Santhosh Suvarna Claims Third Bracelet in $50,000 High Roller Event

A stacked final table produced the biggest winner of the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) so far last night. India’s Santhosh Suvarna took down the $50,000-entry High Roller Event #29 and in doing so, sealed a third bracelet a top prize of $1.99 million, beating South Korean player Chang Lee heads-up.

Bumper Numbers in Latest High Roller

The total number of players in the $50,000-entry High Roller Event #29 was 167, which exceeded many expectations. Creating a prize pool of $7,932,500, only the winner and the runner-up would walk away with seven-figure scores, and with 26 players cashing for a minimum of $100,000.

The Russian pro Anatoly Zlotnikov built an impressive stack as he helped to trim the field before the final eight gathered to play down to a winner. After the exits of Dutchman Jans Arends (8^th for $199,150) and American Brian Breck (7^th for $257,770), the final six were formed and Zlotnikov had almost as much in his stack as his opponents held collectively.

The tide started to turn with a crucial pot where the eventual winner refused to be bullied by the Russian. Holding just pocket eights in his hand and a board coming with a flush draw and two overcards, Santhosh Suvarna held his nerve and refused to back down, taking a bunch of chips from the leader. Soon, Chang Lee did likewise, doubling up through Zlotnikov to damage the Russian’s lead further.

Wilson Whiffs Before Brewer Busts

Down to six players, Chris Brewer put enough chips in the middle from the small blind to cover Brandon Wilson’s stack in the big blind. He called it off with seven-five and was actually leading Brewer’s six-four but a flop of A-4-2 put Brewer into the lead. A six on the turn both improved Brewer’s hand to two-pair and gave Wilson an open-ended straight draw, but a seven on the river wasn’t enough help for Wilson, who slid out in sixth place for $340,905.

Zlotnikov’s journey ended in fifth place as the Russian’s nightmare end to the event was complete. All-in with ace-nine in his last hand, the Russian (below) was crushed by Chang Lee’s pocket queens, and the South Korean poker hero’s hand held to reduce the field to four and the Russian to the rail with $460,445.

Chris Brewer was the next to leave, busting for $634,870 in fourth place. All-in with pocket threes, Brewer was flipping against the ace-jack of Lee. The flop of A-J-J gave Brewer no chance of recovery other than finding running threes for quads but instead, a jack on the turn gave Lee quads instead, an innocuous yet mocking ace on the river the proverbial hammer to kill a butterfly.

Suvarna Achieves ‘Dream’ Finish

“It’s like a dream – it’s magic.”

Down to three, it was the turn of Colin Robinson to bow out. The last American to lose his chips was dominated to defeat, his ace-five outpipped by Suvarna’s ace-jack. Once again, the flop almost killed off the at-risk player’s chances, coming Q-J-9. A king on the turn offered four outs to a chop but none came in on the river, leaving Robinson to collect $893,225 in third place.

Heads-up, Lee had 60% of the chips in play but Suvarna wouldn’t give up an inch as he pursued his dream of a third bracelet. Calling a bluff allowed the Indian professional to reverse that split of chips and he moved into a 4:1 chip lead when he made a straight. Soon, he had all the chips when his chips were committed with a bottom pair of eights with nines on the flop against Lee’s pocket kings. The at-risk player was ahead when the chips went in but an eight on the river changed all that and Suvarna took home the top prize of $1,992,870 and his third WSOP title as Lee won $1,281,905 as runner-up.

“Oh my God, it’s like a dream – it’s magic,” said Suvarna after the event. “I feel very proud. Any bracelet is always good, for me, for everyone. I’m playing all the tournaments because the WSOP is so different, so many people are coming here, more than 100 countries are participating. I always [feel] that it’s the dream; one bracelet is very important – it’s the prestige.”

Asked about representing his country of India, Suvarna was positive about the effect his victory would have on his fellow Indian players and the future of the game in his home country.

“Many Indians are playing. This bracelet means many more players from India will come [to Las Vegas],” he said. Asked what his remaining aims for this year’s WSOP were, the champions replied: “The Main Event. If I win the Main Event, I will retire.”

Watch Santhosh Suvarna win his third WSOP bracelet in Las Vegas right here: