Just 14 players returned today at the Paris Hotel and Casino in the Event #64: $25,000 High Roller PLO/NLH mix to be crowned the newest champion of the 2026 World Series of Poker. Each one of them had already locked up a piece of the $5,029,000 prize pool that had been generated over the past two days, thanks to 214 entrants in the field, but all eyes rested upon the $1,172,296 top prize and the WSOP gold bracelet.
After nearly 11 full levels of play, a familiar face stood above the rest to win.
It was less than a week ago that Finnish poker pro Eelis Parssinen took home his second WSOP bracelet in Event #47: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller, deepening his WSOP legacy and tying him for the most bracelets ever to come out of Finland.
After nearly 12 hours of play today, he broke the tie to become the most decorated Finnish player in the WSOP’s history by winning his third bracelet and another seven-figure score from the summer.
Event #64: $25,000 PLO/NLH Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eelis Parssinen | Finland | $1,172,296 |
| 2 | Juha Helppi | Finland | $781,500 |
| 3 | Sean Winter | United States | $540,754 |
| 4 | Edward Leonard | United States | $381,950 |
| 5 | Sergio Martinez Gonzalez | Spain | $275,509 |
| 6 | Lou Garza | United States | $203,041 |
| 7 | Daniel Negreanu | Canada | $152,954 |
| 8 | Dylan Linde | United States | $117,835 |
Winner’s Reaction
“The more that I think about it, I probably value this one more than the $25k PLO since I play both games. Here you have to be good enough at both, but I think it’s close,” Parssinen said minutes after the win. “It’s unbelievable. I can’t find words right now. Obviously, I was so lucky to be on the right side of the coolers, to be on the right side of the hands that are supposed to go all in no matter what. It’s crazy to think it’s even possible to run like that.”
Five years ago, Parssinen took home his first WSOP bracelet in what was also the 64th event of the series, the $5,000 PLO/NLH 8 Handed. He took home $545,616 for his finish there and now adds a score more than double that in another tournament of the same format.
“I think this probably suits my game the best, because I think I’m decent in both of these. I’ve been playing a lot of No-Limit tournaments lately. I’ve been practicing quite a lot and putting a lot of effort in. I started back in the day on No-Limit, then I kinda quit it for a few years and focused on PLO. Nowadays, I have found the passion again towards No-Limit.”
A historic heads-up match occurred today as no tournament in the WSOP’s history has ever seen two Finnish players heads up for a bracelet. Juha Helppi and Parssinen were those players, and each was looking for their third bracelet to become the most decorated player in their home country. After a two and a half hour heads-up match, Parssinen took the title.
“When I started to play poker, [Juha] was probably the biggest name in Finland”
“It’s incredible, I’ve known Juha (Helppi) for 19 years. When I started to play poker, he was probably the biggest name in Finland. He was already an established no-limit crusher, and it’s unbelievable to get to play heads up against him here in front of my wife and best friend. A lot of the guys on the rail were also Juha’s friends.”
Did You Know?
Parssinen now sits as one of three players in the 2026 WSOP who have conquered two events, the others being Naoya Kihara and Calvin Anderson, and now sits in contention for the Player of the Year.
“I’ve never thought about it. For me, since I don’t play any other games besides PLO and No-Limit, so I’m pretty sure that I won’t show up for those other events just for the player of the year race. But I definitely have to consider going to the Bahamas. I might go there no matter what, but definitely with being in contention for that. If you run like that, I guess it’s possible.”
While celebration may be in order for Parssinen and his rail, his focus is on another upcoming event for the series.
“I don’t think I’m celebrating now, that might come later. Tomorrow is one of my favorite tournaments of the year, the 10k PLO. It’s fun to play that field because it gets lots of recreational and different types of players. The last few years, I have been used to playing against the same guys at different stops like Triton. Definitely looking forward to playing with players from different backgrounds.”
Day 3 Action
The start of the day saw Amit Benyacov (14th-$61,964) and Dylan Weisman (13th-$61,964) fall immediately, with Dominykas Karmazinas (12th-$61,964) and Jordan Glazer (11th-$74,959) eliminated a level later. The final table was set when David Wang fell as he jammed his ace-four into Helppi’s ace-king. Neither player paired their kicker, and Wang collected $74,959 for finishing one outside of the final table, while the remaining nine combined.
Just a couple of minutes passed into the final table before Yang Wang jammed queen-jack into Parssinen’s ace-queen. He was unable to find any help, and collected $92,887 for his ninth-place finish. It was another couple of levels before another elimination happened, with another following it a hand later. Dylan Linde moved all in with kings in PLO against Edward Leonard’s queens, but quad queens gave Leonard the pot and Linde the boot, seeing him collect $117,835 for his eighth-place finish.
Seven-time WSOP bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu followed him out the door in seventh place, despite having a memorable start to the final table. After doubling up with a straight flush against Parssinen, he lost a sizable chunk to Sean Winter in the Hold’em round before finding himself all in against Helppi with straight and flush draws in PLO. None came home for Negreanu, and he collected $152,954 for his deep run.
It took over an hour after the dinner break before the next elimination. Defending champion Lou Garza got in his queens against Helppi’s backdoor draws in PLO, but Helppi ran out a straight to see the defending champion depart the tournament in sixth place, good for $203,041.
Parssinen took the chip lead from Helppi at this point after rivering a wheel against his countryman, which would only further grow when he eliminated Sergio Martinez Gonzalez in fifth place. Gonzalez got his last chips in with queen-jack on a jack-high board, with Parssinen calling and winning with ace-eight after turning an ace. $275,509 would be sent into his account. Just a few hands later, Edward Leonard also got his chips in with queen-jack against Parssinen, who held with ace-queen. Despite flopping a flush, the runout came to give Parssinen a boat to eliminate Leonard in fourth place for $381,950.
Sean Winter held the distinction of being the final player surviving on the 25k Fantasy Draft, and his run ended shortly after, as he got in his final chips with jack-two against Parssinen’s ten-five. A five on the flop ended Winter’s chances of a first bracelet, and he collected $540,754 for his third-place finish.
At no time in the WSOP’s history were two Finnish players ever heads up for a WSOP bracelet, and their match would turn into quite a lengthy affair. Helppi doubled early into the match in the PLO round and pulled into a further lead during the No-Limit Hold’em round that followed. A coin flip for the lead then occurred as Parssinen got in his ace-jack against Helppi’s pocket sevens, and a flush on the turn awarded Parssinen the pot to take back the lead.
Two doubles took place, with Helppi winning them both and pulling back into the lead. The first saw ace-ten hold up against king-queen, and the second saw both players get in their chips in the PLO round, with Helppi holding top pair and Parssinen holding second pair. Each filled up, with Helppi’s full house reigning supreme to narrow the gap and put the score back to even.
All the while during these doubles, the players would continue to exchange pots of many different sizes. The pendulum continued to swing as the night lingered on, with just one level of play left at 1:00 am before the players would bag up.
At this point, Parssinen had pulled ahead, and he continued to pull ahead in the No-Limit Hold’em round that followed, eventually putting Helppi down to just 15 big blinds. They got their chips in during the PLO round with Parssinen holding ace-king-jack-five double suited against Helppi’s double-suited jacks. An ace-high board gave the pot to Parssinen, and Helppi finished in second place for a career best live score of $781,500.
That concludes the coverage of Event #64: $25,000 PLO/NLH High Roller. Stay tuned to PokerNews for continued reporting from the 2026 WSOP.
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