The largest first prize of the 2026 World Series of Poker was handed out on Wednesday to India’s Santhosh Suvarna, who topped the 167-entry field in the $50,000 8-Max High Roller to claim $1,922,870 and his third WSOP bracelet.
The win ties him with Nipun Java for the most bracelets among Indian players and extends his seemingly insurmountable lead atop his country’s money list with $22,657,853, according to the Hendon Mob. Vivek Rajkumar, who hasn’t recorded a live cash since 2019, is a distant second at $8,080,012.
Turning the tide at the final table
The final day of play was filled with drama, as while Suvarna entered the day with the chip lead, an insane heater for Russian Anatoly Zlotnikov, who began the day in the middle of the 12-player pack, rocketed him into a massive lead for the streamed final table of six.
Zlotnikov held over half the chips in play for the final six, but the aggression that had earned him his lead would cost him as he first ceded his lead to Suvarna and then fell soon after in fifth place.
A key hand that turned the tide for Suvarna saw him call progressively larger bets on each street from Zlotnikov on a board of 
.
Suvarna held 
, turning top pair and rivering a flush to beat the Russian’s triple barrel bluff with just 
to regain the lead.
It was a hand that Suvarna said he had been waiting for since Zlotnikov took over the chip lead.
“He’s an aggressive player. At the final table, all the time he was winning, so I thought, I’ll wait for a big hand. So I waited, and I got it. The river flush meant I thought I was winning, so that was the big hand.”
Suvarna denies Lee second bracelet in as many years
Following Zlotnikov’s demise, Chris Brewer and Colin Robinson were the next to go in fourth and third place, respectively, leaving Suvarna heads up with last year’s WSOP $25,000 8-Max High Roller champion Chang 'Jack' Lee.
Lee won his title last summer in the first WSOP event that he’d ever played. On Wednesday, he was on the verge of claiming Vegas hardware for the second year in a row, but it wasn’t to be.
After a closely fought battle, Suvarna began to pull away, leading to a dramatic final hand which saw Lee get his final chips in on a 
turn holding 
, while Suvarna tabled 
for bottom pair and a straight draw.
Instead of the straight coming in for Suvarna, he found the other way to win, as the dealer placed the 
on the river, giving Suvarna three eights for his third bracelet.
“Oh my God, it was like a dream,” he told us, shaking his head.
“The river comes eight against kings? It’s magic, I think.”
And now for a $1M cash game
Suvarna will be looking to make more magic at the WSOP, starting on Friday with the Hustler Casino Live Million Dollar Cash Game here in the WSOP arena inside the Paris ballroom.
Scheduled to appear alongside the newly crowned three-time WSOP champ are Alan Keating, ‘Texas’ Mike Moncek, Martin Kabrhel, Eric Wasserson, and more.
Can Suvarna ride the momentum of his nearly $2M win into that huge game?
“Hopefully the luck will be at that table also,” he said.
$50,000 High Roller final table results:
- Santhosh Suvarna (India) – $1,922,870
- Chang 'Jack' Lee (South Korea) - $1,281,905
- Colin Robinson (USA) - $893,225
- Chris Brewer (USA) - $634,870
- Anatoly Zlotnikov (Russia) - $460,445
- Brandon Wilson (USA) - $340,905
- Brian Breck (USA) - $257,770
- Jans Arends (Netherlands) - $199,150
- Pieter Aerts (Belgium) - $157,280
Images courtesy of WSOP.
