Sharma and Wong Win First WSOP 2026 Bracelets

WSOP 2026 ends with two breakthrough bracelet wins

The 57th annual World Series of Poker wrapped up with a final day that delivered exactly what the festival is known for: big fields, big money, and career-defining moments. Across 100 live bracelet events, the series awarded more than $462 million in prize money, driven by over a quarter million total entries. Those numbers underline why the WSOP remains the most important stop on the poker calendar: it is where volume, prestige, and variance all collide at once.

Four bracelet events were running on the closing night, and while the headline names included Darren Rabinowitz defeating Phil Hellmuth heads-up in the $5,000 no-limit hold’em eight-max and Alexander Kostritsyn finally breaking through in the $25,000 H.O.R.S.E., the last two titles of the summer went to first-time bracelet winners in no-limit hold’em events. Nishant Sharma and She Wong turned the final hours of the series into personal milestones.

Nishant Sharma wins the $800 Deepstack for $196,659

The summer’s last $800 no-limit hold’em Deepstack drew 2,036 entries, building a $1,425,200 prize pool. That kind of turnout is exactly why these lower buy-in bracelet events are so popular: they create accessible opportunities for a massive player pool while still producing top-heavy payouts that can change a player’s year — or even their career.

Sharma claimed the largest share of the prize pool, taking home $196,659 and his first WSOP bracelet. It was the third-largest score of his career, behind the $1.2 million he earned for winning the 2025 Asian Poker Tour Championship and the $230,475 he collected for finishing 34th in the 2018 WSOP Main Event.

After the win, Sharma described bracelet hunting as the ultimate poker dream. That sentiment resonates because WSOP hardware carries a unique weight: it is not just another trophy, but a marker that travels with a player for the rest of their career.

• Jonathan Little — 87th
• Justin Young — 62nd
• Roman Korenev — 57th
• Aditya Agarwal — 40th
• Brett Apter — 27th
• Ryan Laplante — 21st
• John Riordan — 15th

Bracelet winner Jason Wheeler finished third for $95,018 after running K♦Q♦ into Sharma’s A♥A♣ in a pivotal pot that swung momentum. Sharma then sealed the title in heads-up play, finishing Chung-Tang Lin with K♣9♠ against A♥10♦. Lin earned $131,002 for second place.

She Wong takes Event No. 100 and the last bracelet of the summer

The final bracelet of the series went to She Wong, who won event No. 100 — the last single-day turbo on the schedule. The field reached 1,699 entries, generating a $1,495,120 prize pool, and the pace of the tournament demanded quick decisions, short-stack precision, and strong endgame awareness.

Wong captured $216,286, which stands as the biggest score of her career. Her previous best was $93,000 for a 13th-place finish in the $1,500 Monster Stack earlier in the summer. She also cashed in the Main Event, placing 348th for $45,000, which made this a particularly strong WSOP run overall.

After the victory, Wong said she was happy to have friends on site supporting her through the late-night finish. That detail matters in long festival poker: when the lights are low and the stacks are short, emotional stability can be just as important as technical execution.

• Nick Yunis — 7th for $31,810
• Dzmitry Urbanovich — 3rd for $104,032
• Ryuta Nakai — 2nd for $144,101

Other players who cashed included Ryan Riess (29th), Peter Hengsakul (18th), Jon Turner (15th), and Aaron Kupin (13th). In a super turbo format, that mix is no surprise: variance is higher, stack depths shrink fast, and even elite players must be disciplined with push-fold spots and preflop aggression.

Expert analysis: why these WSOP wins matter

These two bracelet victories say a lot about modern tournament poker.

First, lower buy-ins do not mean lower difficulty. Fields of this size are packed with recreational players, seasoned grinders, and mixed skill profiles, which makes every stage of the event strategically complex. In Deepstack formats, players need patience and postflop edge; in super turbo events, they need sharp ICM instincts, short-stack discipline, and the ability to apply pressure without overcommitting.

Second, WSOP success remains one of the clearest accelerators of a poker career. For Sharma and Wong, these results are more than just payouts. They are career markers that can open doors to stronger sponsorship conversations, bigger live schedules, and more confidence in future major events. Players who want to follow a similar path should treat study as seriously as volume, whether that means training through a poker school, selecting the right events in poker rooms, or using promotions & bonuses to stretch their bankroll.

Finally, the final day shows how important adaptability is across formats. The ability to switch gears between deep-stack poker and turbo structures is increasingly valuable. The best tournament players are not just good at one style — they can solve different stack depths, field sizes, and payout pressures on the fly.

Final takeaways from the WSOP 2026 closing day

The closing day of WSOP 2026 had all the ingredients that make the series special: elite names, high-pressure spots, and two first-time champions who turned strong runs into unforgettable victories. Darren Rabinowitz’s win over Phil Hellmuth, Alexander Kostritsyn’s breakthrough in H.O.R.S.E., Sharma’s Deepstack title, and Wong’s late-night super turbo triumph gave the summer a fitting finish.

The broader lesson is simple: the WSOP is still the place where a single day can reshape a player’s resume. Whether you are grinding online, playing live circuits, or looking for the right next step with the help of a poker agent, the final day proved that opportunity still exists for anyone who can survive the field and close under pressure.

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