Two more games are in the books at the 2026 Spring Super Stack. Hosted by Deerfoot Inn & Casino in Calgary, the series is now past the midway point with 10 of 17 events now complete.
To date, the series has awarded more than $320k in prizes with almost 1,250 entries across the 10 completed events so far. Those numbers are before any of the biggest events have run, so by the time things are all accounted for, total prizes should be around $1 million.
| 2026 Spring Super Stack Summary | |
| Total Prizes | $320,497 |
| Total Entries | 1,243 |
| Total 1st Place | $75,454 |
The two games to run on Monday couldn’t have been more different. The main game was the $400 HORSE that drew 42 entries for prizes of $14,165, while the evening side game was a $230 Turbo NLH with 109 entries for prizes of $21,228.
Kurtis Ruhl Rules the HORSE
Event #9: $400 HORSE ($355 + $45)
- Entries: 42
- Prizes: $14,165
- Winner: Kurtis Ruhl ($5,800 after Deal)
It was Kurtis Ruhl’s game from start to end, as he was playing the big stack through most of the game. Benny Sarnelli flirted with the lead while they were still playing on two tables, but from what I could see, Ruhl never gave up the lead.
Once they got to a single table, Sarnelli’s luck started turning. He got into a huge hand with Ruhl that both players agreed was “strange.” It was a stud high hand, and Sarnelli folded 6th street with a pair of aces showing against Ruhl’s face-up queens, with both boards awash in Broadway cards.
The left Sarnelli short, and sent Ruhl well into the stratosphere. Sarnelli survived a bit longer, but eventually he had to settle for the bubble spot in 5th place. The final five agreed to a bubble deal, however, so Sarnelli didn’t walk away empty-handed.
Essam Saadeddine quickly followed Sarnelli out, taking the first official cashing spot. That set up three-handed play that lasted for about 20 minutes before Keegan Oliver bowed out in 3rd place. That set up heads up against James Ivanich, but he and Ruhl decided to cut a deal that gave Ruhl $5,800 while Ivanich pocketed $4,257, and they ended the game there.
This was Ruhl’s 6th live win, and the score should push him over $220k in lifetime earnings.
Final Results for the HORSE
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Kurtis Ruhl | $5,800* |
| 2 | James Ivanich | $4,257* |
| 3 | Keegan Oliver | $2,550 |
| 4 | Essam Saadeddine | $1,558 |
Sam Brouillard Takes the Turbo Win
Event #10: $230 NLH ($205 + $25)
- Entries: 109
- Prizes: $21,228
- Winner: Sam Brouillard ($5,460 after Deal)
The side game on Monday was the $230 Turbo NLH. 20-minute blinds with a 25k start stack created a lot of action for the game, with the endgame largely playing out with about 15 big blinds on average.
Sebastian Crema was the early chip leader, with Quebec’s Sam Brouillard picking up the lead later in the night and holding it. It wasn’t much of a surprise to see both of them in the endgame of this tournament.
For a turbo game, it actually played a little longer than expected, with the final hands playing out about 10 hours after they sat down for Level 1. Once they got to the final table at about 2 AM, things went relatively quickly.
There was some deal talk at the final table, but it didn’t get really serious until they were three ways with Brouillard, Crema, and Denis Mujcin. Crema was very motivated to play, and actually turned down what even he called a “very generous deal” that would have seen big stack Brouillard take first place money, while Mujcin & Crema chopped second evenly. Mujcin had more chips than Crema at the time, but Crema decided he wanted to play it out.
There finally was a deal after Mujcin hit the rail for third place. Brouillard was still the leader, and they did an ICM chop with $400 from each payout left on the table to play for. Crema was about a 2:1 dog to start heads up, and while he put up a solid fight, he just couldn’t find any traction against the aggression and hot run for Brouillard. It took around 40 minutes to decide on the heads-up, and by the time they finished, there were fewer than 50 big blinds on the table.
The final hand was a not-so-classic flip, with Crema on ace-seven versus queen-ten for Brouillard. Brouillard hit a queen on the flop, and that was all he needed to take it down.
This looks to be Brouillard’s first live win. He took second in a WPT Global event at Playground Poker Club in January of this year, and that looked to be his best result prior to last night’s Turbo win.
Final Results for $230 Turbo NLH
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Samuel Brouillard | $5,460* |
| 2 | Sebastian Crema | $4,411* |
| 3 | Denis Mujcin | $2,972 |
| 4 | Shane Chief | $2,123 |
| 5 | Sam Accum | $1,486 |
| 6 | Jim Macdonald | $1,061 |
| 7 | Dwayne Alexis | $955 |
| 8 | Chris Iriye | $849 |
| 9 | Alexandre Fortin | $743 |
| 10 | Ramaz Haymour | $637 |
| 11 | Jeff Lamarche | $531 |
