Lucas Jumalon, Lauri Saaskilahti Advance to Heads-Up Play in 2026 WSOP Main Event

2025 World Series of Poker

It caters to a wide variety of players, from seasoned pros to enthusiastic amateurs, as the EKA tournament structure includes multiple buy-in levels, allowing players with different budget levels to participate. Regional tournaments are often smaller, but they also offer exciting games and the opportunity to win prizes. The APPT offers a range of tournaments, primarily focusing on Texas Hold’em, with high-stakes main events and accessible side tournaments that cater to both amateurs and professionals. The Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) is a prestigious series of live poker tournaments held in major cities across the Asia-Pacific region. The EPT offers a mix of high-stakes main events and affordable side tournaments, featuring formats like Texas Hold’em and Omaha. It remains the ultimate stage for the game, continually drawing new players and audiences worldwide.

poker tournament results

I’ve always felt that in no-limit hold’em post-flop, my hand reading skills are much better than preflop. My types of mistakes in PLO are not reraising, four-betting, and all that stuff – it’s just playing too many hands, which is fine. Josh Arieh is really the one who fine-tuned my PLO game over the last couple of years. Who has had the biggest influence on your PLO game? There was only one tournament, the $25K, where I had to re-enter. Local crusher Raminder Singh added four wins, bringing his Seminole total to a record 20, while Jean Laurent and Mehmet Signic also joined the list.

The tables are livelier; they’re more willing to chase draws and take gambles, and their fundamentals are still a bit weaker compared to US players. Tony ‘Ren’ Lin has become one of the most recognizable and successful players in the world, crushing the high-stakes tournament scene to the tune of over $20M in Hendon Mob-recorded earnings. So, I liked in my interviews to try and bring players opportunities to express themselves without worrying if it was going to give away crucial information about how they thought about the game. What did interviewing them face-to-face reveal that the public version of those players concealed?

The $50,000 buy-in, being five times larger than the buy-in for the Main Event, has thus far tended to deter amateurs from playing in this event, and the variety of games played require a broader knowledge of poker. However, after the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E./Poker Players Championship event was added, many of the game’s top professionals, including Negreanu, have since stated that this tournament ultimately decides the world’s best player. The event has a guaranteed $3 million prize pool and attracted over 23,000 players in its inaugural year. On April 12, 2012, the WSOP announced that 30 players had committed to the tournament, which brought the first prize to $12.3 million, exceeding the record amount won by Jamie Gold.

Nathan Gamble became the first player in WSOP history to win three bracelets in PLO8 events. The main series schedule features 29 events, with another 21 tournaments on the secondary schedule, representing a mix of lower buy-in tournaments with cash prizes and satellites to the main schedule events. The World Series of Poker free online poker game is available for players around the world. Each winner of a WSOP event is awarded a gold bracelet, considered the highest achievement any poker player can achieve. He topped a field of 6,550 players to win after battling it out at the final table at the Rio All Suite Hotel & Casino.

poker tournament results

These events offered a mix of online and live access, including qualifying opportunities on the BetMGM Poker app, same-day live registration, and the chance to earn redeemable Marriott Bonvoy and MGM Rewards points. That final edition featured nearly two dozen events, including a $2,700 Championship, and drew major attention before the series was halted due to the pandemic. The Borgata Poker Open is a common name for a live tournament festival series taking place multiple times a year at the Borgata Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Your full guide to the Borgata Poker Open series, including dates, schedules, results, and online qualifiers for upcoming events. In its place, a summer schedule of online bracelet events were establish, with separate schedules for WSOP.com and GGPoker bracelets. The full schedule released in February, showing 100 bracelet events with buy-ins ranging from $300 to $250,000.

So, if livestreams are paramount, they can demand you delay your updates and you have to say yes. You are also beholden to your client to deliver a product they want. On the flip side, I think poker tours consolidating media in house or to official contractors has really killed the rest of poker content. Interviewing them, I got to see a bit of personality that didn’t necessarily come out at the tables, but I don’t know if ‘concealed’ is the word I would use. Working directly for the WSOP did give me a great appreciation for the importance of logistics which were often lost on the larger poker community. When you later worked on the official WSOP side, how did your understanding of the event change?

