Eelis Parssinen Wins World Series of Poker $25,000 PLO Bracelet

Eelis Parssinen now stands at the very peak of pot-limit Omaha tournament poker.

The Finnish high-stakes star emerged victorious from a field of 451 entries in the 2026 World Series of Poker $25,000 PLO eight-max event to earn $2,161,056 and his second career bracelet. His first came in a $5,000 mixed no-limit hold’em and PLO event at the 2021 WSOP.

This was the 37-year-old’s second multi-million dollar win in a PLO event, having taken down the Triton Monte Carlo $100,000 buy-in in the format in 2024 for a career-best score of $2,270,000.

This latest triumph was the second-largest yet for the Finn. He now has nearly $22.6 million in total earnings, with more than $12 million of that coming from his success in this particular game. That puts him in first place on the PLO money list, surpassing Lautaro Guerra’s $10.9 million thanks to this triumph at the series. This achievement came mere days after Calvin Anderson became the all-time winningest razz player in WSOP history.

“I mean, the last 15 years I’ve mostly been playing PLO, some tournaments, and yeah, mostly PLO,” Parssinen told PokerNews live reporters when asked about winning his second bracelet in the game he’s focused on for so long. “So yeah, it really feels special. Especially the $25,000, which I think is one of the nicest tournaments of the year.”

Quad Nines Over Kings Full Flips Final Showdown On Its Head

Parssinen was trailing during the early heads-up action in this tournament, but one wild cooler helped kickstart his surge across the finish line. Levon Khachatryan raised to three big blinds from the button with K♥K♦10♣5♦ and Parssinen called from the big blind with K♠Q♣9♠9♥. The flop came down K♣9♣9♦ for the most action flop imaginable. Parssinen checked his quads and Khachatryan fired 1,200,000 into the pot of 4,200,000 with kings full. After calling the flop, Parssinen checked again on the 4♥ turn. Khachatryan checked behind and the J♦ completed the board. Parssinen fired 3,600,000 and Khachatryan raised to 12,000,000. Parssinen shoved for 13,900,000 total and, of course, received a quick call. With that, the lead and momentum swapped hands. Soon enough, Parssinen was posing for his latest winner’s photo.

In addition to the hardware and the money, Parssinen also scored a massive haul of rankings points with this victory. He secured 2,520 Card Player Player of the Year points as the champion. This was his second title and eighth final-table finish of 2026. With 4,821 total points, he now sits in fourth place in the 2026 POY standings presented by CoinPoker.

The 800 PokerGO Tour points that came with the title also moved him into 12th place in the PGT’s season-long rankings.

Thinning A Hefty Field

The turnout for this event, while down 7.8 percent from the previous year’s record field of 489, was still the third-largest since this tournament first debuted in 2015. The 2024 running drew 476 for the second-highest number of entries to date. As a result of this year’s impressive draw, the final prize pool swelled to $10,598,500. The top 68 finishers made the money, with stars like Jason Koon (65th), Gus Hansen (64th), Josh Arieh (63rd), Chad Eveslage (50th), James Obst (46th), Santhosh Suvarna (45th), Robert Cowen (44th), Jason Mercier (34th) were eliminated late on day 2.

Day 3 began with 31 remaining and four-time bracelet winner Alex Foxen in the lead. More high-stakes crushers were sent to the rail on the march to the final table, with the likes of Artur Martirosian (29th), Ka Kwan Lau (27th), Daniel Negreanu (26th), Bryce Yockey (24th), Chance Kornuth (22nd), Dylan Linde (18th), Joao Simao (17th), Ian Matakis (16th), and Ding Biao (12th) running deep.

Parssinen had claimed the top spot on the leaderboard by the time the remaining field fit around a single table. Brevin Andreadis soon fell in ninth, with his second-nut flush draw running into the nut flush draw and straight wrap of Matthew Costanzo. The latter draw came in on the end to send Andreadis home with $156,997.

Bracelet winner and recent Triton Montenegro $75,000 PLO six-max event champion Richard Gryko and Parssinen squared off in a big clash during eight-handed play. The chips went in preflop with K♠K♣9♥8♥ for Gryko and Q♦Q♣10♦4♣ for the Finn, who had fallen out of the lead in the early final-table action. The Q♠5♥4♥A♠A♦ gave Parssinen queens fulls of aces for the knockout. Gryko settled for $203,027 as the eighth-place finisher.

Foxen Loses With Aces vs. Aces To Fall In Seventh

Alex Foxen

Parssinen was not done with the massive preflop showdowns, though. He was soon all-in again, this time with A♠A♦7♥7♦ against A♣A♥Q♦2♣ for recent $10,000 no-limit hold’em super turbo bounty champion Alex Foxen. The 7♣5♦3♦ flop was all Parssinen, as it improved him to top set and the nut flush draw. The 6♦ turn was the clincher, and the 4♥ officially sent the massive pot to Parssinen.

Foxen was left with fewer than two big blinds after that crushing defeat. He managed one double up, flopping top set to crack the pocket aces of Sergio Martinez Gonzalez, but was soon at risk again. Foxen’s Q♣10♣9♣6♣ was unable to overcome the A♠Q♠8♠4♣ of Parssinen, who made aces up to end Foxen’s run in seventh place ($267,993). The four-time bracelet winner now has over $60.8 million in career cashes to his name after this latest deep run. It was his fourth final-table finish of the series, which has also seen his wife Kristen Foxen earn her sixth bracelet.

