Poker Crown Tournament

Last Updated on July 2, 2026 by Bala Kumar

A quick note before diving in: the Poker Crown Tournament is PokerClubGames’ own editorial franchise, our dedicated coverage hub for the biggest tournament series held at Crown Melbourne poker,  anchored around the historic Aussie Millions 2026 return and updated as the venue’s calendar develops going forward. It’s not a tournament organized by a single operator, but a complete, living reference: full results, full schedule, full history, and what’s coming next at the Southern Hemisphere’s most iconic poker room. With that framing clear, let’s get into everything that happened, and everything still to come.

Why This Series Matters

After a six-year blackout caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and a prolonged regulatory review at Crown Melbourne, including an AU$450 million fine tied to anti-money laundering failings uncovered by the Bergin Inquiry, the Aussie Millions 2026 finally returned to the felt from April 24 to May 10, 2026. It didn’t just return quietly; it blew past its own projections. Crown’s staff had planned for around 550 entries in the flagship Main Event. The final count hit 770, the fifth-largest field in the tournament’s history, and total prize pools across the 18-event series ended up exceeding AU$22.5 million against an original AU$14 million guarantee. Those impressive Aussie Millions Main Event results reinforced why Crown Melbourne poker remains one of the world’s premier destinations for major live tournament poker.

Series Rating

Category	Rating
Prestige & Popularity	★★★★★
Prize Pool Value	★★★★☆
Competition Level	★★★★☆
Accessibility (Buy-in / Entry)	★★★☆☆

Accessibility Rating: 3/5 — Buy-ins across the schedule ranged from AU$1,500 to AU$25,000, with the Main Event set at AU$10,600. That’s a serious commitment for a casual bankroll, but a genuine satellite pathway (starting from just AU$85) and a record 2,144-entry Opening Event prove the series still welcomes recreational players who want to build up rather than buy straight in.

Series Overview

Details	Information
Anchor Event	Aussie Millions Poker Championship, presented by CrownBet
Location	Crown Melbourne, 8 Whiteman St, Southbank VIC 3006, Australia
2026 Dates	Friday, April 24 – Sunday, May 10, 2026 (17 days)
Return After	6-year hiatus (last held January 2020)
Total Events (2026)	18 tournaments
Buy-in Range	AU$1,500 to AU$25,000
Main Event Buy-in	AU$10,600 — No-Limit Texas Hold’em
Main Event Field (2026)	770 entries — 5th-largest in series history
Total Prize Pools (2026)	Advertised at AU$14 million; final total confirmed by Crown Melbourne at over AU$22.5 million
Official Sponsors	Presented by CrownBet; Pepperstone as Official Trading Partner
Ambassadors	Australian legend and 2005 WSOP Main Event champion Joe Hachem, alongside international ambassador and multiple WSOP bracelet winner Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi
Official Live Reporting Partner	PokerNews
Next Edition	Confirmed to return in 2027 (exact dates not yet announced)

Where It’s Held: Crown Melbourne

Crown Melbourne sits on the Southbank of the Yarra River and is the largest integrated resort in the Southern Hemisphere. Its poker room has been the spiritual home of Australian tournament poker since the series debuted in July 1998, and it’s built for scale:

Venue Details	Information
Poker Room Size	50+ permanent tables, expanding significantly during major festivals
Operating Hours	24/7, with limited exceptions on select public holidays
Everyday Cash Games	Range from $2/$5 “social” stakes up to high-stakes VIP tables
On-Site Hotels	Crown Towers, Crown Metropol, Crown Promenade — full “stay-and-play” packages available
Signature Dining	Nobu, Bistro Guillaume, and other award-winning restaurants
Entry Requirements	Minimum age 18; valid passport or photo ID required; Crown Rewards membership card needed for tournament registration
Registration	In-person only, at the poker room registration desk, Level 1, Crown Melbourne

A Brief History of the Series

Year	Milestone
1997	Poker formally introduced at Crown Casino, Melbourne
1998	First championship held — the Crown Australian Poker Championship, a $1,000 buy-in Limit Hold’em event with 74 entries and a $74,000 prize pool
2001	Series rebranded as the “Aussie Millions,” moving to a January calendar slot for the next two decades
2003	Peter Costa wins the first Main Event to feature a seven-figure prize pool; field reaches 122 entries and AU$1.2 million
2004	Tony Bloom, the noted sports-betting strategist, wins the Main Event
2006	The AU$100,000 No-Limit Hold’em Challenge launches — at the time billed as the highest buy-in in poker tournament history
2007	Gus Hansen wins the Main Event over a then-record 747-player field; documents every hand for his book Every Hand Revealed
2009	Record 780-player field generates a AU$7.8 million prize pool; the series introduces a AU$1 million-minimum Cash Game, one of the largest of its kind ever staged
2009–2011	Three consecutive years with a AU$2 million Main Event top prize — won by Stewart Scott, Tyron Krost, and David Gorr
Early 2010s	Phil Ivey dominates the AU$250,000 Challenge, winning three titles in five years
2019	Main Event sets an all-time attendance record with 822 entries and AU$8.22 million in prize money
2020	Vincent “Wonky” Wan wins the Main Event weeks before the global pandemic halts live poker worldwide
2020–2025	Series suspended — first by COVID-19, then by a prolonged Crown Melbourne regulatory and licensing review following the Bergin Inquiry
2026	Series returns after a six-year hiatus; Malcolm Trayner wins the revival Main Event
2027	Confirmed return, officially announced by Crown Melbourne

