As The fourth running of the 2026 Pure Poker Tour nears the final weekend, the Player of the Series race is starting to heat up, and it looks to be a battle between Nu Teliani, the 2025 API Female Player of the Year, and Mike Malm, the runaway winner of the overall API prize for the past few years. Four more trophies have been awarded over the past couple of days, and Teliani and Malm both figured in the results.
On Wednesday, the PLO PKO played out as the main game, with 45 entries for prizes of $21,375 ($12,375 prizes, $9,000 bounties), while Wednesday evening hosted a $340 NLH on the side, with 97 entries (the biggest open-entry, one-day field of the series) for $27,645 in prizes.
The PLO Main Event played out on Thursday, with 36 entries for prizes of $33,858, while the evening game was an NLH Bounty with 86 entries for $24,510 in combined prizes. It was the Thursday action that had the most impact on Player of the Series, with Teliani taking a min-cash in the PLO Main, while Malm found second place in the side event. Both players notched their 4th cash of the series.
That puts Teliani on top of the list by about 45 points over Malm. Colten Yamagishi is in 3rd, with the most cashes of any player at 5, but he’s not playing this weekend, so his points are currently locked in. Michael St. Pierre-Porter also has four cashes along with Malm & Teliani, putting him in 5th place about 100 points behind leader Teliani.
Summary of PPT #4 So Far
| Event | Entries | Prizes | Player | 1st Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event #1: $340 Seniors First 50+ ($300 + $40) | 106 | $30,210 | Rob Lothian | $8,570 |
| Event #2: $340 NLH/PLO Mixed ($300 + $40) | 68 | $25,840 | Glyn Gracias | $9,300 |
| Event #3: $670 NLH Multi-Flight ($600 + $70) | 149 | $84,930 | Ryan Comely | $21,325 |
| Event #4: $340 PLO Deepstack Hyper ($300 + $40) | 68 | $19,380 | Sindijs Anspoks | $4,775 |
| Event #5: $340 NLH ($300 + $40) | 68 | $19,379 | Khairuddin Akbari | $5,102 |
| Event #6: $560 NLH PKO ($300 + $200 + $60) | 65 | $17,875 | Nicholas Peterson | $4,600 |
| Event #7: $780 NLH ($700 + $80) | 64 | $42,560 | Nu Teliani | $15,325 |
| Event #8: $450 PLO Double Board Bomb Pot ($400 + $50) | 67 | $25,460 | Khairuddin Akbari | $9,165 |
| Event #9: $560 PLO Big Bounty ($300 + $200 + $60) | 56 | $15,401 | Larry Chernenkoff | $4,030 |
| Event #10: $340 NLH Deepstack Hyper ($300 + $40) | 78 | $22,231 | Sebastian Crema | $4,559 |
| Event #11: $560 PLO PKO ($300 + $200 + $60) | 45 | $12,375 | Ross Wilson | $3,800 |
| Event #12: $340 NLH ($300 + $40) | 97 | $27,645 | Ron Piasetzki | $8,020 |
| Event #13: $1,100 PLO Main Event ($990 + $110) | 36 | $33,858 | Robert Limpert | $12,189 |
| Event #14: $450 NLH Bounty ($300 + $100 + $50) | 86 | $24,080 | Jo Teliani | $7,708 |
| Totals: | 1,053 | $401,224 | $118,468 |
Ross Wilson Takes PLO PKO Crown
- Date: Sep 23, 1 PM
- Entries: 45
- Prizes: $21,375 ($12,375 prizes, $9,000 bounties)
- Winner (1st Place): Ross Wilson ($3,800 + $4,245 in Bounties)
Event #11: $560 PLO PKO ($300 + $200 + $60)
Wednesday’s main game was the PLO PKO, with 45 entries showing up for the game. That put the combined prizes over $21k, with $12,375 of that in the payouts pool. Five players shared those payouts at the end of the night.
Even with the smaller field, it was a long game, finishing in just under 12 hours. Ross Wilson got his first cash of the series with a win in this one, after taking down Sebastian Crema to win the title. Crema picked up his second cash, and jumped into 10th place on the PoS list with his runner-up finish.
Colten Yamagishi got his fifth cash for 3rd place, and he leads with most cashes so far this series. The points put him in 3rd place, but he said he had to go to Toronto for the weekend for family business, so that was his last game of the series.
Crema and Wilson started heads up pretty much even, but Wilson chipped away in the early hands as Crema seemed to go card dead. The final confrontation was a standard cooler heads up, with queens for Wilson against jacks for Crema. The pairs didn’t actually play in the end, as Wilson ran out to a low straight with his six-seven kickers.
