The Best Australian Poker Players of All Time

Ask a poker fan to name the best Australian poker players and you’ll get very different answers depending on their age. Fans who started watching in the 2000s will say Joe Hachem, the Melbourne chiropractor who won the 2005 WSOP Main Event and put Australian poker on the map. Online regulars will name Michael Addamo or Kahle Burns, two of the most feared players in high roller tournaments. And anyone who followed 2026 will mention Malcolm Trayner, who won the revived Aussie Millions and then led the WSOP Main Event with 21 players left.

They’re all right. “Best” depends on whether you count money, titles, impact on the game, or how tough the competition was. In this guide, we rank the top Aussie poker pros using the latest live earnings data and explain why each one belongs on the list.

Quick answer: By live tournament earnings, the best Australian poker player of all time is Michael Addamo ($24.48 million), ahead of Kahle Burns ($14.73 million) and Joe Hachem ($13.08 million). By influence, Hachem’s 2005 WSOP Main Event win is still the most important moment in Australian poker history. Jeff Lisandro holds the Australian record for WSOP bracelets, with six.

Australia’s All-Time Money List: Top 10 (November 2026)

Rank	Player	Live earnings (USD)	Known for
1	Michael Addamo	$24,480,458	4 WSOP bracelets, 2021 Super High Roller Bowl
2	Kahle Burns	$14,730,108	2 WSOPE bracelets in one week, high roller regular
3	Joe Hachem	$13,083,051	2005 WSOP Main Event champion
4	Adrian Attenborough	$7,495,729	High roller results
5	Daniel Neilson	$7,224,518	High roller and online results
6	Jeff Rossiter	$6,650,069	Steady international results
7	Jeff Lisandro	$5,817,553	6 WSOP bracelets, Australian record
8	James Obst	$5,525,397	WSOP and online titles
9	Alexander Lynskey	$5,347,405	High roller final tables
10	Jonathan Karamalikis	$4,822,644	Australian circuit and international cashes

Source: The Hendon Mob Australia All-Time Money List. The database tracks more than 25,000 Australian players with recorded live cashes. Figures cover live tournaments only, not cash games or online, and change after every new result.

A quick note on reading money lists: they show total winnings, not profit. They don’t subtract buy-ins, and high roller players pay $25,000 to $300,000 per tournament. A player with $5 million in earnings from smaller events may have made more profit than someone with $10 million from high rollers. Use the list as a measure of success at the top level, not as a bank balance.

The 8 Best Australian Poker Players, Ranked

1. Michael Addamo: The Best Australian Poker Player Right Now

Live earnings: $24.48 million · WSOP bracelets: 4

Addamo is the clear number one on Australia’s money list, more than $9.7 million ahead of second place. He was a strong chess player as a teenager and studied to become an actuary before moving to poker. That analytical background shows in his game.

His 2021 season is one of the best runs any player has ever had. In a few weeks, he won back-to-back Poker Masters events, then took the $300,000 Super High Roller Bowl for $3,402,000. He finished the year with two WSOP bracelets: the 50,000HighRoller(1,132,968) and the 100,000SuperHighRoller(1,958,569). He had already won his first two bracelets in 2018, in the $2,620 Marathon and a €25,500 Super High Roller at WSOP Europe.

Why he’s #1: he wins against the toughest fields in poker. Super high roller tournaments are full of the best players in the world, and Addamo beats them regularly.

2. Kahle Burns: Two Bracelets in One Week

Live earnings: $14.73 million · WSOP bracelets: 2

Burns grew up in Geelong and came up through Melbourne’s cash games. He’s known for an aggressive, fearless style that works in almost any format. His most famous week came at WSOP Europe 2019 in Rozvadov, where he won the €25,500 Platinum High Roller and the €2,500 Short Deck event within days of each other.

He’s still active. At the revived 2026 Aussie Millions, he finished fourth in the A5,000ChallengeforA141,725.

Practical insight: Burns shows how much it helps to be able to play several formats. He has won in no-limit hold’em, short deck and high rollers. Players who only know one game have fewer chances to win.

3. Joe Hachem: The Man Who Started the Aussie Poker Boom

Live earnings: $13.08 million · Big win: 2005 WSOP Main Event ($7.5 million)

No Australian has had a bigger impact on the game than Hachem. In 2005 he became the first Australian to win the WSOP Main Event, beating more than 5,600 players for $7.5 million. At the time it was the biggest field in poker history. His win, celebrated with his famous “Aussie Aussie Aussie!” chant, inspired a generation of Australians to start playing.

He joined the Australian Poker Hall of Fame in 2009, and he’s still competing two decades later. In October 2026, he reached heads-up in the Victorian Poker Championship Main Event at Crown Melbourne before losing to Andy Lee.

