The Aussie Millions is back in 2026 after a six-year hiatus, and if the kickoff is any indication, demand for the legendary Australian poker tournament festival was high.
A total of 2,144 entries were made in the $1,500 AUD buy-in no-limit hold’em opening event, nearly tripling the $1 million AUD guarantee to create a final prize pool of $2,787,200 AUD. That makes for more than $2 million when reckoned in US dollars.
In the end, it was Joshua Duce who emerged victorious with the title and the top prize of $438,400 AUD ($315,648 USD). This was the largest live tournament result yet for the Australian resident, easily surpassing the $31,366 he earned for a fourth-place showing in a $5,000 AUD event at the WPT Prime Gold Coast festival in 2024.
Duce secured 1,080 Card Player Player of the Year points as the champion, enough to catapult him inside the top 200 in the 2026 POY standings presented by CoinPoker.
From Thousands Of Entries Down To One Champion
There were three standard starting flights and a fourth turbo option from April 24-26 at Crown Melbourne. Just 355 players advanced to day 2 from the turnout of over 2,100, with only the top 268 finishers making the money.
The final day began with 20 players still in contention. Eng Chorr scored several early knockouts at the official final table, but Duce picked up steam down the stretch. He won a big all-in with five remaining when his A♠K♠ held against the A♦10♠ of Spencer Davies (5th – $84,240).
Itsuki Aburatani then knocked out Michel Bouskila (4th – $113,040), only to soon find himself on the rail when his pocket jacks were outrun by the pocket sixes of Chhor. Aburatani earned $158,616 as the third-place finisher.
The final hand pitted Q♠J♥ for Duce against the Q♦3♦ of Chhor. Duce was well ahead preflop, but the A♦10♦5♣ flop made things interesting. The 4♠ turn added even more outs for Chhor, but the 6♣ on the end saw him eliminated in second place ($222,840).
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points |
| 1 | Joshua Duce | $315,648 | 1,080 |
| 2 | Eng Chhor | $222,840 | 900 |
| 3 | Itsuki Aburatani | $158,616 | 720 |
| 4 | Michel Bouskila | $113,040 | 540 |
| 5 | Spencer Davies | $84,240 | 450 |
| 6 | Adrian Indoviro | $63,360 | 360 |
| 7 | Xin Li | $48,960 | 270 |
| 8 | Rachel Carolan | $38,880 | 180 |
| 9 | Dean Schneider | $31,680 | 90 |
Photo credit: PokerNews / Crown Poker.
