Santhosh Suvarna Wins Third World Series Of Poker Bracelet

Santhosh Suvarna only recorded his first live tournament score in 2020. In the years since that small cash in his home country of India, the poker player and entrepreneur has gone on to accrue over $22.6 million on the circuit, with six titles to his name. Half of those wins have come at the World Series of Poker, with the latest seeing Suvarna emerge victorious in the 2026 WSOP $50,000 no-limit hold’em eight-max event with his third career gold bracelet and $1,922,870 in prize money.

Suvarna is just the second player from India to have won three bracelets. He is now tied for the nation’s highest total with Nipun Java. He stands alone atop the country’s all-time money list, though, as the only Indian to accumulate eight figures in career earnings.

“It means a lot, as many Indians are playing, this bracelet means many more [players from India] will come,” Suvarna told PokerNews live reporters after coming out on top.

This was the third-largest score yet for the Bangalore native. His top payday remains the massive $5.4 million that came with his win in the 2024 WSOP $250,000 buy-in.

Suvarna was awarded 1,326 Card Player Player of the Year points for this latest triumph. That alone was sufficient to put him just outside the top 200 in the 2026 POY race standings presented by CoinPoker. He also earned 550 PokerGO Tour points, placing him 25th on that high-stakes-focused leaderboard.

Business Man Destroys The Pros For Millions

Santhosh Suvarna conquered one of the toughest fields of the summer, topping 167 entries in Event #29: $50,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em to win $1,922,870 and his third WSOP bracelet.

India’s all-time money leader continues to… pic.twitter.com/Hef64UwnZw

— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) June 11, 2026

Thinning The Field

The 167-entry turnout for this nosebleed-stakes affair made for a $7,932,500 prize pool, with the top 26 all earning a share. High rollers like Matthias Eibinger (26th), Eelis Parssinen (25th), Cary Katz (24th), Andrew Lichtenberger (22nd), Adrian Mateos (18th), Ding Biao (15th), and Aleksejs Ponakovs (14th) hit the rail after the money bubble burst late on day 2.

The third and final day of play began with 12 remaining and Suvarna in the lead. More heavy-hitters fell in the first couple of hours of play, including cash-game regular Turbo Nguyen (12th), bracelet winner Ben Heath (11th), two-time bracelet winner Sergio Aido (10th), and bracelet winner Pieter Aerts (9th).

With that, the official final table was set, with the remaining contenders having all locked up at least $199,150 for their efforts. That sum ultimately went to Jans Arends. The Dutch pro, a two-time bracelet winner, got all-in with J♥J♦ leading the A♥J♠ of Anatoly Zlotnikov. The 10♦6♥2♣A♦3♣ runout gave Zlotnikov a winning pair of aces on the turn to end Arends’ run in eighth place. He now has nearly $6.9 million in career cashes to his name after this latest deep run.

Beck And Wilson Fall

With that, Zlotnikov jumped out to a healthy lead going into seven-handed play. The advantage extended even further when he won a massive pot to score the next elimination. Zlotnikov opened to 500,000 from the cutoff with K♣8♣ and Brian Beck called from the small blind with J♠10♠. Suvarna came along from the big blind and the flop came down K♠Q♥8♦. It checked to Zlotnikov and he fired 695,000 with his kings up. Breck called with his open-ended straight draw and backdoor flush outs and Suvarna mucked his unknown holding. The 6♠ turn made Breck’s flush draw fully-fledged. He check-called again, this time for 975,000.

Brandon Wilson

The 8♠ river was an action card, improving both players. Zlotnikov fired 1,140,000 with his full house when checked to and Breck check-shoved for 4,210,000 with his flush. Zlotnikov snap-called to earn the pot and the knockout. Breck $257,770 as the seventh-place finisher.

Brandon Wilson was ground down during early six-handed action, to the point that he had over two-thirds of his stack forced into the pot via the big blind and ante. Chris Brewer made a committing raise from the small blind with 6♥4♠ and Wilson went deep into the tank before calling off with 7♠5♦. The flop and turn came down A♦4♣2♥6♠ to give Brewer two pair and Wilson an open-ended straight draw. The 7♥ completed the board, keeping Brewer’s hand best. Wilson earned $340,905 as the sixth-place finisher. This was his 15th POY-qualified final table, with three titles won along the way. Wilson’s 6,367 total POY points put him well out in front in the overall standings, with a 1,350-point lead over second-ranked Kristen Foxen.

Zlotnikov And Brewer Bow Out

Suvarna won a massive pot with top set of aces versus the queens and nines of Zlotnikov to narrow the gap on the chip leader. Colin Robinson took a big hit early in six-handed play, but soon found several double-ups to get himself back in contention. A few of those came at Zlotnikov’s expense, costing him the top spot.

The Russian’s slide continued when he was forced out of a big pot by the pocket aces of bracelet winner Chang Lee. The two soon clashed again, and this time the South Korean brought Q♠Q♣ with him. Zlotnikov had A♦9♦. The J♥10♦3♠7♣6♦ runout kept Lee’s pocket pair best, sending Zlotnikov to the rail in fifth place ($460,445). This was the seventh final table of the year for Zlotnikov, who won a $25,000 buy-in at Triton Montenegro in May. This latest deep run moved him inside the top 30 in the POY ranks.

The next knockout arrived thanks to a classic preflop race, with Brewer ripping six big blinds from the button with 3♥3♦ and Lee calling from the small blind with A♣J♦. It was Lee who would need to connect with the board, and he did. The runout of A♥J♠J♣J♥A♦ gave him quad jacks and the pot. Brewer earned $634,870 as the fourth-place finisher. The two-time bracelet winner now boasts over $31 million in lifetime cashes.

Three, Two, One

Suvarna landed the next elimination blow. After limping from the small blind with A♥J♣, he called Robinson’s shove from the big blind for 14 big blinds. Robinson’s A♠5♣ was behind preflop, and fell even further back when the flop came down Q♣J♠9♦. The K♦ turn gave Robinson outs to a chop, but the 6♦ on the end sent him packing in third place ($893,225). This was a new top score for the 2024 $2,500 no-limit hold’em bracelet winner.

Heads-up play began with fairly even stacks for Suvarna and Lee. An early successful bluff for the Korean gave him the lead, but Suvarna’s trip deuces picked off another attempt to buy a pot. Suvarna then won a hefty pot with a rivered flush against kings and eights for Lee to jump out to more than a 2:1 chip advantage.

Lee battled on, but was unable to regain the lead from there. In the final hand, Lee limped for 600,000 total from the button with K♠K♦ and Suvarna raised to 2,100,000 from the big blind with 8♥7♥. Lee three-bet to 6,000,000 and Suvarna called. The flop came down 10♦9♦9♣. Suvarna check-called Lee’s bet of 3,500,000 and the turn brought the 8♣. This time it was a check-raise for Suvarna, with him shoving over Lee’s 6,400,000 bet. Lee called off his remaining few million with the overpair and had to fade jacks, eights, and sixes on the river. The 8♠ appeared on the end, improving Suvarna to a winning full house to give him the pot and the title.

Lee earned $1,281,905 as the runner-up, the second-largest score yet for the 2025 WSOP $25,000 eight-max event winner. 

Final Table Results

Photo credit: WSOP / Dominic Iaquinto, Miguel Cortes, Lennart Hennig