Daniel Aharoni Wins World Series Of Poker Big O Championship

The final few tables of the 2026 World Series of Poker $10,000 Big O Championship were stacked with decorated tournament professionals. In the end, though, it was a high-stakes cash game player from New York who scooped the bracelet and the massive top prize of $861,287.

Daniel Aharoni overcame a field of 456 entries in the five-card pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better tournament to hoist the hardware. This was by far the biggest score yet for the Forrest Hills, NY resident. In fact, this one payday was worth more than all of his previous 16 cashes combined. His only previous six-figure score came when he placed seventh in a $100,000 high roller at the 2024 WSOP for $396,396.

Now, Aharoni has nearly $1.5 million in total scores to his name.

This was reportedly Aharoni’s first event played at the series since 2024.

“Very fun. This is the first tournament I’ve entered in two years, so, you know, nice to come to the WSOP. It is fun when everything goes well,” he told PokerNews live update staff after collecting the bracelet. 

“It’s very prestigious. I didn’t think it was in the cards for me, to be honest with you. I never play tournaments, so… very happy,” said Aharoni.

In addition to the bracelet and the money, Aharoni also secured 1,800 Card Player Player of the Year points with this triumph. This was his first POY-qualified score of 2026, but it alone was enough to move him just outside the top 100 in the overall standings presented by CoinPoker.

This win also came with 861 PokerGO Tour points as well, catapulting Aharoni inside the top 20 on the PGT season-long leaderboard.

Making The Money

The top 69 finishers earned a share of the $4,240,800 prize pool in this event, which played out from June 13-16 inside the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.

Bracelet winners seemed to outnumber first-time hopefuls down the stretch, with notables like Ryan Miller (37th), Chris Brewer (36th), Tyler Brown (35th), Robert Cowen (34th), Philip Long (33rd), Scott Abrams (32nd), Eric Wasserson (31st), Gus Hansen (27th), Adrian Buckley (22nd), Qinghai Pan (20th), Frank Brannan (19th), Luis Velador (18th), Lawrence Brandt (17th), Mike Matusow (14th), James Obst (11th), and David Benyamine (10th) all having earned at least one bracelet in the past.

The final table was similarly stacked, with several multi-time bracelet winners looking to add to their collections. Four-time bracelet winners Scott Clements (8th – $80,773) and Sam Soverel (7th – ​​$106,635) both bowed out late on day 3. Two-time bracelet winner Bruno Furth landed both knockouts.

Nick Schulman

Doug Lorgeree then sent three-time bracelet winner Sean Troha packing in sixth place ($143,645). A♦J♠10♦8♦5♥was bested by A♥K♥10♠7♣2♣ on a board of  8♣6♦3♥9♠4♣. Lorgeree had the nuts both ways with a ten-high straight and A-2 for the best possible. Troha now has more than $3.6 million in career cashes, with the majority coming from his success at the series. 

Furth then busted Nick Schulman, who had won his eighth bracelet just a few days earlier in the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. The 41-year-old Poker Hall of Famer got all-in with A♠A♣J♠5♣3♣ against A♥J♥9♠9♣2♦ preflop. The Q♥9♥3♠10♣8♣ saw Furth flop a set and river a straight, which gave him a scoop on the high-only board. He earned $197,362 to bring his lifetime haul to $26.7 million.

Aharoni thought he was eliminated during a big clash with Furth during four-handed action, but Furth pointed out that he had rivered a flush, which was good for a double-up. Not long after that, Aharoni wound up atop the chip counts by the time the final four bagged up for the night. His 87 big blinds were more than twice as many as the nearest competitor, bracelet winner Aaron Kupin.

Four To One

The first knockout of the final day saw the chips get in after a flop of J♠10♠5♥. Furth was at risk with A♠J♥6♣5♠3♣ facing 10♥10♣9♠6♥4♥ for Aharoni. He added an open-ended straight flush draw with the 3♥ turn to go with his set of tens. The A♣ on the end kept Aharoni’s set best for the high side and gave him a 6-5-4-3-A low for the scoop. Furth earned $276,471 as the fourth-place finisher. This pushed his total cashes past $3.3 million.

Kupin doubled through Aharoni during three-handed play. He then got all-in with A♥A♣9♦3♣2♣ against the A♦Q♦9♠5♣2♥ of Lorgeree. The final board of K♥J♣2♦K♣J♥ gave the scoop to Kupin’s pocket aces. Lorgeree was awarded $394,724 for his podium showing.

Heads-up play began with more than a 2:1 lead for Aharoni over Kupin. The advantage grew to over 4:1 before Kupin doubled with eights full of kings to close the gap considerably. Aharoni was able to stretch the lead again ahead of the final hand of the tournament. He limped from the button with A♠10♠10♦6♠4♥ and called Kupin’s raise to 750,000. The flop came down J♣8♥3♥ and Kupin bet the pot for 1,750,000. Aharoni raised, putting Kupin all-in for 3,010,000 more. Kupin called with A♣10♥9♠8♠5♥. The 3♥ turn and 2♦ river saw Aharoni improve to the nut low. His pair of tens was best for the high, giving him the whole pot and the title.

Kupin earned $574,168 as the runner-up. This was a new personal-best score for the 2025 WSOP $2,500 mixed big-bet bracelet winner. He now has more than $2.5 million in lifetime cashes under his belt.

Final Table Results

Photo credit: WSOP / Monique Marestein, Miguel Cortes