The poker world was full of action in the past week.
Andrii Novak won his first WSOP bracelet after taking down the $5,000 2026 WSOP Online Main Event and earned $3.93 million.
At the same time, PokerStars welcomed new operators to its online poker network, and Sam Soverel managed to win yet another title on the PokerGO Tour.
In other news, Eric Chang had the biggest win of his career, and Chorlian won his first major PLO title.
Andrii Novak Wins $3.93 Million in the WSOP Online Main Event
Final hand of the 2026 WSOP Online Event (Image courtesy of GGPoker)
Andrii Novak was this week's biggest winner after emerging victorious in the 2026 World Series of Poker Online $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event on GGPoker.
The event attracted a massive number of 6,008 entities and generated a prize pool of $28,538,000.
In fact, all players who made it to the final table walked away with at least seven figures.
Novak won the first-place prize of $3,931,259 and received his first WSOP bracelet.
Before this victory, Novak's biggest win was in the 2020 Super High Roller Bowl Online, where he placed third in the $25,000 event and took home $183,000.
With this win, the Ukrainian pro has now won more than $4.9 million in tournaments.
Although Novak entered the final table as the chip leader, winning the title was not easy.
Beckmann won some massive pots in the heads-up duel versus Novak and was able to get the lead momentarily.
However, Novak was able to mount a comeback.
In the pivotal hand, Beckmann went all-in with 
, and Novak called with 
.
The board came 
, and Novak won with top pair. Novak was in total control of the game.
Beckmann pushed all in for his last seven big blinds with 
, and Novak called with 
.
Novak hit top pair when the flop fell 
, and the 
fell on the river, sealing Novak's win.
Beckmann made $3,030,486 for his second-place finish and his biggest payday of his career.
PokerStars Opens Its Network to New Poker Operators
PokerStars Logo
PokerStars has made a major move to expand its online poker presence by launching a new business site for operators who want to join PokerStars' poker network.
PokerStars has begun searching for new partners that could serve as skins in the network.
PokerStars holds 12 licenses covering over 130 countries, and the number of active players in its network is currently above 3 million.
Potential partners will have access to the same games and VIP benefits offered by PokerStars’ liquidity.
There is also a possibility to get access to such events as European Poker Tour qualifiers.
Betfair, Sky Poker, and Paddy Power Poker are also migrating from the iPoker network to the PokerStars liquidity.
While Betfair has already made the transfer, the other two companies are supposed to follow suit.
PokerStars’ intention to increase the volume of its traffic has led to the decision.
According to statistics, GGPoker had 9,292 active cash game players at that time, whereas PokerStars' main site and CoinPoker had 2,479 and 2,285 active players, respectively.
Sam Soverel Wins Record-Extending 16th PGT Title
Sam Soverel wins the $5,000 pot-limit Omaha event (Image Courtesy of PokerGO Tour)
The PokerGO Tour returned with the start of the PGT PLO Series at the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Resort and Casino.
The series started with the $5,000 pot-limit Omaha event, which attracted a total of 91 entries, creating a $455,000 prize pool.
Sam Soverel was the one to win the event and took the prize of $122,850 with him.
The win marked Soverel’s 16th PGT title, and he has three more titles than Alex Foxen in the leaderboards.
Soverel also surpassed $33 million in his career tournament earnings.
He is one of 44 players who have more than $30 million in lifetime winnings.
The entire tournament took place in a single day.
Soverel won against Jonas Kronwitter with the last hand in which his 
beat Kronwitter’s 
.
Kronwitter received a prize of $79,625 for finishing in second place.
Eric Chang Wins $433,670 at WSOP Circuit Austin
Eric Chang wins the $1,700 WSOP Circuit (Image Courtesy of WSOP)
Eric Chang had his best finish ever at a live tournament in the $1,700 WSOP Circuit Main Event held at Texas Card House Austin.
The tournament had a record-breaking number of entries for the WSOP Circuit Main Event, totaling 2,090 and creating a prize pool of $3,166,350.
Eric took home the title and a $433,670 cash prize along with the second WSOP Circuit ring.
The amount he won is more than eight times his previous tournament cash.
During the tournament, Eric managed to make a come back multiple times.
He started Day 2 as a short stack and gradually progressed to have a mid stack by the time only 18 players were left.
Eventually, Eric managed to make it to heads-up against Anil Jivani.
When the heads-up duel started, Anil had 46 million chips and Eric had 35 million chips, but it did not take long before Eric was in the lead.
In the last hand of the tournament Eric's 
went against Anil's, 
and the board read,
and Eric flopped a pair, which was enough for him to secure the title.
Anil earned $289,110 for his runner-up finish.
Chorlian Secures First Major PLO Title
Robert Chorlian wins the $5,300 PLO event (Image courtesy of PokerGo Tour)
Robert Chorlian managed to win his first big tournament when he won against 106 participants in the $5,300 PLO contest at the 2026 PGT PLO Series and walked away with $135,150 in winnings.
The victory marks the end of a successful period for Chorlian, during which the player was a second finisher at the 2025 WSOP and ranked third at the 2023 U.S. Poker Open.
During the second day of the contest, Chorlian was the short stack, but he managed to win at the beginning of the day and then continued winning plenty of hands.
Chorlian eliminated Sean Rafael during the third level of the tournament and then had to play against Lautaro Guerra in the final.
During the last hand played, Chorlian made a small bet from his position on the button and then made a bet on the flop, which showed 
.
The 
fell on the turn. Guerra check-raised all in after Chorlian made another pot-sized bet.
Chorlian called Guerra with 
, giving him top two pair. Guerra, however, had 
.
On the river, Guerra lost, and Chorlian won the tournament and a $135,150 cash prize.