In the final hand, his pocket threes held against ace-jack suited in a classic flip. Cary Catz silences loud Brazilian rail with heads-up win over fan-favorite Breno Drumond. He missed almost the entire WSOP last year and didn’t play a lot this year. Later, Mike said that the break was one of the keys to his success, as he hadn’t been feeling well (he even wore a mask) and couldn’t fully focus on his game. Although originally from Italy, he has lived in France for over 30 years, so he received plenty of support from the French rail as well. The Italian poker enthusiast Giuseppe Zarbo has won the $800 Summer Celebration.

He brought an innovative idea to televised poker before the poker boom era, and his creation helped grow the game. Although most events take place in the United States, there are some exceptions, including the popular Playground Casino in Montreal, Canada. World Poker Tour tournaments are hosted in numerous casinos around the world. Each event typically lasts four or five days, and sometimes three. World Poker Tour events take place once or twice per month, in most cases, throughout the year. Players compete for more than just big cashes in WPT events.

Until now, his best result had been a 3rd-place finish in a T.O.R.S.E. event last year, earning $119,108. After that, the Mexican picked up chips from four more opponents and entered heads-up against Kyle Lin with a six-to-one chip advantage. Interestingly, he also won a mixed PLO/NLH event five years ago. In the final all-in confrontation, Pärssinen flopped two pair and a flush draw, which completed on the turn. Thanks to his victory, Finland now has 12 WSOP bracelets (3 of them belonging to Pärssinen).

poker tournament results

Braxton Dunaway has been playing live tournaments for almost 20 years, but real success came to him only in recent years. As expected for a high roller event, Event #24 attracted a stacked field of talented players. Interestingly, no matter who won the heads-up of the event, we would still have seen the first WSOP 2026 player to secure two bracelets. It took just three days for Naoya Kihara to win another WSOP tournament, making him the first two-time champion of the series this year. At the Dealers Choice final table, Jeff was the most accomplished player in the field, but he entered six-handed play with only the fourth-largest stack.

This week in Las Vegas, he captured his fifth WSOP bracelet and recorded the biggest cash of his career. In the final hand, Jason’s pocket aces held against his opponent’s flush draw to secure the title. More than 10 years ago, Omar Zazay stepped away from professional poker to focus on business, but he continued to make annual trips to the WSOP. He has six WSOP Circuit rings and one WSOP bracelet, which he won on WSOP.com.

Lucas Jumalon, Lauri Saaskilahti Advance to Heads-Up Play in 2026 WSOP Main Event

In addition to No Limit Hold’em, the series features a variety of poker formats, including PLO, Big O, HORSE, TORSE, and more. The series usually takes place in winter (January), spring (April–May), summer (July–August), and fall (November). Phil Hellmuth has the most bracelets of all-time, having won 17 between 1989 and 2024.

This marked his first full Razz tournament and it resulted in his second WSOP bracelet. Primarily known as an Omaha expert, Le had only played Razz as part of mixed games before. When he turned 21 in 2006, he immediately won a WSOP bracelet in the $3,000 Limit Hold’em event during his first trip to Las Vegas. Bohdanov won his first bracelet in 2019 in a €350 event at WSOP Europe in Rozvadov. Renat Bohdanov has claimed his second WSOP bracelet by taking down the $3,000 Freezeout event.

Understanding key concepts like ICM and bubble play is critical. Rest well, stay hydrated, and familiarize yourself with the tournament structure. Research the schedule, allocate your bankroll wisely, and factor in travel and preparation time.

Event #96: $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha

Dwan began heads-up play against Daniel Rezaei with a stack five times smaller than his opponent’s, but erased the deficit in just a couple of hands. The Event #90 final table featured Kristen Foxen, Daniel Negreanu, and Bryn Kenney, but the young Brit managed to outlast them all and claim the title. After that, Johnny played his biggest pots against Kenneth Baime, whom he eventually faced in heads-up play. Oshana reached the final table of Event #88 with a short stack.

poker tournament results

How can I qualify for the 2027 WSOP?

poker tournament results

Daly eliminated every player from the 5-max stage onward and held 85% of all chips when play reached 3-handed. Viktor Blom couldn’t convert another final table appearance into his first bracelet, finishing in 5th place in the Big O Championship. Typically a NLHE player, he spontaneously decided to try something different this time. Ian Johns, a longtime fan of Limit Hold’em, claimed victory in one of his signature events.

