Hun Wei Lee beats Joe Hachem heads-up to win the Victorian Poker Championship Main Event

Hun Wei Lee won the A$2,500 Victorian Champs Main Event at Crown Melbourne late on Tuesday, Oct 27, Melbourne time. He beat Joe Hachem, the 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event champion, after more than two hours of heads-up play, and took home A$350,000, according to PokerNews's live coverage. Card Player put that at about US$245,000.

Lee, who goes by Andy and is from Sydney per Poker Media, said Hachem is the reason he took up the game. "Joe is the reason why I started playing poker to start with. He's the godfather of Australian poker, and to be able to play him heads up is really an honor," he told PokerNews. "And to beat him is just icing on the cake, it's a dream come true, really."

The numbers

• Entries: 715, over four starting flights, per PokerNews and Card Player.
• Prize pool: A$1,573,000, per PokerNews. Card Player put it at over US$1.1 million.
• Places paid: 89.
• First prize: A$350,000. Runner-up: A$210,000 (about US$147,000, per Card Player).

Final table results

How the final table went

Lee started the final day with the chip lead but gave much of it back early. Lee's pocket nines ran into Hachem's pocket kings in an all-in, and Hachem doubled up, per PokerNews. "I knew straight away it was the wrong decision," Lee told PokerNews. "But I told myself this is a spot where I have to be very, very patient."

All nine players survived the first three levels. Lee got back on top by knocking out Nektarios Dimitrakis in sixth. Per Poker Media, the chips went in on a jack-nine-ten flop with Lee holding ace-jack and Dimitrakis the ace-four of clubs, and the turn and river didn't help Dimitrakis. Lee then made two of the next three knockouts to set up heads-up with Hachem.

Heads-up

The two traded the chip lead several times, per PokerNews. In one all-in, Hachem was down to two outs on the turn and hit a six to stay alive. In another, his ace-eight held up against Lee's pocket sixes after an ace on the flop, and Hachem took the chip lead.

Lee had better than a 2-to-1 chip lead when the last hand was dealt, according to Card Player. With blinds at 300,000/600,000 and a 600,000 ante, Hachem raised to 1,600,000 on the button with ace-five, and Lee moved all in from the big blind with pocket jacks. Hachem called and took the lead on an ace-seven-three flop. The queen of diamonds on the turn changed nothing, but the jack of hearts on the river gave Lee a set and the title.

Who is Hun Wei Lee?

This is Lee's second big win at Crown in six months. He won the A$25,000 Challenge at the 2026 Aussie Millions in May, which Card Player put at US$469,922. He said this one meant more. "I think this feels even better than the 25K High Roller win simply because I was playing Joe heads up and winning it," he told PokerNews. Card Player says he now has over US$2.3 million in career tournament earnings, and he also has a WSOP bracelet, from the $1,050 pot-limit Omaha bounty event at the 2020 WSOP Online.

"I really love coming to Crown," Lee said. "We've been deprived the Aussie Millions for so long, and I hadn't been to Crown since COVID, and to be able to come back and win a couple of tournaments in the same year is a great experience."

Hachem, an ambassador for the Victorian Poker Championship and the Aussie Millions per Poker Media, has close to US$12.9 million in career earnings, according to Card Player. His brother Tony Hachem also ran deep in this event and finished 14th.

A note on the buy-in

The Main Event's buy-in is A$2,500, and that is the full price of an entry. The prize pool works out to A$2,200 per entry (A$1,573,000 divided by 715). The other A$300 from each buy-in went to fees, not the prize pool.