Hun Wei Lee has beaten Joe Hachem heads-up to win the 2026 Victorian Poker Championship main event at Crown Melbourne, earning US$245,000 and his second major title of the year. The A$2,500 no-limit hold'em event drew 715 entries and created a prize pool of more than US$1.1 million, with the top 89 finishers cashing. Lee's win follows his victory in the A$25,000 high roller at the Aussie Millions earlier in 2026, which was worth US$469,922.
The result in numbers
The main event field of 715 entries paid 89 places. Lee took home US$245,000 and 1,368 Card Player Player of the Year points, which moved him inside the top 200 in the season standings and brought his two-title points total to 2,124. His career earnings are now above US$2.3 million.
Hachem, the 2005 WSOP Main Event champion and one of Australia's most famous poker exports, took second place and US$147,000. His career earnings are just under US$12.9 million, which gives some idea of the scale of his career. Runner-up finishes are often bittersweet, but in a field of 715 players with a prize pool exceeding US$1.1 million, a second-place result is still a major accomplishment.
Final table results
| Place | Player | Payout (USD) | POY Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hun Wei Lee | $245,000 | 1,368 |
| 2 | Joe Hachem | $147,000 | 1,140 |
| 3 | Zac Miravet | $94,500 | 912 |
| 4 | Ben Richardson | $63,000 | 684 |
| 5 | Bobby Zhang | $50,750 | 570 |
| 6 | Nektarios Dimitrakis | $40,600 | 456 |
| 7 | Higor Seibel | $33,250 | 342 |
| 8 | Jurki Hilakari | $26,600 | 228 |
| 9 | Michael Tomeny | $21,350 | 114 |
The payout jumps between places are worth noting. The step from second to first was US$98,000, while the step from third to second was US$52,500. Those gaps are why deals at final tables are so common, and why the players at the top of the leaderboard have a decision to make once the field narrows. We explain how those calculations work in our guide to what is ICM.
The heads-up match
Lee entered heads-up play with more than twice Hachem's chips. Hachem briefly took the lead during the match but could not hold it. The final hand came with blinds at 300,000/600,000 and a 600,000 big blind ante. Hachem raised with A♣5♦, and Lee moved all in with J♦J♣. Hachem called, the flop came A♥7♥3♣, giving Hachem a pair of aces, and the J♥ on the river gave Lee a set to win the title.
It is a classic heads-up confrontation: ace-five offsuit is a reasonable raising hand at those stack depths, and a pocket pair shoving over a raise is a standard play. Hachem's hand was a slight underdog before the flop against pocket jacks, roughly a 30 percent chance by standard equity calculations, and he hit the flop, only for the river to deliver the one card that beat him. A single card on the river decided a tournament worth US$245,000, which is a good illustration of why even the best players describe poker as a game of long-term edges, not guaranteed outcomes. You can verify the numbers with our poker odds calculator.
Lee's 2026
Lee's year has been defined by two big wins in Australia. The first was the A$25,000 high roller at the Aussie Millions, which earned him US$469,922. The second is this main event title, which is worth US$245,000 and a huge boost in POY points. Together the two results account for more than US$700,000 of his career earnings, which is a substantial share of his US$2.3 million total.
That timing matters, because the Aussie Millions is generally held at Crown Melbourne in the first part of the year and the Victorian Poker Championship runs in the autumn, so a player who wins both is succeeding in two of the biggest events on the Australian calendar. Back-to-back wins across two different buy-in levels, a A$25,000 high roller and a A$2,500 main event, show an adaptable player who can handle both the highly skilled fields at the top and the larger, more varied fields at mid-stakes.
Hachem's long career
For Hachem, the run is a reminder of his longevity. He won the 2005 WSOP Main Event and has remained a fixture on the international circuit for two decades. A runner-up finish in a field of 715 is a strong result for a player who has been competing at the top level for so long, and his career total of just under US$12.9 million puts him among the all-time leaders in live earnings.
The heads-up loss was a narrow one, with Hachem briefly taking the lead before Lee reclaimed it and then closed the match. In a world where many professionals specialize in a single format, a player who can stay competitive across decades of changing strategy is rare.
Why Crown Melbourne matters
Crown Melbourne is one of the world's best-known poker venues, and the Victorian Poker Championship is a major part of its calendar. The series attracts local players, Asian-Pacific regulars and international visitors, and the main event's prize pool of more than US$1.1 million is a sign of strong participation despite the relatively modest A$2,500 buy-in. The region has become a major hub for tournament poker, with events like the Aussie Millions, the Victorian Poker Championship and the Asia Pacific Poker Tour all drawing large fields.
For players outside Australia, the series is a reminder that tournament poker is global, and that the pathways into high-stakes events are not limited to the traditional centers of Las Vegas and Europe. Online qualifiers and satellites help bring in players from across the world, and our poker networks guide and tournaments page show how to find qualifying routes and schedules.
What this means for players
First, never fold your equity in heads-up play. Hachem's raise with ace-five was a sound play, and the fact that he was a slight underdog against a shove does not mean the raise was wrong. If you want to understand why raising with ace-high hands heads-up is profitable, read our poker strategy hub and practise with the odds tools.
Second, understand the structure. A tournament that pays 89 places out of 715 entries rewards roughly the top 12 percent of the field, which means that cashing is already a mark of success. Deep runs require patience through the early levels, careful stack preservation and the ability to adjust as blinds climb. Our bankroll management guide shows how to plan for the variance that comes with tournament play.
Third, take the long view. Lee's two wins in 2026 are the product of repeated entries into high-quality events, and no single win guarantees future results. The best way to approach tournaments is to play your best game, accept the variance and keep entering events where you have an edge.
The bottom line
Hun Wei Lee's win at the Victorian Poker Championship is a US$245,000 payday, a second major title in 2026 and a signal that he is one of the in-form players in the Asia-Pacific region. With Hachem as his heads-up opponent, the match carried extra weight, and the river jack that sealed the title is the kind of moment that defines tournament stories. For both players, it was a memorable end to a long series at Crown Melbourne.