Joao Simao extended his lead as the winningest Brazilian tournament poker player of all time and cleared $20 million in lifetime earnings with his victory in a $50,000 pot-limit Omaha high roller at the 2026 World Series of Poker.
Simao defeated three-time bracelet winner Santhosh Suvarna heads-up to win a $1,368,700 first-place prize, along with Simao’s fourth career WSOP bracelet. His total recorded earnings now stand at $20,580,469.
“When Brazil won the World Cup the fourth time, we used to call out ‘tetra, tetra.’ That means the fourth title. So it’s big, famous in Brazil to scream ‘tetra’ every time you make four times something. Fourth title for anything, fourth time you have anything,” Simao told PokerNews live reporters after coming out on top. “It’s very special for Brazilian people. So this means a lot for me.”
Simao earned his first bracelet in a WSOP Online $1,111 charity event in 2021, took down a $5,000 no-limit hold’em/pot-limit Omaha tournament at the 2022 WSOP, and set a new career best at WSOP Paradise in 2025, emerging victorious in the $150,000 Triton Poker collaboration event with over $3 million and the hardware.
This latest win earned Simao 1,020 Card Player Player of the Year points, pushing the Brazilian into the top 50 in the yearlong race presented by CoinPoker. Suvarna’s second-place finish puts him inside the top 100, and Yuri Dzivielevski’s final table appearance elevated him into the top 30.
The $50,000 buy-in entitles Simao to PokerGO Tour points, as well. This 500-point windfall puts Simao just outside the top 10, in a comfortable position in the race for a seat in this season’s PGT $1 Million Championship.
High Rollers Keep Rolling
This tournament drew 110 entrants, creating a prize pool of $5,225,000. There were 81 entrants on day 1 of the tournament, and 30 players who bagged chips at the end of the night. Twenty-nine additional players put up $50,000 before cards went into the air on day 2, and two of those last-minute entrants, Naoya Kihara and Veselin Karakitukov, reached the final table.
By the time day 2 was over, only eight players remained. Kihara had a chance to join an elite group of players with three bracelets won in a single series, adding to his pair of $10,000 mixed game titles in the first half of the 2026 WSOP. Dzivielevski, having already locked down his sixth bracelet in a $100,000 no-limit hold’em event, had the chance for his second seven-figure result, along with bracelet no. 7.
Suvarna, having already won a $50,000 buy-in event in 2026, was hoping to join some rarefied air as a double winner and a four-time bracelet winner in his own right.
They were all looking up at Robert Cowen, who held the chip lead to start the day. Cowen, a two-time bracelet winner, was in pole position to win this exact $50,000 PLO event for the second time, having claimed this title back in 2022.
Karakitukov didn’t last long at this final table. He fell to a turned club flush against Kihara, and Karakitukov settled for eighth place ($152,020).
The Simao Surge
It looked as though it might be a short day for Suvarna, too. He had less than 10 big blinds with seven players left, but managed multiple doubles to pull himself back from the brink. Kihara’s early luck ran out against Simao. On the former’s final hand, Simao flopped a set, turned a diamond flush, and then rivered a superior full house against Kihara’s lesser full house. Kihara’s quest for another bracelet will have to wait, as this run ended in seventh place ($189,720).
Dzivielevski’s hopes ended soon thereafter. He got all in with top pair and a flush draw against Cowen’s naked pair of aces, but with blanks on the turn and river, Dzivielevski went out in sixth place ($244,510).
Cowen and Suvarna were on opposite ends of the spectrum, with Cowen extending his lead with each orbit and Suvarna holding on as the short stack. Simao joined the ranks of the ‘haves’ with Cowen, leaving Suvarna and Venkat Chivukula as the ‘have-nots’, with the elimination of Carlo van Ravenswoud. Simao had a pair, a flush draw, and some live kickers against van Ravenswoud’s overpair of jacks and blockers.
The river gave Simao two pair, kings and tens, and knocked van Ravenswoud out in fifth place ($325,080). Van Ravenswoud significantly outpaced his previous career cash of $120,000.
Suvarna In Survival Mode
After fighting for his tournament life for most of day 3, Suvarna picked up a crucial double during four-handed play. He flopped a jack-high straight and picked off a Cowen shove, needing to dodge just four direct outs and unlikely runner-runner possibilities. He did so, and suddenly found himself with more chips than Cowen.
Suvarna then landed the final blow on Chivukula. He and Simao went three ways to a K♥10♦4♠ flop with the short stack. Suvarna check-raised all in and Chivukula called off. Once Simao relented, Suvarna tabled K♠Q♥10♠9♥ for top two pair and a gutshot straight draw. Chivukula had K♣Q♦J♣2♥ for top pair and an open-ended straight draw.
The turn brought the case king, leaving Chivukula to hit a jack to win, or a queen to chop. The 7♠ offered neither outcome, and Chivukula went out in fourth place ($445,440).
Suvarna’s stack fluctuated wildly from there. He found a double, only to slip back to less than 10 big blinds in short order. He tripled up to survive. Cowen then turned pocket aces into a massive double through Simao, giving himself more than two-thirds of the chips in play.
Massive Swings Ultimately Favor Simao
Three-handed play saw wild swings in every direction. Simao got short, then doubled through Suvarna twice. Suvarna doubled through Cowen to bring him back to the pack. Cowen’s dominant position had disappeared, and the bottom fell out from there. The last of Cowen’s chips went in on a 9♠8♥6♥ board, and Suvarna called instantly, tabling 7♦5♦5♣3♣ for a flopped straight. Cowen had A♦Q♥9♥4♦, and needed a heart.
The J♣ turn gave him three additional outs to a bigger straight, but the 6♣ river was a blank. After two stretches in which it felt Cowen had a second $50K PLO title within his grasp, the Welsh pro was eliminated in third place ($628,510).
Suvarna started with the lead and extended his advantage to as much as 4:1 during his heads-up battle against Simao. A double brought Simao all the way back, though. It’s never ideal to have three-of-a-kind in your hand in Omaha, but Simao’s A♠A♦A♥K♥ managed to make a full house to put him back on top.
Suvarna briefly recaptured the lead, but Simao claimed a key pot that flipped the script for good. Simao flopped a set of sevens, and Suvarna’s flopped pair of kings became trips on the river. A massive bet and call on the end put Simao more than 2.5:1 ahead, and he wouldn’t look back from there.
Then, more than half of the chips in play went in the middle before a single board card was dealt. Suvarna opened, Simao three-bet, and Suvarna shoved. Simao called, tabling A♠A♣J♥9♣. Suvarna needed help with 10♥10♣8♣6♠, but he fell well behind on an A♦8♥7♥ flop. The 5♣ turn gave Suvarna a few more outs towards a straight, but the K♥ river locked up the win for Simao.
Suvarna earned $912,420 as the runner-up. India’s all-time money leader now boasts over $23.6 million in lifetime cashes.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points | PGT Points |
| 1 | Joao Simao | $1,368,700 | 1,020 | 500 |
| 2 | Santhosh Suvarna | $912,420 | 850 | 365 |
| 3 | Robert Cowen | $628,510 | 680 | 251 |
| 4 | Venkat Chivukula | $445,440 | 510 | 178 |
| 5 | Carlo van Ravenswoud | $325,080 | 420 | 130 |
| 6 | Yuri Dzivielevski | $244,510 | 340 | 98 |
| 7 | Naoya Kihara | $189,720 | 255 | 76 |
| 8 | Veselin Karakitukov | $152,020 | 170 | 61 |
Photo credit: WSOP / Tyler Abrams
