The $2,500 Victorian Champs Main Event is down to its final nine players at Crown Melbourne, with Hun Wei Lee holding the chip lead after three days of action.
The tournament attracted 715 entries and created a prize pool of AUD 1,573,000. The winner will collect AUD 350,000, while every finalist has already secured at least AUD 30,500.
Lee finished the day with 9,955,000 chips after scoring several knockouts and now controls almost a quarter of the chips in play.
Bobby Zhang Sits Second as Joe Hachem Remains in Contention
Bobby Zhang is Lee’s closest challenger with 8,455,000 chips, equal to 70 big blinds.
Higor Seibel, who began the day as chip leader, remains in a strong position with 5,125,000.
Joe Hachem is also still in the field. The 2005 WSOP Main Event champion will return in seventh position with 2,735,000 chips after finding an important double early in the day.
Final Table Seat Draw
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jyrki Hilakari | Australia | 1,435,000 | 12 |
| 2 | Bobby Zhang | Australia | 8,455,000 | 70 |
| 3 | Hun Wei Lee | Australia | 9,955,000 | 83 |
| 4 | Ben Richardson | Australia | 4,545,000 | 38 |
| 5 | Michael Tomeny | United States | 4,010,000 | 33 |
| 6 | Nektarios Dimitrakis | Australia | 4,130,000 | 34 |
| 7 | Joe Hachem | Australia | 2,735,000 | 23 |
| 8 | Zac Miravet | Australia | 2,430,000 | 20 |
| 9 | Higor Seibel | Brazil | 5,125,000 | 43 |
Lee Builds His Stack During a Fast Day 3
Day 3 began with 43 players and immediately produced a high number of eliminations.
Twelve players were knocked out before the first break. Ruben Padilla was responsible for one of the biggest early hands after flopping quads to eliminate Andrew Kyriakou.
Padilla briefly moved among the larger stacks but was unable to maintain that momentum and eventually finished in 20th place.
The field reached the final two tables a little more than two levels later.
Lee then moved closer to the top after a double knockout on Level 25 and later eliminated Anthony Hachem in 14th place.
Zhang Bursts the Final Table Bubble
The last hand of the night decided the final table lineup.
Naz Sibaei moved all in and flopped a set, but Zhang completed a flush to eliminate him and end play for the day.
That pot helped Zhang finish with the second-largest stack.
The remaining nine players will return at 2:00 p.m. local time with 20 minutes left in Level 28.
Blinds will be 60,000/120,000 with a 120,000 big blind ante, while levels will continue to last 60 minutes.
AUD 350,000 Awaits the Champion
The first elimination at the final table will produce a AUD 7,500 pay jump.
The top three finishers are guaranteed six-figure payouts, with AUD 350,000 reserved for the champion.
Final Table Payouts
- 1st place: AUD 350,000
- 2nd place: AUD 210,000
- 3rd place: AUD 135,000
- 4th place: AUD 90,000
- 5th place: AUD 72,500
- 6th place: AUD 58,000
- 7th place: AUD 47,500
- 8th place: AUD 38,000
- 9th place: AUD 30,500
