Ottomar Ladva had his best month ever on the live tournament circuit in February of 2026. He’s earned two titles in the span of a few weeks, with seven-figure payouts attached to both victories.
The 28-year-old former chess standout from Estonia first took down the $25,000 main event at the Onyx High Roller Series in Cyprus, earning a career-best score of $1,150,000. Less than three weeks later, Ladva emerged victorious in the €100,000 no-limit hold’em super high roller at the PokerStars European Poker Tour Paris festival, adding another trophy and $1,145,686 to his haul.
These were the two largest scores of Ladva’s career, topping the $487,734 he earned for a €25,000 event win at the 2024 EPT Barcelona series.
Ladva now boasts lifetime earnings of nearly $6.9 million. His first recorded score came in 2019, when he took down a €550 side event at the EPT Barcelona for nearly a quarter of a million dollars to jumpstart his career on the live circuit. Before getting into poker, he was a four-time national champion, breaking through at the age of 15 back in 2013.
Ladva Joins POY Top Five
These two recent high-stakes triumphs for Ladva came with 1,620 Card Player Player of the Year points, with the latest contributing 360 of that total. He now sits in fourth place in the overall standings presented by CoinPoker.
The latest win saw Ladva outlast 24 entries inside the Palais des Congres de Paris in the French capital. The top four finishers shared in the prize pool of nearly $2.7 million.
Bracelet winner and two-time EPT Barcelona €100,000 event champion Kayhan Mokri was knocked out on the bubble, ensuring $319,780 for the remaining four contenders. That sum ultimately went to Jean-Noel Thorel, who is just a couple of months removed from a career-best payday of $6,000,000 that came with his runner-up finish in the World Series of Poker Paradise super main event.
Dutch pro Teun Mulder finished third for $479,552, while 2025 POY race runner-up Punnat Punsri earned $719,328 as the second-place finisher. This was Punsri’s second heads-up appearance of the series. He also placed second in the €12,300 cuatro knockout event for $100,654 in total earnings.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points |
| 1 | Ottomar Ladva | $1,145,686 | 360 |
| 2 | Punnat Punsri | $719,328 | 300 |
| 3 | Teun Mulder | $479,552 | 240 |
| 4 | Jean Noel Thorel | $319,780 | 180 |
Photo credit: Rational Intellectual Holdings Ltd. / Eloy Cabacas.
