Andy Lee ends drought, winning career-high prize money at the Aussie Millions $25k Challenge.

"It's been a while—go win something back."

At his wife's request, Andy Lee attended the 2026 Aussie Millions Poker Tournament presented by CrownBet and participated in the $25K Challenge, only to be eliminated within three hours of the start of the tournament.

This tenacious Australian professional did not give up. He regrouped, bought in again, and then went on a hot streak, advancing with the second-largest chip stack by the end of the second day.

With his high morale and ample chip stack, Lee delivered an impressive performance at the final table. He combined timely aggression with astute calling, demonstrating that surviving in high-stakes tournaments requires much more than just good hands.

Ultimately, Lee emerged victorious from a field of 98 participants – a remarkable achievement in Australia for a single event. $25KThe\; number\; of\; participants\; is\; exceptionally\; large\; for\; a\; competition.——And\; defeated\; him\; in\; a\; brief\; one-on-one\; duel.JOShHutchins,\; win\ast \ast$The champion's prize of AU$652,670 is the largest prize of his career to date.

$25k Challenger Final Table Results

Post-championship interview

"This victory feels very, very special," Lee said shortly after winning the title. "The Aussie Millions has always been a major event on my schedule. We hadn't had it for six years, and now it's back—and the number of participants is incredible. In Australia, a 1TP 4T 25K event usually only has around 30 players if you're lucky. But this time we had 98 players, plus many strong international competitors. I'm really happy to have come out on top."

For Lee, this victory is not just about money, but also about returning to the ranks of champions.

"As I've told everyone, I feel incredibly relieved. Before I left home, my wife said, 'It's been a while—go and win something.' And Mother's Day is coming up, so I thought this would be a great gift for her."

One of the key moments was when Lee bravely called Michael Egan's bet with only fourth pair, a hand that solidified his chip position and allowed him to put more pressure on his opponent on his way to the championship.

“Given the chip stack size, I don’t think Michael would have made a very light value bet,” Lee said. “He had a lot of broken flush draws, and considering the pot odds I got, I thought calling was the right move. I could have made a mistake there… I made a few light calls throughout the final table, some of which were wrong. I was just playing the way I thought was right. I was lucky that I was right in that hand and that gave me a huge chip stack to put pressure on him.”

Despite winning, Lee explained that he was most excited about participating in the main event.

"I'm really, really looking forward to playing (the Main Event). Winning the Aussie Millions Main Event has always been my dream," he said. "I'm going to rest today, wake up refreshed tomorrow, and then give it a try."

Final table results

At the start of the final table, Hieu Nguyen was short-stacked. He soon found an opportunity, going all-in pre-flop with pocket Jacks against Egan's three raises. Unfortunately, Egan held pocket Queens, and Nguyen failed to improve his hand, becoming the first player eliminated from the final table.

Luke Martinelli also started the final table with a short stack. Despite some early gains, he was eliminated in eighth place in a brutally unlucky hand. In that hand, Martinelli made a full house with pocket sevens on the flop, facing Egan's trip of aces. However, the turn gave Egan a bigger full house, which he went all-in on the river, winning all of Martinelli's chips.

After a prolonged period without any eliminations, Lee's chip stack continued to climb, largely thanks to an impressive hero call against Egan with only fourth pair. Later, Lee won a large pot from Kei Tanaka with pocket queens, overtaking Tanaka to become the chip leader.

Tanaka's luck worsened after losing a coin toss to Joe Sandaev, and shortly thereafter, Tanaka went all-in with a dominant Ace against Lee. Unable to improve his hand, Tanaka, despite entering the final table with an overwhelming chip lead, could only settle for seventh place.

Matthew Wakeman followed Tanaka in a similar fashion, finishing in sixth place after going all-in with a draw against Lee's pocket kings, which he failed to capitalize on, further solidifying Lee's chip lead. After dinner, as the blinds rose, Egan, in a similar fashion to Tanaka—going all-in with a dominant ace against Lee—failed to improve his situation and finished in fifth.

Shortly after, Hutchins, with Kings against Sandaev in a blind showdown, went all-in pre-flop, ending Lee's winning streak. Sandaev poured in his chip advantage with Aces, but the final board gave Hutchins a pair, making him the winner and eliminating Sandaev in fourth place.

However, Lee still held an overwhelming chip advantage and used it to play aggressively pre-flop. Raising repeatedly, Lee won many small pots unchallenged until Li finally resisted with Aces. Unfortunately, Lee held "Big Slick" (AK) and held on, bringing the game to heads-up play.

With a chip lead of over 5:1 and Hutchins holding only about 10 big blinds, Hutchins was quickly forced to a showdown. After several pre-flop all-ins and folds, Hutchins went all-in with 10-9, and Lee called with Q-10. The board didn't help either side, and Lee's Q-high hand secured the win, sealing the victory and ending the tournament.

This concludes PokerNews' coverage of this event. For ongoing coverage of the Aussie Millions Main Event, please check out our live news center.

Common Mistakes Review: Why Do You Keep Losing? The Problem Lies Here

Most players lose money not because of luck, but because they repeat the same mistakes.

These debriefings will help you identify the most common mistakes and understand how to correct them:
Why does constantly calling cause you to lose money?
[Bluff Imbalance] What are the costs of excessive bluffing?
Why do you always lose on the last street? [Never fold]
[Slow Play Error] Why do I lose big pots when I play slowly?
What's the problem with betting too small?
Why do people lose money when they bet too much?
[Emotional Issues] How do emotions affect your decision-making?
[Range Misjudgment] Analysis of Errors Caused by a Lack of Understanding of Range
[Location Ignore] What are the consequences of ignoring location?
[Misinterpreting People] The Impact of Misinterpreting an Opponent's Behavior

Avoiding mistakes is more important than learning new skills. By reviewing these common mistakes, you can quickly identify your weaknesses, correct your decision-making habits, and reduce unnecessary losses.

▶️ In Facebook Follow Hunter Poker.
📘 In Youtube Follow Hunter Poker.

Want to learn more about Texas Hold'em gameplay and strategies?

DX Poker, as one of the online Texas Hold'em platforms, offers a variety of table types and tournament modes, allowing players to accumulate experience through actual games and gradually improve their strategy and judgment.

Go to learn more