Final Results for the PLO PKO
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Ross Wilson | $3,800 |
| 2 | Sebastian Crema | $3,800 |
| 3 | Colten Yamagishi | $2,200 |
| 4 | Bill Thomson | $1,500 |
| 5 | Sean Ebbesen | $1,075 |
Piasetzki Takes Short Stack Battle Over Sarnelli for E12
- Date: Sep 23, 6 PM
- Entries: 97
- Prizes: $27,645
- Winner (1st Place): Ron Piasetzki ($8,020)
Event #12: $340 NLH ($990 + $110)
The Wednesday night side game played quite late, given the format, with the final hands playing out well after 3 AM. It was a short stack battle at the end, with the final few levels played with 10-15 big blinds average for the most part.
They got to the money just before 1 AM, after starting the game at 6 PM. Shane Hughes, Ben Wilson, and Francis Fan fell pretty quickly after the final table was set, then they played six handed for close to an hour before Ben Grenier exited in 6th place.
Michael St. Pierre-Porter was next to go, after bringing the chip lead into the final table. The stacks were pretty short, however, so the chips were moving around quite a bit. The 5th place finish was good for St. Pierre-Porter’s 4th cash of the series, putting him in 5th place in the PoS standings.
Nicholas Peterson was the next to drop, but it took some effort from the rest of the table. He was nearly felted multiple times before spinning back up into a playable stack, and in the final sequence of hands for him, he was down to 50k, up over 200k, then down to 30k, then back up again before finally bowing out.
Shawn Taghavi then ended it all in 3rd when his two pair were too small against the two pair for winner Ron Piasetzki. The left Piasetzki heads up with the lead against Benny Sarnelli. Sarnelli was very short, but managed to double back a couple of times. He ultimately couldn’t score the comeback, though, with Piasetzki taking the win shortly after they started heads up.
Final Results for Event #12
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ron Piasetzki | $8,020 |
| 2 | Benny Sarnelli | $5,530 |
| 3 | Shawn Taghavi | $3,595 |
| 4 | Nicholas Peterson | $2,765 |
| 5 | Michael St. Pierre-Porter | $2,130 |
| 6 | Ben Grenier | $1,685 |
| 7 | Francis Fan | $1,325 |
| 8 | Ben Wilson | $1,050 |
| 9 | Shane Hughes | $855 |
| 10 | Bradley Fisher | $690 |
Rob Limpert Chops PLO Main Event With Hui Zhu
- Date: Sep 24, Noon
- Entries: 36
- Prizes: $33,858
- Winner (1st Place): Robert Limpert ($12,189 in Deal)
Event #13: $1,100 PLO Main ($990 + $110)
The PLO Main Event was a relatively small game that was supposed to return on Friday for the money play. However, they got down to the money pretty early in the day, and decided to play it out in a single day.
Nu Teliani bagged the min-cash at about 2 AM, her fourth cash of the series. That padded her first place points in the Player of the Series race, and she needed it as Mike Malm is nipping at her heels, and was deep in the side event.
They played three ways for about an hour before Anderson Frank-Graham, in for the series from Quebec, ended his day in 3rd place. That was his 3rd cash of the series.
Shortly after, the final two players, who were very even in stacks, decided to chop up the prizes evenly, with Rob Limpert taking the official win over Hui Zhu.
Final Results for the PLO Main Event
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robert Limpert | $12,189* |
| 2 | Hui Zhu | $12,189* |
| 3 | Anderson Frank-Graham | $6,095 |
| 4 | Nu Teliani | $3,385 |
Jo Teliani Takes NLH Bounty Title
- Date: Sep 24, 5 PM
- Entries: 86
- Prizes: $32,680 ($24,080 prizes, $8,600 bounties)
- Winner (1st Place): Jo Teliani ($7,708)
Event #14: $450 NLH Bounty ($300 + $100 + $50)
Thursday night had Bounties on the side with the $450 NLH Bounty. 86 entries were recorded for the game, putting the combined prizes at $32,680.
Jo Teliani, who is leading the 2026 API Female Player of the Year standings at the moment, took down the win over Mike Malm, who has become the perennial winner of the main API award and was booking his fourth cash for second in the PoS race. Meanwhile, 3rd place Michael St. Pierre-Porter was booking his fourth cash of the series and enouygh points to put him in 5th in the PoS standings.
The rest of the field was full of familiar faces as well, with Glyn Gracias taking fourth for her second cash after winning Event #2. Dennis Zekios also got cash #2, as did Weston Pring. Alex Liu and Hassan Issa got their first cashes of the series, but as far as I can tell, it was also their first event, as I hadn’t seen them in any previous field this week. Ben Wilson also bagged his second cash in two days with the min-cash.
Final Results for the NLH Bounty
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jo Teliani | $7,708 |
| 2 | Mike Malm | $5,056 |
| 3 | Michael St. Pierre-Porter | $3,371 |
| 4 | Glyn Gracias | $2,408 |
| 5 | Dennis Zekios | $1,806 |
| 6 | Weston Pring | $1,300 |
| 7 | Alex Liu | $1,011 |
| 8 | Hassan Issa | $794 |
| 9 | Ben Wilson | $626 |