The break gives players time to review hand histories from Days 1-7, work with coaches on specific opponents at the final table, and mentally prepare for the pressure of playing for millions on live television. Both wins came in high roller events with buy-ins that attract only the strongest competition, underscoring Paerssinen’s place among the game’s elite Omaha and mixed-game players. Beginning in 2007, Harrah’s announced the creation of the World Series of Poker Academy, a poker school aimed at providing poker players with the skills needed to win a WSOP bracelet. However, Moss’s first victory came in a different format, as he was elected winner by vote of his fellow players at the conclusion of what was then a timed event.

Sexton, who passed away in 2020, returned to his Partypoker roots and resigned as co-host. On May 27, 2002, the first ever World Poker Tour event took place at the Bellagio. The WPT is credited as being the first to show hole cards to TV viewers, perhaps the greatest invention in poker history.

But when he does show up, Mike is still one of the toughest mixed-game players in the world. Daniel Negreanu made his fifth final table of the series but couldn’t convert it into another bracelet. Bruno Furth won one of the first PLO tournaments of the series after being down to just a single chip (100K — a little more than one big blind).

From your first Circuit event to a final table in Las Vegas, WSOP is still where you go to prove something. For players in Nevada, New Jersey, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, WSOP Online has become something worth paying attention to. This app is the essential tool for player wanting to take advantage of the full event experience Your player name will however have an icon next to it showing that a reset is in place.

Jiang eliminated Maurice in fourth place, preventing the WSOPC record holder for most wins from finally claiming his first bracelet. Johnny plans to invest most of his winnings through his investment company and also play in WSOP Circuit events, including this week’s stop in Las Vegas. He arrived at the 2026 WSOP without major expectations, but managed to cash in two events and then went all the way to the bracelet in his third tournament. On the final day of Event #76, five players remained, and Negreanu got off to a rough start, losing nearly half of his stack to Chris Frank, who made a rivered flush. All three of his six-figure scores in his career came in WSOP events in this poker variant, and he won his first bracelet in 2014. However, that did not prevent the American from winning more than $3 million in live events.

A group of players gathered to play a selection of cash games including draw and seven card stud at Binion’s Horseshoe Casino, and after a week-and-a-half they voted Johnny Moss the “Best All Around Player” and awarded him a silver cup. The first WSOP took place in 1970, and it continues to attract some of the best poker players in the world. PokerNews’s Live Poker Tournament Calendar has some of the most notable locations and tournaments on the global live poker schedule.

This victory marks the fourth WSOP bracelet of Artur Martirosian’s career. Entering four-handed play in Event #22, Alcindor eliminated all of his remaining opponents in just 10 minutes. Big O champion Christopher Alcindor usually plays in his native Canada, but for the past three years he has traveled to Las Vegas as a representative of KKPoker. On that occasion, he lost the heads-up battle in the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em event to Antonio Galiana.

  • Players will be able to play multiple Venom starting flights and combine their stacks for Day 2.
  • Josh Arieh is really the one who fine-tuned my PLO game over the last couple of years.
  • Nick Schulman had a shot at winning his 8th bracelet in one of his best games, 2-7.
  • Samuel Rosborough didn’t have much tournament experience before this year’s WSOP.
  • Brian Altman won Player of the Year during Season XVIII after winning the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open and finishing third in two other events.
  • Instead, the spotlight shifted to a dark horse Ryan Bambrick, who played a solid game and outlasted the two poker legends.

February 9 – 24, 2026April 1 – May 17,  2026More than $2 Million in guaranteed tournament prize pools Learn to calculate chip value and adjust your strategy as the prize pool narrows. All three events are scheduled to be single-day events. There will be the usual two $1,100 events plus a $10,500 No Limit Hold’em 6-Max.

Poker.pro brings you live reporting from poker events across the globe. There were four players left in the $10,000 6-Handed Championship, and Soverel closed it out in just 19 minutes on the final additional day. Joshua Boulton won a unique event where bounties were awarded only for eliminating players from the Poker Hall of Fame (btw, the newest inductee is Nick Schulman).

The Super Seniors event — open to players aged 60 and over — was won by businessman Lonny Weitzel. This win should be a major boost to Rosborough’s bankroll, and he’s now latest online poker news planning to play more tournaments this summer than he originally expected. The gold went to Brett Lim, a poker enthusiast since the 1990s who had never played major tournaments before.