Alex Kostritsyn Closes Out 2026 WSOP With $25,000 H.O.R.S.E. Win

The last time Alex Kostritsyn won a live poker tournament was more than 15 years ago. A side event win at the 2011 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure joined his $1.45 million 2008 Aussie Millions main event victory among a handful of notable tournament results for the now 40-year-old Russian cash game specialist. He hadn’t recorded so much as a single tournament cash since 2018.

And yet, on the final day of the 2026 World Series of Poker, Kostritsyn made a dramatic return, taking down the $25,000 H.O.R.S.E. high roller for $872,052 and his first career bracelet. Kostritsyn defeated another long-time cash game standout in Ali Eslami heads up to close out the tournament.

Further down the payout table, there were serious implications for the 2026 WSOP Player of the Year race. After Alex Foxen went out in 10th place, his WSOP POY lead disappeared. Shaun Deeb, fresh off a run into day 8 in the 2026 WSOP main event, went out in eighth place, and earned enough points to take the overall POY lead heading into WSOP Paradise.

Naoya Kihara made a serious run at a third bracelet for the summer, and finished in third place ($394,433). That earned him enough points to climb to second, just behind Deeb, with Foxen falling into third place. The top three finishers in the WSOP POY race each earn a WSOP Paradise prize package worth $100,000 for the following year.

One Last Hurrah

With most of the room already getting broken down, including the TV and streaming sets, the $25,000 H.O.R.S.E. event played out in a low-key setting. By the close of registration, there were 148 entries, producing a total prize pool of $3,478,000.

Heading into the third and final day of action, and the last day of poker at the 2026 WSOP at large, 16 players looked to claim one of the last bracelets on the line in Las Vegas. France’s Julien Sitbon held the chip lead, followed closely by Kostritsyn in second.

Kostritsyn eliminated Foxen in 10th place, making a nine-low in razz. Kostritsyn got a personal congratulations from Deeb, who was well aware of the WSOP POY implications. Deeb and Kihara also shared a celebratory fist bump.

Deeb ultimately reached the eight-handed final table, only for Kostritsyn to eliminate him, too. In limit hold’em, Kostritsyn’s pocket jacks held off Deeb’s pocket tens. His seventh WSOP bracelet event final table of 2026 thus far ended in eighth place ($88,909).

An Impressive Run To Victory

With Eslami’s elimination of Walter Chambers in seventh place ($112,825), every remaining player except for Kostritsyn was already a WSOP bracelet winner. Kihara made a king-high spade flush in seven card stud to eliminate four-time bracelet winner Ari Engel in sixth place ($147,648).

Kostritsyn stepped up to knock out Yueqi Zhu in fifth place ($199,071), making a pair of nines and the nut low in Omaha eight-or-better. Sitbon, who had started the day as the chip leader, fell just after dinner, losing with queens and tens against Kostritsyn’s king-high club flush in stud.

Eslami and Kostritsyn each took chunks out of Kihara’s stack, and Eslami landed the final blow. In stud, Eslami made a jack-high heart flush after just five cards. Kihara had a few outs after sixth street, with two-pair, eights and sixes, but failed to fill his full house, and fell in third place.

Kostritsyn and Eslami were virtually even in chips to start heads-up action. They traded the lead, Kostritsyn went up big, and then Eslami fought back from the brink. Kostritsyn was ultimately the one to put together a run when it mattered most. Then he won a hefty stud pot with trip kings to leave Eslami with a single 25,000 chip, when limits were 400,000-800,000. One hand later, Kostritsyn’s two pair, tens and nines, brought the last big buy-in event of the 2026 WSOP to a close.

The win earned Kostritsyn 1,008 Card Player POY points, putting him just outside of the top 500 in the yearlong race presented by CoinPoker. With the $25,000 buy-in, Kostritsyn also qualified for 523 PokerGO Tour. Kihara’s third-place finish, which earned him 237 PGT points, elevated him to 12th place in the season-long race.

Final Table Results

Photo credit: WSOP / Travis Ball