The 2026 WSOP $25,000 Short-Handed No-Limit Hold'em High Roller attracted 242 entries, creating a seven-figure first-place prize of $1,286,285.
166 entries were made on the first day, with 45 players surviving, and Nick Schulman leading the way! Pavel Plesuv was also among the leaders, fifth in stack with 94BB. Artur Martirosian had around 70BB and was not in the top ten, but very comfortable.
Late registration for the tournament continued until the end of the first level of the second day.
Martin Kabrhel was among the last-minute players to sit down. His 15bb stack lasted just one hand. After losing the coin flip to Petrangelo, Martin shouted to his neighbors that he truly enjoyed the tournament.
With such a plethora of short stacks, the game became lively, and the bubble burst quickly. When Artur Martirosian and Pavel Plesuv went to dinner, Artur and Sean Winter were the chip leaders with 3 million chips, while Pavel had 2,100,000. The big blind was 30,000.
Shortly after dinner, Artur defended his BB with offsuit against Justin Arnwine.
The flop came , and Arnwine made a continuation bet of 60,000. Artur check-raised to 240,000. Arnwine, who went into the break with a stack of 2,600,000, had . He shoved in around 1,600,000, apparently trying to quickly recoup the million or so chips he'd lost. Artur called and held on for the tournament's biggest pot to date.
Without slowing down, Artur continued to destroy everyone around him. At one point, he fell victim to a cooler, losing a nearly three-million-dollar pot to Reuter straight after straight, leaving him with... 5,600,000 – still room to spare!
Pavel wasn't bored either: at the 20k/40k level, he had the same 5,600,000 chips—a solid stack, even for the final table. At two tables, Pavel and Artur periodically took turns at the top of the leaderboard. But in the end, Sean Winter took the lead, taking the chip lead into the final table, which was played 7-max the following day.
Finalists and Stacks:
| Player | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| Pavel Plesuv | Republic of Moldova | 5,965,000 (60BB) |
| Chance Kornuth | United States | 835,000 (8BB) |
| Sean Winter | United States | 7,950,000 (80BB) |
| Yosuke Miki | Japan | 4,605,000 (46BB) |
| Marius Gierse | Austria | 3,888,000 (39BB) |
| Artur Martirosian | Russian Federation | 6,545,000 (65BB) |
| Clemens Reuter | Austria | 4,530,000 (45BB) |
Prizes:
- $1,286,285 + Bracelet
- $857,510
- $597,635
- $421,718
- $301,347
- $218,091
- $159,884
In the very first hand in which Artur entered the game, he defended the BB and, having led the flop, bet three barrels into the Japanese guest with nothing.
The bluff worked.
Pavel's first entry into the game wasn't quite as bravura – a BB defense against Winter, check-call on the flop, and check-fold on the turn.
The second attempt turned out to be more interesting.
Pavel flopped a set, then checked both the flop and the turn (on the turn, the solver unexpectedly called for an overbet, which, if you think about it, isn't that strange). On the river, Pavel moved him all-in.
Reuter became dejected, spent all his time cards, and folded. Left with a stack of less than 10 big blinds, he open-shoved in the next hand with AJo. Artur, in the big blind, called with QTo.
The river brought a jack.
Artur didn't even rise from his chair. After bumping fists with his knocked-out opponent, he sighed and continued arranging his new chips.
Kornuth busted almost immediately after Reuter. He made a good play from his eight blinds and got all-in with AKs against the Japanese player's AQs for a good stack, but two queens were shown by the dealer.
Artur opened with A6o and minraised from the cutoff. Winter looked at K9o from the big blind and reraised by 6x! Artur had to fold. 1-0 for Winter.
But the score quickly evened out when Artur defended the big blind with T6o against Winter's cutoff attack. On the low flop, Artur led with top pair, then checked the turn and river. Winter decided to try a bluff with A-high.
"I'll be shocked if we see a fold now," Nanonoko shared. He wasn't disappointed—Artur called quite quickly.
At 100k/150k blinds with a 150k ante (there's even such a strange level in the World Series structure!), the Japanese player min-raised with KQo. Pavel probably wasn't too keen on defending Q6o in the big blind, so he three-bet 1.2 million! And Yosuke simply folded his dominant hand.
"Silent killer," Joe Stapleton commented. "He has a bracelet from the Millionaire Maker tournament, but something tells me he was a millionaire before that."