Buy-In & Entry Tiers (2026 Schedule)

Category	Details
Entry-level	AU$1,500 — Opening Event, Mystery Bounty, Hyper Turbo, NLHE/PLO Mix, Pot-Limit Omaha, Shot Clock Terminator, Closing Event
Mid-level	AU$2,500–$4,000 — H.O.R.S.E., 8-Game, Deep Freeze, No-Limit Hold’em, Teams event
Championship-level	AU$5,000–$10,600 — Six-Max, Challenge, Pot-Limit Omaha, the Main Event
High Rollers	AU$25,000 — the series’ top buy-in tier
Satellite Pathway	Milestone Phase 1 (AU$85) → Phase 2 (AU$280) → Phase 3 (AU$1,150) → Main Event seat
Alternative Satellites	Nightly Midnight Mega Satellite (AU$250); Rebuy Satellite (AU$240 entry + AU$100 rebuy)

Full 18-Event Schedule & Winners (2026)

#	Event	Buy-In	Winner
1	Opening Event, NLHE	AU$1,500	Joshua Duce — AU$438,400 (2,144 entries, record field)
2	H.O.R.S.E.	AU$2,500	Sasha Manns
3	Six-Max NLHE	AU$5,000	Gautam Dhingra
4	Mystery Bounty NLHE	AU$1,500	Gening Dai — AU$170,000+
5	Hyper Turbo NLHE	AU$1,500	Joshua Cram
6	NLHE/PLO Mix	AU$1,500	Lorenz Schollhorn
7	No-Limit Hold’em	AU$2,500	Diego Ponce — AU$179,665
8	Challenge	AU$5,000	Joe Antar
9	Challenge NLHE	AU$25,000	Andy Lee
10	8-Game	AU$2,500	Libby Thomson
11	Main Event	AU$10,600	Malcolm Trayner — AU$1,382,198
12	Pot-Limit Omaha	AU$1,500	Kiko Puyat
13	Teams NLHE/PLO	AU$4,000	Tsugunari Toma / Itsuki Aburatani
14	Shot Clock Terminator NLHE	AU$1,500	Antonio Seremet
15	Super Turbo Challenge	AU$3,000	Angel Guillen
16	Deep Freeze NLHE	AU$2,500	Jordan Batis — AU$206,465
17	Pot-Limit Omaha	AU$5,000	Ricardo Bono — AU$247,140
18	Closing Event NLHE	AU$1,500	Weiran Pu

Main Event Deep Dive: Malcolm Trayner’s Comeback Title

The AU$10,600 Main Event was the crown jewel of the revival, and it delivered a genuinely dramatic story. Sydney’s Malcolm Trayner — who, the last time the series ran in 2020, was grinding AU$300 buy-in tournaments — outlasted 770 entries across five days to become the first Aussie Millions champion in six years.

Final Table Results:

Place	Player	Prize (AUD)
1st	Malcolm Trayner	$1,382,198 (3-way deal)
2nd	Dean Blatt	$1,000,072 (3-way deal)
3rd	Dejan Boskovic	$921,030 (3-way deal)
4th	Sheldon Mayer	—
5th	Ricky Vikas	$251,250
6th	Patrick Barba	$195,400
7th	Kanaan Youkhanna	$211,750

The top three payouts reflect a three-way ICM deal struck once the field reached three-handed play. The pre-deal payout schedule would have paid AU$1,667,050 for first, AU$1,001,000 for second, and AU$635,250 for third.

How it played out: Trayner opened three-handed play with a commanding 26,025,000-to-11,325,000-to-8,850,000 chip lead over Blatt and Boskovic. Boskovic exited first after his king-jack ran into Trayner’s king-queen. Heads-up against Blatt, Trayner then held a near 4:1 chip advantage — before losing almost all of it across a rough stretch where Blatt rivered a full house and completed a flush to seize a 4:1 lead of his own. Trayner steadied himself with two consecutive all-in doubles (ace-king over ace-six, then ace-five over pocket threes) before sealing the title two hands later, moving all-in with pocket sevens over Blatt’s ace-ten and holding through a clean board.

The win came on Mother’s Day, with Trayner’s mother, Anna, watching him compete in person for the first time in his career. “People often only see the wins, but they don’t see the hard work and the months full of losses,” Trayner said after the win. He had already booked flights to the 2026 WSOP in Las Vegas before the final table even began, where he arrived fresh off the Aussie Millions title and a AU$1.3 million score.

What Made the 2026 Comeback Different

• A field that blew past every projection. Crown staff projected roughly 550 Main Event entries; the actual count of 770 was the fifth-largest in series history, just 52 short of the 2019 record.
• A local hero’s storyline. Trayner’s rise from AU$300 buy-in Sydney tournaments to a seven-figure Aussie Millions title — on top of a 2024 WSOP Mystery Millions bracelet — gave the revival an emotional, homegrown centerpiece.
• Celebrity crossover appeal. NBA player Josh Giddey made his poker debut during the series, and Jackson Warne, son of the late cricket legend Shane Warne, competed in the Main Event, drawing additional mainstream media attention.
• Bad beats for the ages. During the AU$2,500 No-Limit Hold’em event, Sasha Manns shoved pocket kings on the money bubble only to lose to Diego Ponce’s rivered full house from pocket deuces — Manns had already banked an earlier H.O.R.S.E. title, softening the blow.
• A launching pad for new faces. True to the series’ history of minting breakout stars, university student Gening Dai turned a AU$1,500 Mystery Bounty shot into a AU$170,000-plus score.
• Prize pools nearly doubled projections. Advertised at AU$14 million, the series’ official final total (per Crown Melbourne) exceeded AU$22.5 million.

Format & Structure

Format Details	Information
Game Types	No-Limit Hold’em (primary), Pot-Limit Omaha, H.O.R.S.E., 8-Game, Mystery Bounty, Teams and Deep Freeze formats
Ante Structure	Big Blind Ante used across the majority of events
Timing	Shot Clock system — 30 seconds per decision standard, reduced to 15 seconds pre-flop from Day 3 of the Main Event onward
Main Event Length	5 days of play within the 17-day festival window
Starting Table Size	Historically 8-handed early, moving to 6-handed once the field narrows (a longstanding Aussie Millions structural signature)

Satellites & Qualification Partnerships

Satellites have historically been central to the series’ accessibility — more than half the 2019 Main Event field qualified this way. For 2026, the Australian Poker Tour (APT) partnered directly with Crown Poker to run dedicated satellites at Oakwood Premier Melbourne in the lead-up to the series, and APT owner Tony Hachem has confirmed that partnership extends into 2027 as well, meaning qualification pathways are already being built for the next edition.

What’s Next: Upcoming at Crown Melbourne

The Aussie Millions itself has already wrapped for 2026, but Crown Melbourne’s poker calendar doesn’t stop there — and the series’ own return is already locked in.

Event	Timing	Details
Aussie Millions 2027	Dates TBA	Officially confirmed by Crown Melbourne to return; expect an announcement window similar to 2026’s mid-year lead time
Victoria Poker Championships	October 2026	Confirmed to return to Crown Melbourne, per Australian poker industry reporting
APT Aussie Millions Satellites	2026–2027	Ongoing partnership between the Australian Poker Tour and Crown Poker to run direct-entry satellites ahead of the next series
Online Qualifying (expected)	2027	Industry analysts expect the 2027 edition to introduce online satellite pathways for the first time since the revival, potentially through partnerships with major global platforms

Crown Melbourne has explicitly stated the intention to keep the Aussie Millions on an annual cycle going forward, positioning the April–May window as the series’ new permanent home on the calendar (moving away from its traditional January slot to avoid clashing with other major international series).

Step-by-Step Guide: How the Series Works

1. Pick an entry point. Buy-ins run from AU$1,500 to AU$25,000 — decide what fits your bankroll before targeting a specific event.
2. Use the satellite ladder if needed. The Milestone Phase 1–3 structure lets players work up to a Main Event seat from as little as AU$85, alongside nightly Midnight Mega Satellites and Rebuy options.
3. Register in person. Crown Melbourne requires in-person sign-up at the poker room, with a Crown Rewards card (available on-site) and valid photo ID.
4. Study the Shot Clock. With decisions capped at 30 seconds (15 seconds pre-flop late in the Main Event), pre-planning your ranges matters more here than at slower-structured series.
5. Watch the recreational-heavy early events. Record turnouts like the 2,144-entry Opening Event mean early levels can be softer than the buy-in suggests.
6. Plan for ICM once you’re deep. As the 2026 Main Event final table showed, three-handed deals are common — understanding ICM math matters as much as hand-reading once you’re in the money.

Final Thoughts

Six years after it went dark, the Aussie Millions proved at Crown Casino poker in 2026 that Australia’s biggest poker stage hadn’t lost an ounce of its pull. A record-chasing Main Event field, prize pools that nearly doubled their own guarantee, a hometown champion with a genuine underdog story, and even a little star power from the world of sport all combined to make the comeback one of the most talked-about stories on the international poker calendar. With Aussie Millions 2027 already confirmed, an APT satellite partnership already locked in, and the Victoria Poker Championships set to bring more action to the Crown Melbourne poker room as soon as October 2026, this is a series, and a venue, with plenty more still to come. For players planning their next trip, now is also the perfect time to learn how to qualify for Aussie Millions through official satellite events and partner tours.

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