Nino Pansier first popped up on the poker radar back in 2022, when he finished runner-up for a bracelet at World Series of Poker Europe. Over the last few years, Pansier has focused his limited tournament action almost exclusively on pot-limit Omaha, and over a few days of action at the Onyx High Roller Series, he made a definitive statement about where he stands among the world’s best.
Pansier won the final headline event of the Onyx festival at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel & Spa in North Cyprus, a $25,500 pot-limit Omaha tournament, for $1,125,000. Pansier’s first seven-figure result saw the young pro from the Netherlands outlast 199 entrants, including a final table with multiple heavyweights. This result came hot on the heels of another career-best result just days prior, when Pansier finished fifth in a $50,500 buy-in PLO event earlier in the festival for $340,000.
The seven-figure triumph also came with 1,176 Card Player Player of the Year points, putting Pansier fourth overall in the early stages of the year-long race presented by CoinPoker.
The $25K PLO Main Event champion Nino Pansier shared his thoughts with us shortly after an epic heads-up battle that ended in victory and a $1,125,000 payday! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/QZUwkTP2en
— Onyx Club Merit (@OnyxClub_) February 12, 2026
Despite being a relative newcomer to the high roller world, Pansier reacted like a seasoned pro following his victory.
“I’m happy I won it. I’m happy I got a nice score here,” Pansier told PokerNews live reporters in the aftermath. “I mean, it’s just another day, but happy to end it successful.”
Nearly 200 entries jumped into the fray across three starting flights in this high-stakes PLO affair. A total of 29 players advanced to day 2 and reached the money, with the field whittled down to the final seven ahead of the last day. Triton champion Eelis Parssinen (29th), two-time bracelet winner Dennis Weiss (25th), bracelet-winner Klemens Roiter (19th), and Joni Jouhkimainen (11th), both a Triton champion and a bracelet winner, were among the day 2 casualties.
Coming Hot Out Of The Gate
At the outset of the final day, it was a matter of the haves and the have-nots. Pansier sat a hair behind Germany’s Justin Steinbrenner atop the chip counts, with both players holding more than twice as many chips as any of the other remaining contenders.
Neither player wasted much time, with five eliminations rattled off in just 50 hands. Pansier struck the first blow, knocking out Tomasz Krzesinski (7th – $143,000) almost immediately. Krzesinski started the day with just four big blinds and couldn’t catch up to Pansier’s Q♦Q♥6♥5♦ despite flopping a pair and turning a flush draw. Pansier also picked off Lautaro Guerra, four-betting enough to put Guerra all in preflop. Guerra called with A♣Q♠J♣10♥, and Pansier was slightly ahead, holding A♦K♥J♦7♥.
Both players flopped top pair on an A♠4♦2♣, and while Pansier technically stayed ahead with his kicker on the 6♣ turn, it gave Guerra considerably more outs with a flush draw. The offsuit 2♦ kept Pansier’s pair of aces, king kicker, best. Guerra, a WSOP bracelet winner, Triton champion, and multi-time PokerGO Tour winner, went out in sixth place. Guerra earned $190,000 for his efforts, extending his lead atop the all-time PLO money list with more than $10 million in recorded scores.
Steinbrenner sidelined another heavy hitter as he took out Artur Martirosian. The chips got in on a 10♥7♦4♠ flop, and Steinbrenner’s two-pair with J♥10♦7♠6♠ held against Martirosian’s naked pair of aces. Martirosian, a three-time bracelet winner, three-time Triton champion, and EPT main event winner, was out in fifth ($250,000).
Steinbrenner extended his chip lead with a moment of good fortune. He put 2019 bracelet winner Espen Sandvik all in, and Steinbrenner’s A♣J♠J♦3♣ was well behind Sandvik’s A♠A♦Q♥7♣. The J♥ turn gave Steinbrenner a set, though, and Sandvik went to the rail in fourth place ($340,000).
A (Slow) Race To The Finish
A short-stacked Youness Barakat then doubled through Pansier, only to deliver all of those newfound chips to Steinbrenner shortly thereafter. Barakat got all in on a 6♦4♥3♥ flop, and his A♥A♦K♦6♠ held a solid lead over Steinbrenner’s 9♣9♦8♥6♥, and maintained it on a 3♣ turn. But the J♥ river gave Steinbrenner a flush for the knockout. Barakat earned $483,000 as the third-place finisher.
Steinbrenner opened heads-up play with a 2:1 lead, but the stacks were very deep at that point. Pansier won a massive pot to seize the advantage with the nut flush besting a king-high flush, and that set the tone for massive swings, back and forth. Steinbrenner grabbed the lead back and then brought Pansier down to the brink, with an advantage of more than 5:1. A couple of hours into heads-up play, Pansier roared back to the top once again, only for Steinbrenner to immediately chop him back down.
Pansier took his own 4:1 chip lead with a massive double in a 40 million-chip pot, with a flopped set of nines that turned into a rivered full house. They exchanged haymakers, along with the lead, back and forth several more times.
Finally, Pansier struck the decisive blow. The chips piled in on a Q♣5♠4♠ flop, and understandably so. Steinbrenner flopped a set with Q♦5♣5♥4♦, and Pansier held A♠10♦9♦8♠ for the nut flush draw. The 10♠ came in on the turn, putting Pansier on the brink of a victory. The 6♦ river failed to pair the board, and Pansier’s victory was secured. Steinbrenner earned a career-high score of $710,000 as the runner-up.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | Points |
| 1 | Nino Pansier | $1,125,000 | 1,176 |
| 2 | Justin Steinbrenner | $710,000 | 980 |
| 3 | Youness Barakat | $483,000 | 784 |
| 4 | Espen Sandvik | $340,000 | 588 |
| 5 | Artur Martirosian | $250,000 | 490 |
| 6 | Lautaro Guerra | $190,000 | 392 |
| 7 | Tomasz Krzesinski | $143,000 | 294 |
| 8 | Bassel Alanaz | $112,000 | 196 |
| 9 | Maksim Shuts | $112,000 | 98 |
Photo credit: Merit Poker.
