Never Too Late to Make It Big – Four Familiar Faces Who Had a Big Summer in 2026

Images courtesy of WSOP, PokerGO

The World Series of Poker is the world’s biggest poker festival, and for hundreds of players, it is the time of the year when they put their hopes and dreams to the test. 

Over the years, we’ve grown accustomed to seeing names like Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, or Shaun Deeb make the headlines, as these relentless grinders seem to always find their way to the winners’ circle. 

Yet, the Series is not just about the famous crushers, but also about the up-and-coming players, and those who have been around for years, but have failed to taste the kind of success that seems to come easily to that elite group. 

This year was a good one for quite a few of those players, with a few having especially good performances at the WSOP. 

Japanese mixed game specialist Naoya Kihara led that group, as he crushed the field, won over $1.5 million and two bracelets, and proved himself to be a truly elite tournament player. 

On the other hand, even players who failed to win bracelets, like Maurice Hawkins, Allen Kessler, and Nicky Palma, had a summer to remember, as they won big, came close to taking home WSOP silverware, and demonstrated their names belong at the very top. 

Naoya Kihara Dominated the Mixed Games

Naoya Kihara is no stranger to the World Series of Poker, and his performances over the years have been quite impressive, but until this year, he was only ever able to win a single WSOP bracelet outright. 

Despite that, Naoya was widely considered as an elite player, and 2026 was the year he finally proved it to everyone with a series of incredible results, which even made him the MVP of Daniel Negreanu’s $25k Fantasy Draft. 

Naoya’s summer started off with a bang, as he was able to win two back-to-back $10k Championship events in early June, in a span of just a few days. 

The two first places in the 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship and the Seven Card Stud Championship bagged him nearly $730,000 in prize money, and tripled his bracelet count before many elite players even made it to Las Vegas for the Series. 

The incredible Japanese grinder was unfortunate not to extend his bracelet count even further this summer, as he got two more third place finishes, as well as two other final table appearances, among his 18 cashes. 

In a single summer, Kihara won more than $1,500,000. Compared to the $2,500,000 he had acquired over his 15-year career, 2026 was easily the best poker year of his entire life, and there are still months to go before it’s over. 

The mixed game master even seriously involved in the Player of the Year race, as he sits among the top three on the leaderboard, right between Shaun Deeb and Alex Foxen, with the WSOP Paradise leg of the Series still left to play. 

While Kihara’s name was spoken with respect among the WSOP grinders for years, this year’s Series ensured that it stays ingrained in the minds of even the more casual poker fans. 

Maurice Hawkins Had a Dream Summer

Maurice Hawkins has been one of the most controversial figures in poker for some years. On the one hand, he has regularly crushed WSOP Circuit events and various other mid-stakes tournament series across the US, but on the other, he’s also gotten himself involved in quite a few scandals. 

And while Maurice’s reputation has suffered some blows he may need to recover from, the one thing no one can deny is that he is one of the most talented No Limit Hold’em tournament players in the world. 

Hawkings is a player who typically sticks to lower to mid buy-in events, and he’s been known to crush those for obscene numbers of buy-ins each and every year. This time around, he showed up on the big stage, and showed everyone how it’s done. 

Early in the summer, Hawkins made the final table of the $600 NLH/PLO Mix event, along with Daniel Negreanu and Alex Foxen of all people. To see three such recognizable names at a final table of a tournament with 3,332 runners was amazing, and Hawkins nearly won it all. 

2026 WSOP SUMMER NUMBERS. When they talk numbers ,I am a One percenter. When they talk titles ,I am number 2 in the WORLD SERIES OF POKER. Currently number 25 in cardplayer P.O.Y, with all my big buyins off one bullet .4 to be exact. Men and women lie , number don’t. #HALLOFFAME pic.twitter.com/R2ROE9Dzgv

— EatingOnAllStages (@mauricehawkins) July 19, 2026

In the end, Maurice lost a heads up duel to Kenneth Gregory, but was still able to win $135,864 in the process, more than 200x the initial buy-in he paid to enter the event. 

Things got even better for Hawkins as the summer neared its end, as he final tabled the $3,000 Mid-Summer Championship event exactly one month after his runner-up finish. 

Maurice was close to his first 7-figure score, which went to Yanting Yiang, while he finished fourth and won $432,875 for his efforts in this one. 

All said and done, Maurice cashed for $638,108, while he only bought in for a total of $70,100, making for an incredible ROI of 809% over the course of the Series. 

While his problems with some of the other players on the circuit remain, we can only hope that this incredible run sets him on the path of making things right across the board and continuing to show the world why he is one of the more talented tournament players on the circuit. 

Nicky Palma Got His Big Break

Nicholas Palma, better known as “Nicky P”, is another tournament player who’s had his share of haters non-believers, and who was never shy about getting into internet feuds and Twitter wars with his rivals. 

For years, we saw Nicky do well on the circuit, but the big scores often eluded him ever so slightly. Yet, he kept believing and never stopped grinding, which he always claims is his best quality. “No one works as hard as I do” – Nicky so often reminds us. 

The summer of 2026 was perhaps the big break Palma was looking for. While he didn’t manage to win a bracelet, he came pretty close, while also capturing a massive score at the ARIA in the BetMGM Championship. 

Nicky was one of the five players who chopped up that $3,500 tournament, and he walked away with a $431,180, with only Joshua Mammen getting a slightly bigger payout. 

Just two weeks later, Palma was back at the final table, this time at a $5,000 NLH WSOP event, with none other than Phil Hellmuth Jr sharing the stage. 

Nicky eventually busted in third and took home another $326,136 for his efforts, while Hellmuth ended up getting denied bracelet #18 by Darren Rabinowitz. 

Despite not winning a bracelet or a major trophy this summer, Nicky P added nearly a million dollars in cashes to his resume, about 20% of his lifetime earnings, and showed the world he really does have what it takes to compete with the very best. 

Palma’s ambition is clear, as he is looking to prove to the poker world that he is one of the absolute best. To do so, all he needs to do is keep grinding and winning, which he seems to have no problem doing, regardless of the opposition. 

Allen Kessler Got Close to His First Bracelet

Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler is an iconic character in the poker world, and a player who needs little introduction. Yet, for all his effort, he still remains without a WSOP bracelet, and it’s one of the biggest mysteries in tournament poker. 

This year, Kessler was closer than ever to winning his first bracelet, as he kept making one deep run after another, staying on top of his game throughout the Series.

Yet, it wasn’t to be for the Chainsaw once again, as he got third place in the $10k Seven Card Stud Championship, eventually won by Kihara, 4th in a $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw, and a number of other ITM finishes that didn’t quite work out. 

For all of you asking how I did this summer, here’s the results from both of my @pokerstakecom @wsop packages.

The winnings are total cashes not profit. @GGPoker@RealKidPoker pic.twitter.com/U9hCcuYEV3

— Allen Kessler (@AllenKessler) July 17, 2026

Yet, despite not winning an event, Kessler finally had a winning WSOP, after a few years of struggling to break a profit in the summer tournaments. 

In total, Allen won well over $250,000, marking a six-figure profit and a highly successful summer for one of the players who make the WSOP the purest poker festival in the world. 

One thing we know for sure is that Allen Kessler will be back in Vegas next year, chasing that elusive bracelet #1, while his travels across America have already continued, with Borgata as the first stop of the post-WSOP grind.