Two big tournaments came to a close over the weekend as PokerStake players cashed for six-figure sums and went close to gold in Las Vegas. In the $10,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. Championship Event #54, Josh Arieh came second to just miss out on his eighth WSOP title, while in the $50,000 Pot Limit Omaha High Roller, Joao Simao won his fourth bracelet in style on Father’s Day.

Calvin Anderson Goes Back-to-Back to Deny Arieh

Calvin Anderson followed up his Razz Championship title by claiming the honors in the $10,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. Championship too. Just a few days on from winning his sixth bracelet, Anderson made it seven in Event #54 as he denied PokerStake’s Josh Arieh what would have been the Atlanta, Georgia man’s eighth.

On a final day of drama, 11 players came back to the felt with Josh struggling in terms of chips. That didn’t last as the PokerStake end boss wished himself good luck and then proceeded to make the most of it, climbing up the counts consistently. Calvin Anderson led the final table when it was reached, and he stayed at the top while players such as PokerStake’s Chris Brewer (9^th for $34,540), David Lin (8^th for $42,990) and another PokerStake player Nicolas Milgrom (7^th for $54,990) all busted.

David Bach won $72,200 in sixth place before the super-experienced mixed game player Robert Mizrachi laddered to fifth place when Josh Arieh took him out for a score of $97,270. After the Swiss player Yannick Jobin went in fourth for $134,350, a ruling prevented John Veltri from raising and he clashed with Calvin Anderson. Josh dropped to short stack but bounced off the canvas to rise higher than Veltri and the latter busted to his nemesis Anderson for $190,150.

Josh made a king-high straight but Anderson’s queen-high flush prevailed, meaning both men ended the event on seven WSOP bracelets, and both celebrated six-figure scores in Las Vegas.

WSOP 2026 Event #54: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship Final Table Results:
Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Calvin Anderson	United States	$413,580
2nd	Josh Arieh	United States	$275,620
3rd	John Veltri	United States	$190,150
4th	Yannick Jobin	Switzerland	$134,350
5th	Robert Mizrachi	United States	$97,270
6th	David Bach	United States	$72,200
7th	Nicolas Milgrom	France	$54,990
8th	David Lin	United States	$42,990
9th	Chris Brewer	United States	$34,540

 Joao Simao Wins a Fourth Bracelet on Father’s Day

Brazilian poker pro Joao Simao won the fourth WSOP bracelet of his poker career so far as he denied fellow Brazilian Yuri Dzivielevski, Indian professional Santhosh Suvarna and Japanese sensation Naoya Kihara their second bracelet of the 2026 WSOP. By winning the top prize of $1.36m in the $50,000 Pot Limit Omaha High Roller WSOP Event #55, Siamo sealed a fourth WSOP bracelet win in just five years as he beat Santhosh Suvarna heads-up to claim gold.

Just 17 players took home a slice of the $5,225,000 prize pool, with PokerStake sellers Jeremy Ausmus (15^th for $102,800), and Daniel Negreanu (11^th for $107,940) among them. British pro Robert Cowen led the final eight but after the Bulgarian Veselin Karakitukov left for $152,020, the Japanese bracelet winner Naoya Kihara crashed out for $189,720 with his full house of eights over tens losing to Simao’s tens over eights.

After the exit of Simao’s countryman Yuri Dzivielevski in sixth for $244,510, the Dutchman Carlo van Ravenswoud lost with a pair of jacks to Simao’s pair of kings on the turn for $325,080 in fifth. The last remaining American player Venkat Chivukula didn’t wait long before joining them on the rail with $445,440 when Santhosh Suvarna made two-pair on the flop and a full house on the turn. Soon, the Welshman Cowen’s nut flush draw and top pair failed to hit against Suvarna’s flopped straight and he busted for $628,510.

Heads-up, the Indian player Suvarna had over 60% of the chips in play but the NLHE $50,000 High Roller champion couldn’t add the PLO variant to his trophies. Simao doubled up with pocket aces before a full house gave him the kind of lead he’d been trailing by when heads-up began. Aces again gave Simao the win, sending Suvarna home with $912,420 as runner-up, with the Brazilian claiming $1,368,700 and the ‘tetra’ title.

“This one is very special, especially it being Father’s Day,” said Simao. “When Brazil won the fourth time the World Cup, we used to call out ‘tetra, tetra.’ That means the fourth title. So it’s a big, famous in Brazil to scream ‘tetra’ every time you make four times something. Fourth title for anything, fourth time you have anything. It’s very special for Brazilian people.”

All of Simao’s four WSOP titles have come since 2021 when he claimed the $1,111-entry GGPoker Caesars Cares Charity bracelet event for $206,075. A year later, the Brazilian had two, winning the $5,000 buy-in Mixed NLHE/PLO 8-Max event for $686,242. In December of last year, his WSOP Paradise Triton victory was worth an amazing $3,067,000, and with this latest win, Simao draws level with other legends of the game such as Joe Cada and Alex Foxen.

WSOP 2026 Event #55: $50,000 Pot Limit Omaha High Roller Final Table Results:
Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Joao Simao	Brazil	$1,368,700
2nd	Santhosh Suvarna	India	$912,420
3rd	Robert Cowen	United Kingdom	$628,510
4th	Venkat Chivukula	United States	$445,440
5th	Carlo van Ravenswoud	Netherlands	$325,080
6th	Yuri Dzivielevski	Brazil	$244,510
7th	Naoya Kihara	Japan	$189,720
8th	Veselin Karakitukov	Bulgaria	$152,020

What’s Coming Up Next for PokerStake Players?

This week is a very busy one for No Limit Hold’em events, and also sees the $50,000 Poker Players Championship push on to what will surely be a dramatic conclusion. There’s also a mixture of both NLHE and Pot Limit Omaha in Event #64, where players will need to put down $25,000 to take part in the NLHE/PLO High Roller event. Players such as Adam Hendrix (1.13 markup), Benny Glaser (1.11), Alex Livingston (1.09), Justin Saliba (1.04) and Cherish Andrews (1.02) are all taking part in the event.

Another lively tournament should be the $1,000 Mystery Millions Event #63, where legends of the game such as Allen Kessler (1.15), Anthony Spinella (1.30) and Heather Alcorn (1.23) are all going to be big threats – or big sweats – if you’re looking to buy action.

Whichever event you’re looking to back a player in, head to the official PokerStake World Series of Poker page today and invest in your champion!