The fourth edition of the 2026 Pure Poker Tour is now complete, and it was a solid Main Event result to end the series. The final weekend also saw a heated battle for Player of the Series between two players who are both used to winning local poker awards.
The final weekend of action had the final three games of the series. The Main Event started on Friday with an opening flight that drew 95 entries. Saturday’s final flight was quite a bit bigger, with 165 entries for a final total of 260. That put nearly $245k into the prize pool for Sunday’s Day 2.
The weekend also saw the final two side games. There was a small PLO game on Saturday alongside Day 2, but the Last Chance game on Sunday broke 100 entries, for prizes of $38,760.
And it was that final game that decided the Player of the Series race. Mike Malm, who seems to be the perennial winner of the API Player of the Year award lately, had been running second to Nu Teliani, who won the 2025 API Female Player of the Year award, since mid-week, but he managed to find enough points in the final game to jump 15 points ahead of her at the final whistle.
Michael St. Pierre-Porter grabbed his sixth cash in the final game as well, to give him the title for most cashes of the series, 6 games out of 17 total. That was enough for 3rd behind Teliani, while Colten Yamagishi got a very respectable 4th place even while having to miss the final weekend.
Benny Sarnelli Takes Main Event Trophy
- Dates: Sep 25-27
- Entries: 260
- Prizes: $244,530
- Winner (1st Place): Benny Sarnelli ($54,250)
Event #15: $1,100 NLH Main Event
As usual, the Main Event was the biggest game of the series, both in terms of field and prizes. Quite a few new faces came into town for the final weekend, showing up in one (or both) of the two opening flights on Friday (95 entries) & Saturday (165 entries).
The 260 combined entries put together a prize pool of nearly $245k. That made first place more than $54k, and 6 players won five figures on the final day.
33 players returned for the final day, with the min-cash set at just over $1,800. Ali Razzaq brought the biggest stack into Day 2, with more than 800k, while Benny Sarnelli and Michael St. Pierre-Porter weren’t that far behind.
The numbers dropped steadily right from the start, with the final three tables set an hour after they started. Razzaq maintained the lead through the early play, with 1.5 million in play at the first break of Day 2. Sarnelli had dropped some early on Day 2, but he came roaring back shortly after the break to get nearly a million.
They were at two tables about 3 hours after the day began, and the action picked up steam. Anderson Frank-Graham, in town from Quebec, had his fourth cash of the series for 13th place. A few rapid-fire busts brought the final table quickly, with Garrett Chin ending his run quickly after the final table was set.
Michael Bingham grabbed his fourth cash shortly after, and they played nearly an hour before Ali Khani found 7th place. Sarnelli surged to the lead on a massive cooler, when he found aces and held against kings for Ali Razzaq, in a clash of the titan stacks.
Eventual bronze medallist Paul Williams had to get there to survive when they were still six-handed. He had to find running spades against Sarnelli, with the pot moving him to 4th place at the break, while Sarnelli was way in front with 3.5 million.
Sarnelli kept climbing as he sent Dana Shore home, and he was up to 6.5 million when they got three ways after Quentin Siffledeen ran into it twice for 4th place. Williams cashed out his ladders in 3rd place about half an hour later.
That left the two start-of-day leaders heads up for the title, but the order was heavily reversed. At the start of the day, Sarnelli was a bit behind Razzaq; at the start of heads-up, Sarnelli had more than a 4:1 lead.
Razzaq was able to claw back some chips early in heads-up, but the mountain was just too steep to climb. That gave Sarnelli his first PPT Main Event win, but he’s no stranger to big wins, as he picked up a Circuit ring in January after crushing the record Mini Main Event field of almost 2,300 entries.
Main Event Final Table Results
See the Payouts tab for a full list of all 33 cashing players.
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Ben Sarnelli | $54,250 |
| 2 | Ali Razzaq | $37,410 |
| 3 | Paul Williams | $24,320 |
| 4 | Quentin Siffledeen | $18,705 |
| 5 | Dana Shore | $14,405 |
| 6 | Christopher Newbergher | $11,410 |
| 7 | Ali Khani | $8,980 |
| 8 | Michael Bingham | $7,110 |
| 9 | Garrett Chin | $5,800 |
Luczyk Takes Last Chance; Malm Grabs PoS
- Date: Sep 27, 2 PM
- Entries: 102
- Prizes: $38,760
- Winner (1st Place): Dan Luczyk ($9,288 HU Deal)
Event #17: $450 Last Chance NLH
The final game of the series played out on Sunday, alongside Day 2 of the Main Event, and it turned into the biggest single-day open-entry event of the series, with 102 entries. That meant 10 players were sharing nearly $39k in prizes to end the series.
There was more at stake than just the trophy and money, however, at least for 3rd-place Mike Malm. He was locked into a battle with Nu Teliani for the Player of the Series race, and he earned just enough points in the final game to jump ahead of her.
The game played more than 12 hours on the final day, with winner Dan Luczyk & runner-up Iona Bliss cutting an even deal to end the night shortly after Malm secured 3rd place just before 2:30 AM. Michael St. Pierre-Porter’s 8th-place finish was enough to get his 6th cash of the series, more than anyone else.
Final Results for Last Chance
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniel Luczyk | $9,288* |
| 2 | Iona Bliss | $9,288* |
| 3 | Mike Malm | $4,925 |
| 4 | Kevin Noble | $3,790 |
| 5 | Deven Lane | $2,920 |
| 6 | Rob Lothian | $2,310 |
| 7 | Brenda Robertson | $1,820 |
| 8 | Michael St. Pierre-Porter | $1,440 |
| 9 | Sebastian Crema | $1,175 |
| 10 | Dennis Zekios | $945 |
| 11 | Jay Foong | $860 |
2026 PPT #4 at a Glance
| Event | Entries | Prizes | Winner | 1st |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| Event #15: $1,100 Main Event ($990 + $110) | 260 | $244,530 | Ben Sarnelli | $54,250 |
| Event #16: $340 PLO ($300 + $40) | 19 | $5,415 | Branden Tremblay | $3,360 |
| Event #17: $340 Last Chance NLH ($300 + $40) | 102 | $38,761 | Daniel Luczyk | $9,288 |
| Totals: | 1,434 | $689,930 | $185,366 |
