WSOPE 2026: Wins for Ole Schemion and Mike Leah as More PokerStake Players Cash Deep
The latest World Series of Poker bracelets were won by two men who each grabbed their second WSOP titles. Both Ole Schemion and Mike Leah hadn’t won gold under the WSOP banner for some time but claimed wins in the PLO European Championship and Rounder Cup respectively. Meanwhile, in the record-breaking WSOP Europe Main Event, Josh Arieh saw his aces cracked on his way to his exit in 44th place, while two female poker legends bowed out as 85 players were reduced to just two dozen hopefuls chasing the €2 million top prize.
Schemion Outlasts Texas Mike in PLO Triumph
The German Triton Poker Series winner and 2021 WSOP bracelet winner Ole Schemion took down the €5,300 buy-in PLO European Championship last night for €395,000 ($460,000) after getting the better of Santtu Leinonen heads-up. The final day was led by Texas Mike, a.k.a. Michael Moncek but while the American got to three-handed play, he busted to miss out on the heads-up battle that decided the destination of the bracelet.
On a dramatic last day, the remaining field of 24 played down to a winner as plenty of PokerStake players made good money for themselves and their investors. Jessica Teusl cashed for €15,000 in 21st place before David Coleman won €22,000 in 11th place just outside the final table.
Once the final nine remained, only Michael Moncek and Schemion had a previous bracelet win between them. Texas Mike is a formidable player, especially in Pot Limit Omaha as he has shown in PokerGO events in recent months, but Schemion was able to get the better of him with three players left, leaving the Texan to depart in third place for a score of €175,000.
Heads-up, Schemion’s defeat of the Finnish player Santtu Leinonen meant he took home a bumper top prize of €395,000 but most importantly his second WSOP bracelet, having won his first back in 2021. The German’s victory in the $1,979-entry Poker Hall of Fame Bounty event five years ago was worth $172,499 but this win more than doubled that amount.
| WSOP Europe 2026 €5,300 PLO European Championship Final Table Results: | |||
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1st | Ole Schemion | Germany | €395,000 |
| 2nd | Santtu Leinonen | Finland | €260,000 |
| 3rd | Michael Moncek | United States | €175,000 |
| 4th | Rasmus Larsen | Denmark | €121,000 |
| 5th | Andreas Freund | Austria | €86,000 |
| 6th | Joachim Haraldstad | Norway | €62,000 |
| 7th | Dimitrios Michailidis | Greece | €46,000 |
| 8th | Arunas Sapitavicius | Lithuania | €35,000 |
| 9th | Sardor Shagulyamov | Switzerland | €27,000 |
Mike Leah Makes Hay in Rounders Victory
If fans thought that the denouement between European players and those from the Rest of the World was going to be close in Event #10, the Rounder Cup, they couldn’t have been more wrong. Of the nine final table players, only one hailed from Europe, the Dutchman Joris Ruijs, who finished in fifth place for €66,100.
Plenty of the Rest of the World players were very big names, with the American Ryan Leng cashing for €35,700 in seventh place. The Aussie great James Obst, who has two WSOP bracelets and a World Poker Tour title to his name, won €132,000 in third place, but just missed out on the final duel for the gold.
Heads-up, the Georgian player Tornike Tchkonica missed out on the bracelet for a runner-up result of €192,000, with Mike Leah taking home €292,000 for his first bracelet win in over 11 years. Back in 2014, the Canadian professional Leah won gold in Australia in the $25,000 High Roller event at the WSOP Asia Pacific festival, outlasting a field of 67 opponents to win $524,411. This time, his achievement is arguably greater, as 646 other entries stood in his way in Prague, beaten by one of poker’s most consistent players and now a multiple bracelet winner.
Arieh Sees Aces Cracked as Sheils Aims for Dream Ticket
In the WSOP Europe Main Event, 85 players were whittled down to just 25 hopefuls as legends of the game lost their tournament lives. A tumultuous day at the felt for 70% of the field ended with an exit, though some were more painful than others. A huge early pot got away from PokerStake’s Josh Arieh in the event, his pocket aces cracked by the Norwegian player Sondre Stormyr.
It was another famous player from Norway who many hoped would run all the way to the final table, but the youngest-ever Main Event winner Annette Obrestad was another of Stormyr’s victims. With his stack boosted by the chips he’s grabbed from Arieh’s pile, he had enough to call off Obrestad’s shove. Stormyr’s king-jack toppled Obrestad’s pocket deuces when a jack came on the flop and a modern poker hero’s return was over, albeit after a spectacular deep run.
Another WSOP bracelet legend, Shiina Okamoto, also fell just short of glory on Day 4, losing with pocket aces to Vasileios Panagiotidis’ quad jacks as the back-to-back Ladies Event winner just missed out on the penultimate day of this Main Event.
In the end, the last two dozen players featured many other players with a strong narrative, however, with PokerStake’s Chris Hunichen in the top ten chipcounts. ‘Big Huni’ piled up 6.31 million chips, some way short of the leaders of the pack, comparative rookie Hengtao Zhu (16,395,000) and British qualifier Brandon Sheils (15,935,000).
You still have time to invest in some of PokerStake’s finest in Event #15, The Closer. Sure to wrap up the 2026 WSOP Europe series in style, a big win could be coming your way too if you stake the right champion. Find all the action on sale and choose who to invest in right here on our official WSOP Europe staking page.