At the same level, Artur opened Q7s from the cutoff, and Pavel, who had by then reached second stack, called on the button. On the flop, Artur bet 40% with a flush draw and was called. The turn was an offsuit ace.
“Mere mortals would definitely have put a second barrel here,” Nanonoko remarked, clearly referring to herself.
Artur checked and folded.
Commentators were generous with their praise.
Before the break, Winter finally got something that looked like a hand – aces. Moreover, after raising, he received a three-bet from the Japanese player. Winter responded with a flat four-bet, and the Japanese player folded as usual. .
Chip count during the break:
- Martirosian – 11,905,000
- Winter – 9,650,000
- Plesuv – 8,250,000
- Miki – 4,880,000
- Gierse – 1,715,000
With the new blinds, Gierse's stack became so pitiful that Artur was all-in with K3s.
The full house didn't show up. The competitors bumped fists again, and there were four left at the table.
But not for long! Just a couple of minutes later, they had to say goodbye to another one.
Artur went all-in. Miki called rather decisively, but luck wasn't on his side.
This 4-bet went through, and both opponents formally folded their stronger hands.
Then there was a very beautiful hand, which was shown as a Mystery hand.
Preflop, Winter three-bet, and Artur called. Continuation bet on the flop, then a call. The turn went check, check. On the river, Winter checked and was all-in.
After some hesitation, he folded his cards, and the broadcast directors showed Artur's hand: .
But the next bluff didn't work against Plesuv on the river. Admittedly, he had a better hand.
In another hand, Artur raised to 400,000 from the button, and Pavel called from the small blind. Winter, holding J6s, squeezed to 1,500,000. Artur folded 96o, and Pavel, holding KQs, moved all-in. Well done, Plesuv!
As often happens in such cases, the stubborn regular only busted when a cooler was dealt.
Pavel raised to 1,400,000 and called all-in.
No miracle happened, and Winter was out. Pavel took the lead with 18,350,000 to 17,960,000.
The one-on-one battle lasted significantly longer than two hours.
At the very beginning of the HU broadcast, the organizers posted a caption with Artur Martirosian's stats at this table: VPIP/PFR 48/32! A never-ending grind and a perfectly professional performance from the chip leader!
But one-on-one is a completely different game, and here we had a match made in heaven. Pavel wasn't about to hold back.
He 3-bet preflop, barreled the flop, and when he got called, he didn't give up and pressed on the turn. Beautiful!
But where would we be without a cooler in favor of the future winner?
Artur made the call (the solver asked for a small raise, but the commentators thought that was crazy) and took back the top spot.
A funny runout allowed Pavel to win a chop with an overbet on the river.
Preflop, Pavel raised, then continuation bet the flop, called the lead on the turn, and overbet against a check on the river.
The stacks were tied after the following hand:
Artur managed to find a fold.
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Literally in the next hand, Pavel found a fold – and he turned out to be wrong!
He 3-bet preflop and then continuation bet and folded on the flop, which looks like some kind of bad read.
There was another big pot before the break. Artur three-bet with jacks, got called, and fired two barrels on the board. On the river ( ), it went check-check, and Pavel had fives.
Stacks at Break Time:
- Martirosian – 27,075,000
- Plesuv – 9,225,000
Soon Artur made an inviting limp with A5s and caught his opponent all-in for 14bb with K4o.
Artur even rose to his feet on this occasion, but fate demanded a continuation – on the river, Pavel was given a straight.
However, as soon as the stacks came dangerously close, Artur turned on the killer instinct again.
Pavel folded.
The grueling heads-up battle continued. The cards favored Artur, and he gradually pushed for a second all-in preflop.
Turn – . River – .
“Congrats, bro,” Pavel was the first to congratulate his opponent on the bracelet, speaking in English.
"I love playing heads-up," Artur said in an interview with Jeff Platt. "The stacks were deep, we played for, like, three hours, but I wasn't tired and could have played for another three hours. Even after losing a coin flip, I don't lose heart and keep fighting. My opponent today was my friend Pavel. I think we were the strongest at the final table today. I had the advantage of experience heads-up, but he played great. However, I had better luck at key moments."
Congratulations to the winners!
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Artur Martirosian | Russian Federation | $1,286,285 |
| 2 | Pavel Plesuv | Moldova, Republic of | $857,510 |
| 3 | Sean Winter | United States | $597,635 |
| 4 | Yosuke Miki | Japan | $421,718 |
| 5 | Marius Gierse | Austria | $301,347 |
| 6 | Chance Kornuth | United States | $218,091 |
