The 2026 World Series of Poker is coming to an end, but the last few days were full of unforgettable moments.
David Peters won his fifth WSOP bracelet with a million-dollar win.
Alex Kostritsyn made a surprising comeback that earned him his first WSOP bracelet.
Phil Hellmuth almost won his 18th WSOP title, but Darren Rabinowitz stopped him.
At the Main Event, the WSOP made news when it introduced action clocks for the first time in history.
David Peters Wins Fifth WSOP Bracelet and $1 Million
David Peters wins $10,000 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold'em Championship (Image courtesy of WSOP)
David Peters won event #94: $10,000 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold'em Championship.
Peters won his fifth bracelet and took home a $1,001,391 cash prize.
The tournament had 558 entries generating a prize pool of $5,189,400.
Peters won against Fahredin Mustafov of Bulgaria in heads-up play to lift the title.
It was a crucial victory for Peters, as he has been in the news several times this year over allegations of unpaid debts.
The allegations caused an uproar and angered poker players and fans.
It is indeed a surprising victory for Peters, who even publicly apologized previously and managed to bounce back to the poker world with this.
This title is the 13th in Peters’ poker career, which has brought him seven-digit prize money as a result.
The final table featured several prominent players.
Calvin Anderson was on the verge of winning his third bracelet this summer but was knocked out in third place, earning $445,268 for his efforts.
Peters eliminated Dominykas Mikolaitis in fourth position by hitting the top two pairs on a 
flop holding 
.
The heads-up duel was very short, lasting for one hand of play.
Peters’ 
ran into Mustafov’s pocket fives, and the 
on the flop gave Peters the edge he needed.
His pair of sevens was enough to win him another important title at the WSOP.
Alex Kostritsyn Completes Stunning Return With First WSOP Bracelet
Alex Kostritsyn Wins the $25,000 H.O.R.S.E. High Roller Event (Image courtesy of PokerGo)
One of the summer's most compelling stories came from Alex Kostritsyn.
He triumphed in the $25,000 H.O.R.S.E. High Roller event, making $872,052 and winning his first bracelet at the 2026 World Series of Poker.
This Russian player mainly competed in cash games and had not tasted victory at a live tournament since 2011.
However, it did not prevent him from becoming a legend on the last day of the series, when he faced Ali Eslami in the final.
The tournament registered 148 entries and brought a total prize pool of $3,478,000.
Kostritsyn entered the last day with a medium chip stack but managed to outplay the other finalists.
He eliminated Alex Foxen in the razz stage of the tournament.
He went ahead and knocked out Shaun Deeb in eighth place after Kostritsyn’s pocket jacks beat Deeb’s pocket tens in a limit hold ’em encounter.
Naoya Kihara had another remarkable achievement, competing for his third bracelet in this series, but he was knocked out in third place, earning $394,433.
Both players remained in contention in the heads-up duel, and they traded massive pots back and forth.
Eventually, Kostritsyn had a breakthrough by winning a massive seven-card stud pot with a set of kings.
This event left Eslami in dire conditions with no chips left.
Eslami was able to win some chips by doubling up in the next hand only to find himself in an awful situation again when it came to the turn of final hand.
He was all-in again holding 
/ 
/
and he got eliminated by Kostritsyn showing 
/ 
/ 
.
The victory got Kostritsyn his long-awaited first bracelet at the WSOP.
WSOP Player of the Year Race Takes a Dramatic Turn
2026 WSOP Player of the Year Standings (Image Courtesy of WSOP)
The final moments of the World Series of Poker in 2026 shook the whole Player of the Year race.
While Alex Foxen started the time as the leader of the standings, he lost this position after his 10th-place finish in the $25,000 H.O.R.S.E. event.
Shaun Deeb made use of his good run in the Main event and managed to climb to the top of the standings after finishing in eighth place to earn enough points to place himself first.
Similarly, the finish of Naoya Kihara proved to be crucial.
The two bracelets he won in the summer tournament enabled him to achieve the third-place finishing position mentioned above and to be ranked second overall, succumbing only to Foxen, who finished in third position.
However, there is still a long way for players to go, as those classified in the top three spots will be able to receive the WSOP Paradise prize package worth $100,000, which alone would spark interest in the outcomes even though the rest of the results might not matter as much.
Darren Rabinowitz Denies Phil Hellmuth an 18th WSOP Bracelet
Darren Rabinowitz wins the $5,000 No Limit Hold’em Eight-Max tournament (Image courtesy of PokerGo)
Phil Hellmuth was just one win away from extending his record number of bracelets, but Darren Rabinowitz extinguished those hopes.
Rabinowitz took home the grand prize of $695,256 after winning the $5,000 No Limit Hold’em Eight-Max tournament and claimed his second WSOP bracelet.
The event had 884 entries in total and a prize pool surpassing $4 million.
Hellmuth made it to the final table as the chip leader, and it seemed he was a few hands away from his eighteenth bracelet.
But from then on, the game turned, and Rabinowitz eliminated several players, including Josh Norvock, Joshua Stewart, and Nicholas Palma, before meeting Hellmuth in the final.
On the last hand of the tournament, Rabinowitz held 
and ran into Hellmuth’s 
, and the board read 
, giving Rabinowitz a two-pair win.
Hellmuth finished in second place and took home a cash prize of $464,286.
After the match, he expressed his dissatisfaction with how the game had developed, commending Rabinowitz for his excellent performance.
WSOP Shot Clock Decision Sparks Debate Across Poker Community
A controversial moment in the 2026 WSOP Main Event occurred on Day 7, when tournament officials implemented shot clocks for the first time in the event’s history.
The move came after a contentious hand involving Loren Klein.
He took so much time to make his decision as he attempted to survive one more elimination and enable himself to win more money, using up about 15 minutes of time before making the call.
Klein was down to his last chip at that moment, after having raised preflop.
When Tyler Gaston made a bet on the 
flop, Klein’s indecisiveness created a situation that wasted time for the entire tournament, as the staff eventually had to announce the clock.
After making a call with 
against Gaston’s 
, Klein was eliminated from the event.
15 Minute Tank in Main Event
— WSOP - World Series of Poker (@WSOP) July 12, 2026
Loren Klein was looking to survive another pay jump on Day 6 of the 2026 WSOP Main Event as he went into one of the longest tanks of the summer. pic.twitter.com/RxbON81Pc3
The next day at the WSOP, the officials decided to introduce the 20-second action clock, with additional rules in place, such as being able to get six time extensions.
If a player does not take action on time, the hand will be considered dead automatically.
Poker pro Shaun Deeb supported this move, stating that excessive stalling affects the game of every player participating in the tournament.
Shaun Deeb speaks on the shot clocks on Day 7 of the WSOP Main Event! @shaundeeb pic.twitter.com/he5nRQlxTD
— PokerGO (@PokerGO) July 12, 2026
Among the sceptics of the decision was Maria Ho, who pointed out that recreationals would have no chance of competing against the professionals.
Chris Brewer, the well-known professional gambler, was dissatisfied about the decision since it creates a disadvantage for the inexperienced players who have never played with a shot clock.
Some players think that it makes no sense to change the rule because there are already some provisions in WSOP regulations to deal with this problem.
Despite the fact that there are a lot of opinions of people who are against the idea of implementing the shot clock, it remains one of the hottest topics of the week, which may influence the decisions made by the players during the future Main Event of WSOP.
As another World Series of Poker has now concluded, the final week of the event has brought all kinds of news that poker fans could expect.
