Benny Glaser Wins 2026 Poker Players Championship for 9th WSOP Bracelet

Benny Glaser won Event #60, the $50,000 Poker Players Championship, at the 2026 World Series of Poker on June 25, 2026. He collected $1,343,764 and his ninth WSOP bracelet from a field of 108 entries and a $5,130,000 prize pool.

Glaser’s ninth bracelet ties Johnny Moss on the all-time list. Only Phil Hellmuth (17), Phil Ivey (11), Doyle Brunson, Erik Seidel, and Johnny Chan sit ahead of him.

The British mixed games specialist also earned the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy, awarded to the event champion since 2008. The Poker Players Championship is widely regarded as the most prestigious mixed games title in poker.

Glaser entered the 2026 WSOP in strong form after winning three bracelets at the 2025 series. He finished runner-up in the Limit Hold’em Championship earlier this summer, a result he later said stung.

A field of 108 entries edged past last year’s 107. Every former champion who entered was eliminated before the final table, including record four-time winner Michael Mizrachi on Day 1 and 2024 champion Daniel Negreanu on Day 2.

The Poker Players Championship ran across five days at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas with seven-handed tables rotating through nine poker variants. Late registration remained open until Level 10 on Day 2.

Matt Glantz led 66 survivors after Day 1 with 989,000 chips. Defending champion Mizrachi, two-time winner Dan Cates, and former champion Elior Sion were all eliminated on the opening day. Twenty-one late entries on Day 2 brought the field to its final total of 108.

Day 3 cut the field from 39 to 15 and burst the money bubble after 47 hands of hand-for-hand play. Three-time champion Brian Rast entered as the shortest stack with 107,000, doubled through Hellmuth, climbed above a million, then fell to Glaser in PLO three spots shy of the money.

Roy Thung, 82 years old and playing in his first PPC, was a wrecking ball with three eliminations on Day 3. Day 4 narrowed the field from 15 to six. Hellmuth exited 14th and Thung’s run ended at 13th, his $109,459 payout the largest cash of his career.

Glaser led wire to wire from Day 2 onward despite dipping to 1,900,000 mid-session on Day 4. He recovered to bag 8,610,000, more than three million clear of the next stack.

Jason Mercier was eliminated seventh on Day 4 before the remaining six returned for the final day. Glaser held a commanding lead with 8,610,000, while Paul Volpe was the short stack on 2,725,000.

7th: Jason Mercier ($176,732)

Mercier started Day 4 as the shortest stack at the final table with 2,180,000. He doubled twice early in Triple Draw but could not sustain the momentum against Glaser in Seven Card Stud.

Glaser held 8♦ 8♣ in the hole and caught deuces on fifth and sixth street for two pair. Mercier’s J♥ 10♣ underneath had paired his ten on fourth but found no improvement. He collected $176,732.

6th: Kristopher Tong ($226,172)

Day 5 opened with six players and Tong was the first to fall in No-Limit Hold’em. He got his chips in preflop and Glaser called.

Kristopher Tong: 7♠ 7♥
Benny Glaser: K♥ Q♥

Glaser flopped trip queens to send the Day 2 chip leader home. Tong collected $226,172.

5th: Paul Volpe ($301,405)

Volpe was eliminated in an Omaha Hi-Lo hand against Maxx Coleman.

Paul Volpe: A♣ Q♦ 4♦ 3♦
Maxx Coleman: A♠ K♦ J♦ 3♠

Coleman rivered a superior two pair to eliminate Volpe, who collected $301,405.

4th: Maxx Coleman ($417,607)

Coleman’s run ended in a PLO confrontation with Josh Arieh.

Josh Arieh: A♦ 10♣ 9♠ 9♥
Maxx Coleman: A♣ 8♣ 7♠ 4♣

Arieh’s nines full were too strong for Coleman’s trips. Coleman collected $417,607.

3rd: Phil Ivey ($600,698)

Ivey fell third in 2-7 Triple Draw. He drew four cards on the final draw, caught a paired four, and could not beat Arieh’s 10-8-7-5-2.

It was the fifth PPC final table appearance for 11-time bracelet winner Phil Ivey. He earned $600,698.

Heads-Up: Glaser vs Arieh

The stacks were close to even when heads-up play began. Arieh grabbed an early lead of roughly 18 million to 14 million, but Glaser wrested control back across multiple game rotations.

A key Stud hand saw Glaser call down correctly when Arieh was bluffing with deuces. He then caught Arieh speeding in PLO, rivering a flush to claim a significant pot. Arieh was ground down to roughly 950,000.

Arieh doubled once in Stud with jacks against Glaser’s sevens, but the reprieve was short-lived. Glaser restored his commanding lead and closed out the match when the game rotated to Omaha Hi-Lo.

The final hand came in Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better. The board ran out K♣ 4♠ 3♥ Q♠ J♦, giving Glaser queens and fours with his A♥ Q♦ 7♦ 4♣.

Arieh held A♠ 7♠ 4♦ 3♠ for a weaker two pair of fours and threes. Neither hand qualified for a low. Glaser scooped the pot to claim the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy and $1,343,764.

“It does feel like a bit of a dream right now. I’m so happy. It is just the dream, it’s just like the pinnacle of mixed games achievement, and it’s such a special tournament for me. I’m incredibly grateful.”
Benny Glaser

“I wasn’t expecting it to be quite that one-sided. I did think I would have an edge, but I did just also run very well in heads up in a lot of spots.”
Benny Glaser

Josh Arieh collected $895,837 as runner-up. The seven-time bracelet winner and 2021 WSOP Player of the Year was recently left off the 2026 Poker Hall of Fame ballot.

The Poker Players Championship (originally the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship from 2006 to 2009) has crowned 20 champions across its history. The event was not held in 2020.

Mizrachi’s four titles remain the all-time record, with Rast’s three and Cates’ consecutive wins in 2021 and 2022 the next closest. Glaser is the first British champion since Sion lifted the trophy in 2017.

The event has attracted between 63 and 148 entries across its history. Fields have stabilised around the 100 to 110 mark in recent years, underlining the PPC’s status as a niche but fiercely competitive proving ground.

Glaser has now won four bracelets across his last two WSOP series. He captured three in 2025 and added the PPC title as his first gold of the 2026 summer, despite battling health issues and exhaustion through the week.

The win also erased a frustrating near-miss from earlier in the series. Glaser finished runner-up in the Limit Hold’em Championship, a result he acknowledged during his post-victory interview.

“The second place did sting quite a bit with how it happened. But this erases any disappointment for the summer by a very long way.”
Benny Glaser

Asked whether the ninth bracelet makes him the best mixed games player in the world, Glaser demurred. “I think I’m up there. I don’t personally like saying I’m number one.”

The WSOP 2026 series continues through July at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. Results for every bracelet event are tracked on the WSOP 2026 daily results page.

Full schedule details and satellite information are available on the full WSOP 2026 schedule and coverage guide.