By Alex Drummond, Editor-in-Chief · June 19, 2026 · Fact-checked by Maya Chen
Marco Johnson defeated Chino Rheem heads-up at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas on Thursday evening to win Event #49 of the 2026 World Series of Poker, the $2,500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em, banking the US$513,885 first prize and his third career WSOP bracelet. The result also produced a strong cash for Canada's Elliot Smith, who finished seventh for US$75,390, his largest WSOP cash in two years.
Event #49 drew 1,561 entries over two starting days and generated a prize pool of US$3,473,225. Johnson, a Brooklyn-based mixed-game and Hold'em professional best known on the East Coast tournament circuit as "Crazy Marco," began the final day in third position with roughly 9.2 million chips, behind chip leader Faraz Jaka. He ground his way through the back half of the day and entered heads-up against Rheem at approximate parity before pulling away over the course of forty hands.
The deciding hand
The final pot was, by tournament Hold'em standards, painful in its outcome. Johnson held A♠5♦, Rheem held A♠4♣. The flop came 4♦2♠5♣, giving Rheem a pair of fours and Johnson a pair of fives with a backdoor straight draw. Money went in on the flop. The turn and river bricked off for Rheem, completing Johnson's straight and ending heads-up. Rheem collected US$341,970 for runner-up.
The result extends one of the longest-running bridesmaid stories in tournament poker. Rheem, 45, who finished seventh in the 2008 WSOP Main Event for US$1.77 million, holds three World Poker Tour titles, more than 137 WSOP cashes and approximately US$11 million in career live tournament earnings. He has never won a WSOP bracelet. Thursday night's runner-up makes Event #49 his ninth WSOP final-table without a victory. The PokerNews and Poker.org breaking-news desks both flagged the absent gold in their wraps.
Johnson's third
Johnson's bracelet was the first of his WSOP career in a pure No-Limit Hold'em event. His first, in 2013, came in a $1,500 Limit Hold'em event for US$181,400. His second, in 2018, was the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship for US$311,512. The Hold'em title arrives roughly twenty-two final-table appearances after the H.O.R.S.E. win, according to the Card Player tournament archive. The Card Player headline for the wrap framed the story as "Marco Johnson Earns First World Series of Poker NLH Bracelet."
The 36-year-old, a graduate of the Mid-Atlantic poker circuit who has played essentially every major Las Vegas summer tournament since 2011, has logged more than 250 lifetime WSOP cashes and US$3.8 million in WSOP earnings, per the WSOP.com standings.
Canadian Elliot Smith finishes seventh
Elliot Smith, a Canadian tournament regular ranked 45th on the Top 100 Canadian live players by lifetime earnings, finished seventh in Event #49 for US$75,390. The cash is his largest at the WSOP since his 29th-place finish in the 2024 $3,000 Mid-Stakes No-Limit Hold'em Championship, which paid US$34,253.
Smith carries approximately US$2.31 million in career live tournament earnings, with a WSOP resume that includes 35 cashes, US$669,162 in cumulative WSOP earnings and a long history of deep runs in $1,500 and $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em events. Per public records, he has played the WSOP Circuit Toronto and Deerfoot Inn stops in Canada and travels to Las Vegas annually for the summer series. Seventh-place finishes in WSOP Las Vegas events of this size are uncommon for Canadian players outside the touring professional class; Thursday's result places Smith inside the top ten Canadian WSOP 2026 deep-runners alongside Frederic Normand, Christopher Alcindor, Kristen Foxen and Clayton Mozdzen.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marco Johnson | United States | $513,885 |
| 2 | Chino Rheem | United States | $341,970 |
| 3 | Kenzo Ishida | Japan | $246,800 |
| 4 | Faraz Jaka | United States | $180,210 |
| 5 | Srivinay Irrinki | United States | $133,170 |
| 6 | Vamerdino Magsakay | Philippines | $99,590 |
| 7 | Elliot Smith | Canada | $75,390 |
| 8 | Pyeongkang Kim | South Korea | $57,780 |
| 9 | Sebastian Schulze | Germany | $44,840 |
Event #49: $2,500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em, 1,561 entries, US$3,473,225 prize pool. Source: Spade Poker and PokerNews live reporting.
The $25K PLO HR final, in parallel
One room over, Event #47, the $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller covered in detail in Friday morning's edition of OntarioPoker, played down to its final five at 2 p.m. local time and is expected to play to a winner late Friday or early Saturday. Finland's Eelis Pärssinen carried 35,225,000 chips and a 52-per-cent share of chips in play into the final five, with the United States' Levon Khachatryan in second at 20,100,000. The first-place prize is US$2,161,056. Alex Foxen, who busted seventh on Day 3, leads the WSOP Player of the Year standings.
Daniel Negreanu finished Event #47 26th for US$69,531, his first WSOP cash of 2026 after registering for at least eleven bracelet events. The Toronto-born professional was eliminated by Foxen on Day 3.
The Canadian summer, mid-series
Through Event #49, the 2026 World Series has produced three Canadian-flag bracelets, with combined gold of US$2,395,570. Frederic Normand won Event #21 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo on June 6 for US$235,377. Kristen Foxen, born in St. Catharines, Ontario, won Event #19 $25,000 High Roller on June 7 for US$1,773,083. Christopher Alcindor closed the eight-day hat-trick on June 8 with the Big O for US$387,110.
Below the bracelets, the secondary Canadian ledger is filling out. Clayton Mozdzen finished runner-up in Event #37 H.O.R.S.E. for US$122,206. Orlando Moretti of Bolton, Ontario added US$64,992 with a sixth-place finish in the $800 Deepstack. Negreanu's locked US$69,531 from Event #47 and Smith's US$75,390 from Event #49 lift the running total to approximately US$2.73 million in Canadian notable cash for the series, with two weeks remaining before the WSOP Main Event opens on July 2.
| Player | Event | Result | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kristen Foxen | #19 $25K High Roller NLH | 1st (bracelet) | $1,773,083 |
| Christopher Alcindor | #22 $1,500 Big O | 1st (bracelet) | $387,110 |
| Frederic Normand | #21 $1,500 PLO Hi-Lo | 1st (bracelet) | $235,377 |
| Clayton Mozdzen | #37 $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. | 2nd | $122,206 |
| Elliot Smith | #49 $2,500 Freezeout NLH | 7th | $75,390 |
| Daniel Negreanu | #47 $25,000 PLO High Roller | 26th | $69,531 |
| Orlando Moretti (Bolton, ON) | #43 $800 Deepstack NLH | 6th | $64,992 |
Notable Canadian results, 2026 WSOP, through Event #49. Source: WSOP.com, PokerNews, Hendon Mob.
What's next this weekend
Saturday opens with five bracelet events in progress. Event #50, the $1,500 Millionaire Maker, is in the middle of a four-flight starting structure with Day 1B completed Thursday and Day 1C and 1D still to play Friday and Saturday. Event #51, the $10,000 Mystery Bounty No-Limit Hold'em, runs Day 2 on Saturday. Event #52, the $3,000 Nine Game Mix, has a Day 2 underway. Event #54, the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship, opened Thursday and will run Day 2 Saturday. The next bracelet to conclude is Event #47's PLO High Roller, expected by midnight Friday Las Vegas time.
For Ontario players watching from home, the GGPoker Ontario satellite ladders for the WSOP Super Circuit Canada at Playground in August continue to run nightly. The full regulated market is covered on the best poker sites in Ontario page; deep-tournament guarantees across all six operators are listed on the tournament schedule; and the GGPoker Ontario review covers the WSOP qualifier route for the August live circuit.