Ole Schemion has entered the elite ranks of players with multiple triumphs in both World Series of Poker and World Poker Tour events. The 33-year-old German professional player’s latest victory saw him defeat a field of 379 entries in the 2026 WSOP Europe €5,300 PLO European Championship to earn his second bracelet and $454,250.
Schemion first broke through at the series in 2021, taking down the first-ever running of the $1,979 Poker Hall of Fame bounty event for $172,499. Now, thanks to his pot-limit Omaha prowess displayed in Prague, Schemion is a two-time WSOP champion. His two bracelets will join his collection of 26 recorded titles, which includes a pair of WPT trophies.
This victory pushed Schemion’s career earnings past $24.4 million. It also came with 1,200 Card Player Player of the Year points. This was his second title and third final-table finish of 2026, having taken down a €2,200 event at the Casinos Austria Poker Tour Seefeld and finishing sixth in a €2,700 buy-in at the European Poker Tour Paris stop. With 2,064 total points, Schemion has climbed to 15th place in the overall POY race standings presented by CoinPoker.
Big Names Run Deep
The turnout at the Hilton Hotel Prague for this event made for a $2,092,080 prize pool, with the top 57 finishers earning a share. Plenty of notables were among those to cash in this three-day affair, which ran from April 6-8. Manig Loeser (55th), Yueqi Zhu (52nd), Davidi Kitai (48th), Patrick Leonard (39th), Matthew Wantman (31st), Erick Lindgren (28th), Julien Sitbon (22nd), Jessica Teusl (21st), Ari Engel (19th), Scott Bohlman (18th), Punnat Punsri (16th), David Coleman (11th), and Quan Zhou (10th) were all among those who made the money in this PLO championship.
Rasmus Larsen held the chip lead when the final table of nine was set, with Schemion in the middle of the pack.
The next knockout to arise saw Sardor Shagulyamov run A♣Q♠8♣7♥ into the A♥A♦K♣10♦ of Larsen. Pocket aces held through a Q♥9♠4♣4♠3♦ runout to end Shagulyamov’s run in ninth place ($31,050).
Schemion scored his first knockout of the final table when he made the nut flush to eliminate Arunas Sapitavicius (8th – $40,250). Joachim Haraldstad then busted short stack Dimitrios Michailidis (7th – $52,900), only to soon find himself as the one who was all-in and at risk. The Norwegian’s final stand pitted his flush and gutshot straight draw against the top set of aces of Larsen. Neither player improved on the turn or river and Haraldstad was sent packing in sixth place ($71,300).
Andreus Freund then ran double-suited pocket queens into the unsuited pocket aces of Finland’s Santtu Leinonen. The larger pocket pair held to see the field cut to just four contenders.
Texas Mike Busts One, Then Is Busted
Larsen soon lost a hefty pot bluffing the river against the turned trips of Leinonen. The two tangled again shortly after that, with Larsen’s two pair earning him the double out of the danger zone. Larsen was still ultimately the next to hit the rail, though. His final hand was K♦K♣J♥2♣, which squared off against the Q♥J♠9♠6♥ of two-time bracelet winner Michael ‘Texas Mike’ Moncek. The American made two pair by the river to win the pot, ending Larsen’s run in fourth place $139,150.
Things largely did not go Moncek’s way during three-handed action. He slid down the leaderboard as the night wore on, then committed the last of his short stack with 8♣3♥3♣2♥ against the K♥K♣6♥5♣ of Schemion. The board came down J♠8♠7♠4♠9♥ and Schemion made a nine-high straight to win the pot and eliminate Moncek in third place ($201,250). This score pushed Moncek’s lifetime tournament earnings to more than $7.4 million.
After losing several key pots, @TexasMike2014 got it all in against @OleSchemion but failed to get there, exiting in 3rd place for €175,000. pic.twitter.com/9zOfrJwpuH
— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) April 9, 2026
Final Showdown For The Gold
Schemion held a healthy lead going into heads-up play with Leinonen. The Finn was able to erase some of that gap early, including picking off a bluff attempt from Schemion.
Even after dragging that pot, though, Leinonen was still solidly behind in the counts. The final hand of the tournament began with him raising to 900,000 on the button with A♣J♦5♣4♥. Schemion three-bet from the big blind to 2,700,000 with A♥K♣10♠2♥. The flop came down 7♠6♠2♦ and Schemion bet 4,500,000 with his bottom pair, enough to put his opponent all-in. Leinonen made the call with his open-ended straight draw.
The 2♠ turn gave Schemion trips, which left Leinonen in need of an eight or a three on the river. The Q♥ appeared instead, bringing his run to an end in second place ($299,000). This was the largest live tournament score yet for Leinonen, smashing the $27,814 he earned for a win in a €770 buy-in PLO event at the 2018 Master Classics of Poker.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points |
| 1 | Ole Schemion | $454,250 | 1200 |
| 2 | Santtu Leinonen | $299,000 | 1000 |
| 3 | Michael Moncek | $201,250 | 800 |
| 4 | Rasmus Larsen | $139,150 | 600 |
| 5 | Andreas Freund | $98,900 | 500 |
| 6 | Joachim Haraldstad | $71,300 | 400 |
| 7 | Dimitrios Michailidis | $52,900 | 300 |
| 8 | Arunas Sapitavicius | $40,250 | 200 |
| 9 | Sardor Shagulyamov | $31,050 | 100 |
Photo credit: WSOP.
