A$1,250 to A$2,500. The A$1,250 Mystery Bounty (17 to 19 October) or the Main Event itself. The Mystery Bounty allocates A$300 of each entry to the bounty pool, which is a substantial 24 percent of the buy-in and makes the random draw meaningful rather than decorative.
A$5,000 and up. The A$5,000 Challenge events start you with 250,000 chips and 60-minute levels, which is the deepest structure at the festival by a wide margin. The PLO version on 26 October will likely draw the smaller field of the two.
Practical notes before you travel
- Venue: Crown Poker Room, Level 1 Casino, Crown Melbourne, Southbank. Registration is open now at the Poker Room Tournament Registration Desk.
- Book accommodation by 23 September. Crown’s exclusive VPC hotel rates cover stays from 30 September to 27 October, but the reservation window closes on 23 September. This is the most time-sensitive item on the list.
- Currency: everything is in Australian dollars. At recent rates A$2,500 is roughly US$1,650 or about €1,400, but confirm the rate and any card fees before you assume.
- Dress code: Crown requires smart casual attire and reserves the right to refuse entry to anyone considered unsuitably dressed. This is a full casino floor, not a card room.
- Join Crown Rewards before your first event, in person, with photo ID.
- Verify the schedule before you fly. Crown states plainly that the schedule is subject to change without prior notice. Check the official PDF and the structure sheet close to your travel date.
The verdict
The 2026 Victorian Poker Championship is a bigger, more expensive and more ambitious series than the one Crown ran last year, and the Aussie Millions result suggests the room can carry it. The 21-event schedule is genuinely varied, the mixed games are better catered for than anywhere else in Australia this spring, and the Main Event structure is comfortable.
The two things to weigh honestly: there are no published guarantees, so you cannot shop this festival for overlay, and the Main Event’s single re-entry rule means your bullets are finite in a way they are not elsewhere on the schedule.
If you are on a budget, the answer is not the cheap events, because there aren’t many. It is the A$300 satellite that runs several times a day for sixteen straight days, and the A$360 ten-seat guaranteed satellite on 20 October.
Frequently asked questions
When and where is the Victorian Poker Championship 2026? The series runs from Monday 12 October to Tuesday 27 October 2026 at the Crown Poker Room, Level 1 Casino, Crown Melbourne, Southbank. It features 21 numbered championship events plus a continuous satellite programme.
How much is the Victorian Poker Championship Main Event buy-in? The Main Event costs A$2,500, made up of A$2,200 to the prize pool and a A$300 administration fee. It plays four Day 1 flights on 21, 22, 23 and 24 October, each starting at 12:10pm with 60,000 chips and 40-minute levels, followed by Day 2 on 25 October, Day 3 on 26 October and the final table on 27 October.
Can you re-enter the Victorian Poker Championship Main Event? Only once. The Main Event permits a single re-entry, unlike most other events on the schedule, which allow unlimited re-entries. The Deep Freeze NLHE and Freezeout Blitz are pure freezeouts with no re-entry at all.
What is the cheapest way to enter the VPC Main Event? Main Event satellites cost A$300 and run up to four times daily throughout the festival, giving roughly 8.3 to 1 leverage. A A$360 satellite on 20 October at 6:10pm guarantees 10 seats, which offers the clearest value on the schedule. The Australian Poker Tour has also guaranteed more than 50 Main Event seats through its own qualifying campaign in Melbourne.
How many events are in the Victorian Poker Championship 2026? There are 21 numbered championship events with buy-ins ranging from A$500 for the VPC Hyper to A$10,600 for the Super High Roller, supported by a large satellite programme starting at A$240.
Do I need a membership to play at Crown Melbourne? Yes. All players must be Crown Rewards members. Membership is free but must be arranged in person at a Crown Rewards desk at Crown Melbourne with appropriate photo identification. Players must be 18 or over and not prohibited from entering the Crown Entertainment Complex.
Are there mixed games at the Victorian Poker Championship 2026? Yes, more than at any other Australian festival this year. The schedule includes H.O.R.S.E on 14 October, Limit Omaha Hi Lo on 18 October, 8-Game on 21 October, 2-7 Triple Draw on 23 October, and two Pot Limit Omaha events including a A$5,000 PLO High Roller on 26 and 27 October.
Are prize pools guaranteed at the Victorian Poker Championship 2026? No guarantees have been published for any of the 21 events. Crown’s official schedule lists buy-ins, chip stacks and structures but no minimum prize pools. For context, the 2025 series produced roughly A$2 million in total prize pools at significantly lower buy-ins, and the Aussie Millions Opening Event at the same venue in April 2026 drew a record 2,144 entries for an A$2.78 million pool.
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