Why he ranks third, not first: Addamo and Burns have more money from tougher fields. But if this list were about importance, Hachem would be first.

4. Jeff Lisandro: Australia’s Bracelet King

Live earnings: $5.82 million · WSOP bracelets: 6

Lisandro holds the Australian record with six WSOP bracelets. That puts him level with names like Daniel Negreanu and Erik Seidel on the WSOP bracelet list. Most of his titles came in seven-card stud games, which take a different set of skills from the hold’em that dominates today.

Practical insight: Lisandro’s record shows the value of mixed games. Stud and other non-hold’em events usually have much smaller fields, so a strong specialist has a better chance of winning a bracelet.

5. Malcolm Trayner: The Breakout Star of 2026

Live earnings: about $3.2–3.8 million (varies by database) · WSOP bracelets: 1

Trayner isn’t in the all-time top 10 yet, but nobody in Australian poker had a better 2026. His rise started at the 2024 WSOP, when he won the $1,000 Mystery Millions in his very first WSOP event, beating 18,409 entries for $1 million. That was the 34th WSOP bracelet won by an Australian.

In May 2026, the Aussie Millions returned to Crown Melbourne after a six-year break, and Trayner won the Main Event from a 770-entry field for A$1,382,198. Two months later, he was chip leader with 21 players left in the WSOP Main Event and was trying to become the first player to win both titles in the same year. He finished 10th for $750,000, one place short of the final table.

Why he matters: eight years ago, Trayner was playing $300 tournaments in Sydney. His story shows that Australia’s local tournament scene can still produce world-class players.

6. Adrian Attenborough and Daniel Neilson: The High Roller Generation

Live earnings: $7.50 million and $7.22 million

Attenborough and Neilson are fourth and fifth on the money list. They represent the wave of Australians who learned the game online and then moved into high roller tournaments around the world. Neither has Hachem’s fame, but both have earned more than $7 million competing in some of the toughest fields in poker.

7. James Obst: Online Grinder Turned Live Winner

Live earnings: $5.53 million

Obst is one of the best examples of an Australian player who built his game through online volume. His live results put him in Australia’s all-time top 10. He’s one of the main reasons Australia has a good reputation in online poker.

8. Jackie Glazier: Australia’s Most Successful Woman in Poker

WSOP earnings: about $900,000 · Big win: 2013 WSOP Europe Ladies Championship

Glazier is one of the top Australians on the WSOP all-time money list and the most successful Australian woman at the World Series. She won the first WSOP Europe Ladies Championship bracelet in 2013. That event didn’t return until 2026, when the WSOPE Ladies Championship came back in Prague.

Comparison: Who Is the “Best”? It Depends How You Measure It

Measure	Leader	Number
Most live earnings	Michael Addamo	$24.48M
Most WSOP bracelets	Jeff Lisandro	6
Biggest single win	Joe Hachem	$7.5M (2005 WSOP Main Event)
Best 2026 season	Malcolm Trayner	Aussie Millions title + 10th in WSOP Main Event
Biggest influence	Joe Hachem	Started the Australian poker boom
Most formats won	Kahle Burns	NLH, short deck, high rollers

Australian Poker in 2026: Where Things Stand

2026 has been one of Australian poker’s best years in a long time:

• The Aussie Millions came back. After six years away, the series returned to Crown Melbourne in May. The Main Event drew 770 entries, and the A5,000Challengealoneattracted464entries,wonbySydneyproJosephAntarforA482,405.
• Australians went deep at the WSOP. Trayner’s 10th place in a 9,208-entry Main Event was one of the best Australian runs since Hachem’s win.
• Next year’s dates are set. The Aussie Millions is confirmed for April 8–24, 2027 at Crown Melbourne, so 2027 should produce new names for this list.

For players outside Australia: Australian pros often play the Asia-Pacific circuit as well as Las Vegas and Europe. If you’re playing in Asia or Oceania, you’ll probably run into some of these names at tournaments in Melbourne, Sydney, Macau or Jeju.

What You Can Learn From Australia’s Best

1. Analytical study pays off. Addamo came from chess and actuarial study. The best modern players treat poker like a problem to solve, not just a game of instincts.
2. Learn more than one game. Lisandro’s six bracelets and Burns’ short deck title both show that mixed games and less popular formats are easier places to win a title.
3. Your local scene can take you a long way. Trayner went from $300 Sydney tournaments to a WSOP Main Event chip lead in eight years.
4. One big win can change everything. Hachem’s single tournament win in 2005 changed his life and Australian poker. Stay in tournaments you can afford, because one deep run can change a career.

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