By Alex Drummond, Editor-in-Chief · June 20, 2026 · Fact-checked by Maya Chen
Finland's Eelis Pärssinen captured his second career World Series of Poker bracelet late Friday night at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas, winning Event #47, the $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller, for US$2,161,056 over a 451-entry field that generated a prize pool of US$10,598,500.
Pärssinen, 30, entered the four-handed live-streamed final day with 35,225,000 chips, more than 52 per cent of all chips in play and a stack larger than the next four combined. He never relinquished the lead. After two hours of careful pot-control play, he closed out the tournament against American Levon Khachatryan in an ace-versus-ace situation that resolved on a 10-5-2 of hearts flop, J-of-spades turn and 10-of-spades river, with Pärssinen's A♥A♣6♦2♣ running clear of Khachatryan's A♦Q♣3♦3♥ to make aces full of tens. Khachatryan banked US$1,440,680 for second.
The result is the second WSOP bracelet of Pärssinen's career. His first came in 2021, when he won Event #64, the $5,000 Mixed No-Limit Hold'em / Pot-Limit Omaha, for US$545,616. Five years on, he adds a second title in roughly five lifetime WSOP appearances. "I don't play these live tournaments too often. I wouldn't consider myself a live player," Pärssinen told the PokerNews floor reporter after the win. "I like to play live, but I mean, this is my fifth WSOP tournament ever."
The final five
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eelis Pärssinen | Finland | $2,161,056 |
| 2 | Levon Khachatryan | United States | $1,440,680 |
| 3 | Sergio Martinez Gonzalez | Spain | $990,849 |
| 4 | Aaron Mermelstein | United States | $694,268 |
| 5 | Jeremy Druckman | United States | $495,769 |
Event #47: $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller, 451 entries, US$10,598,500 prize pool. Final day live-streamed on PokerGO. Source: PokerNews live reporting.
The decisive hand
Heads-up against Khachatryan, who had built a chip lead through the middle stages of the final five at a 1:1.5 ratio, Pärssinen worked his stack back to parity over thirty hands and then waited for a spot. The spot arrived with both players holding double aces, which in Pot-Limit Omaha is a coin flip more often than a guarantee. Pärssinen's A♥A♣6♦2♣ held a double-suited rundown that played for back-door straight and flush equity. Khachatryan's A♦Q♣3♦3♥ carried a higher kicker and trips equity to go with the aces.
The board ran 10♥ 5♥ 2♥ J♠ 10♠. Pärssinen's deuce paired the board on the flop and his aces ran out clean once the second ten on the river paired the jack-ten in a way that played his A-A from his hand with the 10-10-J on the board for aces full of tens. Khachatryan's two threes were dead by the river; his nut-flush draw missed when the fourth heart never arrived.
Pärssinen, in his own words
The post-win quotes from Pärssinen, captured by the PokerNews floor reporter, were typically Nordic in their reluctance to oversell. "I mean, the last fifteen years, I've been mostly playing PLO, some tournaments and yeah, mostly PLO," he said. "So yeah, it really feels special. Especially when it's the $25,000, which I think is one of the nicest tournaments of the year."
Asked whether he had felt pressure carrying a runaway chip lead into Friday's final, he was direct. "I don't think it adds any pressure. I mean, as you know, anything can happen in this game. I didn't have any expectations. Of course, in the back of your mind, you think you're supposed to win this tournament so often returning as the chip leader, but I mean, I was fortunate enough today to close it out."
Pärssinen's self-deprecation extended to questions about his place in the Finnish tournament hierarchy. Patrik Antonius, also of Helsinki, sits at the top of Finland's all-time live tournament earnings table at roughly US$50 million. "Who is the number one? Patrik? He must be US$20 million ahead of me. I mean, I don't care about that too much. I just want to play, as long as I enjoy the game and the competition. And I hope the results will follow."
His career live earnings, by Hendon Mob figures, now sit just above US$20 million following the Event #47 win, lifting him to the second position behind Antonius on the Finnish all-time list and ahead of Sami Kelopuro and Niklas Astedt.
The closing chapter on a week of Canadian-adjacent coverage
For OntarioPoker readers, the Pärssinen win closes a story arc that has driven five consecutive daily editions, beginning Tuesday with Daniel Negreanu's seventh-place Day 1b bag and ending Friday night with the bracelet ceremony. Two Canadian-adjacent storylines wove through the week. Daniel Negreanu, the Toronto-born professional, made his first WSOP cash of the 2026 series with a 26th-place finish for US$69,531 minimum cash, his deepest live PLO run at a WSOP. Alex Foxen, the New York-born husband of St. Catharines-born Kristen Foxen, busted in seventh for US$267,993 after entering Day 3 as the chip leader; the result ended his bid to win two open-buy-in bracelets within six days, after Sunday's Event #44 Super Turbo Bounty win for US$594,246.
The Foxens, with ten combined WSOP bracelets across the household, still hold the most-decorated-married-couple distinction in WSOP history. Kristen Foxen's June 7 win in the $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em for US$1,773,083 was the third of three Canadian-flag bracelets in an eight-day window in early June, alongside Frederic Normand's $1,500 PLO Hi-Lo title for US$235,377 and Christopher Alcindor's $1,500 Big O title for US$387,110.
Negreanu's 26th-place finish was his only WSOP cash through twenty-five days of the series. His next likely opportunities are Event #54 ($10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship), which started Thursday, and the WSOP Main Event, which opens July 2.
The Canadian summer, by the numbers
| 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 and the Hendon Mob.
Through Event #49, the Canadian total notable cash for the 2026 series sits at approximately US$2.73 million. The eight-day stretch in early June that produced three bracelets remains the strongest single Canadian stretch at a Las Vegas WSOP since 2013. The 2026 series still has roughly twelve days of bracelet events to play before the WSOP Main Event opens on July 2, with Mystery Millions (Event #63, $1,000 buy-in), Event #54 ($10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship), Event #50 (the $1,500 Millionaire Maker, with two starting flights still to play through Saturday) and several other Canadian-friendly mid-stakes events still in motion.
What to watch this weekend
Saturday opens with seven bracelet events in progress. Event #50, the $1,500 Millionaire Maker, runs Day 1C Friday and Day 1D Saturday, with combined Day 2 expected Sunday. Event #51, the $10,000 Mystery Bounty No-Limit Hold'em, runs Day 2 Saturday. Event #52, the $3,000 Nine Game Mix, has Shaun Deeb in commanding chip lead entering its Day 2; a Deeb victory would be his seventh career bracelet and would push him further up the all-time list. Event #54, the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship, opens Day 2 Saturday with a Canadian field that has historically included Daniel Negreanu, Mike Leah and Kristen Foxen.
Ontario players watching from home can monitor the PokerNews live blog through the weekend and the PokerGO live stream for the Event #50 and Event #54 broadcasts. The full regulated Ontario market is covered on the best poker sites in Ontario page; the tournament schedule covers the next four weeks of regulated guarantees across all six operators; and the GGPoker Ontario page covers the satellite ladders for the WSOP Super Circuit Canada at Playground in August.