Andrii Novak has won the 2026 World Series of Poker Online $5,000 no-limit hold’em Main Event, banking $3,931,259 for his first bracelet after a field of 6,008 entries smashed the tournament’s $25 million guarantee. The event, streamed live by GGPoker with commentary from Jeff Gross and 17-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, ultimately generated a prize pool of $28,538,000, with the top six finishers all securing seven-figure payouts.
Novak, whose results have come almost exclusively online, arrived at the final table as chip leader. His previous best score was a $183,000 cash for third place in the 2020 Super High Roller Bowl Online $25,000 high roller, and the win takes his career earnings past $4.9 million.
The final table saw Brazilian pro Pablo Silva exit first in ninth place ($491,676) after his ace-queen ran into Simon Beckmann’s ace-king. Yury Nadinsky followed in eighth ($637,476), his ace-four no match for Charles La Boissonniere’s ace-king. Arian Hassankashani was next out in seventh ($826,555) when his pocket tens fell to Moyan Chen’s pocket jacks, before Pavlo Yakovliev departed in sixth ($1,071,761) after Chen’s sevens held against his ace-queen on a four-spade board.
Novak had slipped down the counts during four-handed play but battled back, winning a race with pocket threes against La Boissonniere’s suited ace-jack to send the Canadian out in fifth for $1,389,754. He then doubled up with kings against Beckmann’s ace-four all-in, surviving a spade-heavy runout before a safe river restored him to a near-even chip lead heading into the closing stages.
A three-way pot proved pivotal shortly afterwards, with Fernando Liano getting the worst of it holding ace-ten against Beckmann’s ace-queen after a min-raise and three-bet sequence, sending Liano out in fourth for $1,802,141. Chen then fell in third ($2,336,938) when his nine-eight was outdrawn by Beckmann’s queen-jack, which rivered a king-high straight.
Beckmann took a roughly 2.5:1 chip advantage into heads-up play, but Novak clawed his way back with ace-king against Beckmann’s queen-five after a limp-shove, flopping and holding top pair to seize a commanding lead of his own. The tournament was settled when Beckmann shoved for seven big blinds with queen-seven suited and Novak called with ace-jack, flopping top pair and holding through a turn that briefly gave Beckmann straight outs. Beckmann’s runner-up finish, worth $3,030,486, stands as the largest cash of his career.