Foxen earned 630 POY points for his 11th overall final-table finish of 2026. He has won five titles so far this year. With 6,759 total points, Foxen has seized the top spot on the POY leaderboard. He now sits 242 points ahead of second-ranked Brandon Wilson (6,517 points). Kristen Foxen is in third with 5,017 points accrued across eight POY-qualified final tables. Both Foxens are also among the leaders in the PGT standings, with Alex currently ranked second and Kristen in fourth place.

Costanzo, Druckman Sent Packing By Martinez Gonzalez

Day 3 concluded after the elimination of Costanzo in sixth place ($360,930). It was a rollercoaster runout between his 8♦8♣7♥3♦ and Martinez Gonzalez’s K♥J♦6♥4♦. The flop came down 9♦7♠7♣ to give Costanzo trips and the lead, only for the Q♦ turn to give Martinez Gonzalez a jack-high flush draw and a gutshot. The 10♣ on the river completed Martinez Gonzalez’s straight to end Costanzo’s tournament. This was the largest score yet for the Miller Place, New York resident.

Even with that knockout, Martinez Gonzalez was still toward the bottom of the chip counts when the final five bagged up at the end of day 3. Parssinen was well out in front, with Khachatryan on the next-largest stack.

Just five players remain in Event #47: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller, and Eelis Parssinen sits atop the leaderboard.

The Finnish pot-limit Omaha specialist is in search of his second WSOP gold bracelet and over $2.1 million for first place!!

Current POY leader, @WAFoxen,… pic.twitter.com/o7dwkYzgWi

— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) June 19, 2026

On the first deal of day 4, Jeremy Druckman got all-in with 10♦10♣5♥4♠ and Martinez Gonzalez called with A♣K♣J♥10♥. The 5♣3♠2♠Q♣ runout gave the Spaniard his second consecutive knockout, although there was an overnight break in play in between. Druckman earned $495,769 as the fifth-place finisher. This was the Philadelphia resident’s largest score yet. It topped two previous cashes for $182,000 each, which included a win in a $10,000 buy-in at the PGT PLO Series At Venetian.

Mermelstein and Martinez Gonzalez Bow Out Ahead Of Heads-Up Finale

Two-time World Poker Tour main event champion Aaron Mermelstein lost all but a handful of big blinds from his stack when his pocket queens butted heads with the pocket kings of Martinez Gonzalez. Not long after that, he got all-in after a 9♦7♠5♥ flop after committing most of his stack preflop. His K♠Q♠J♦8♦ was behind the K♣J♣9♥9♣ of Khachatryan. The A♦ turn gave Mermelstein a diamond draw to go with his gutshot, but the 5♣ river locked it up for Khachatryan. Mermelstein secured $694,268 as the fourth-place finisher. He now has nearly $5.8 million in career cashes.

Martinez Gonzalez’s stack dwindled during early three-handed action, but he soon found a double-up through Parssinen. That hit moved Parssinen out of the top spot. Khachatryan then won a big pot against Martinez Gonzalez with pocket aces to extend his lead.

In Martinez Gonzalez’s final hand, Parssinen limped the button with Q♣J♠8♣7♣. Martinez Gonzalez checked with K♠10♣4♥3♣ from the big blind and the flop came down 6♠4♦2♠. The Spanish PLO crusher led out for 1,300,000 and Parssinen called. The 5♦ turn made straights for both players. Martinez Gonzalez checked with his six-high straight and called when Parssinen fired 2,650,000 with his eight-high straight. The 2♥ completed the board and Martinez Gonzalez checked. Parssinen bet enough to cover his opponent’s remaining 7,650,000. Martinez Gonzalez thought for several minutes, using up his remaining time extensions before eventually making the call to finish third ($990,849).

This was the second time that Martinez Gonzalez had made a podium showing in this tournament, having been the runner-up in 2023 for $1.4 million. He also won a Triton Jeju $100,000 PLO event in 2025 for more than $2.3 million. Thanks in large part to these three scores, he now boasts just shy of $5 million in lifetime earnings.

Parssinen Rides Momentum From Crazy Cooler To Victory

The heads-up showdown began with 39,200,000 for Khachatryan and 29,000,000 for Parssinen. The massive cooler mentioned earlier, with quads over top boat, saw that lead turned on its head in a hurry.

The Dream Flop… For Both Players

With a WSOP bracelet and $2,161,056 up top, Levon Khachatryan and Eelis Pärssinen collide in an unbelievable heads-up cooler. Khachatryan flops top full house, while Pärssinen flops quads, creating one of the wildest PLO hands of the summer. pic.twitter.com/eqbK2p4U5S

— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) June 20, 2026

Khachatryan strung together a few pots to bounce back, but soon lost a sizable clash to see Parssinen’s chip advantage grow to over 2:1. That gap continued to widen as the night wore on.

By the time the final hand arrived, Parssinen had more than a 5:1 lead. Khachatryan limped in from the button for 800,000 total with A♦Q♣3♥3♦. Parssinen raised to 2,400,000 with A♥A♣6♦2♣ and Khachatryan jammed for 11,200,000. Parssinen made the call and the board rolled off 10♥5♥2♥J♠10♠, keeping his pocket aces best to bring the tournament to a close.

Khachatryan earned $1,440,680 as the runner-up, by far the largest score yet for the Glendale, California resident.

Final Table Results

Photo credits: WSOP / Tyler Abrams, Miguel Cortes