Rob Wazwaz Wins 2026 Wisconsin Poker State Championship

The 2026 Wisconsin Poker State Championship drew 1,568 entries at $1,110 apiece. The top 173 finishers earned a share of the $1,519,460 prize pool, but only one would secure the title and the top prize of $253,521. That turned out to be MSPT Hall of Famer Rob Wazwaz.

Wazwaz now has two victories on this tour, and has extended his record for the most MSPT final-table appearances with 22. This latest six-figure score increased his overall tournament earnings to more than $3.4 million, with over $1.1 million of that coming from his success on this particular tour. He earned 1,080 Card Player Player of the Year points with this triumph.

From 173 To A Champion In A Single Day The final 173 returned to the host venue of Potawatomi Hotel Casino in Milwaukee, all having locked up at least a min-cash. Plenty of notables hit the rail on the long march to the final table, including Josh Reichard (45th), Aaron Johnson (42nd), Rich Alsup (26th), and Brittany Spain (10th). There were eight double ups before the first knockout at the nine-handed final table, with MSPT champion Travis Young (9th – $25,730) being the first to fall. Wazwaz landed his first elimination at the final table when his K♦10♠ outran the pocket jacks of Alex Doroshko (6th – $51,461). Vincent Kuriakose (5th – $68,110) bowed out in fifth, with his K-7 suited unable to come from behind against the pocket aces of William Stringer. Despite that win, Stringer was ultimately the next to head to the payout desk. He lost a massive pot with a pair and flush draw against WazWaz’s top pair, top kicker and was unable to improve by the river. He was left short, and WazWaz soon got the rest with K-3 suited besting Q-7. Stringer earned $90,662 as the fourth-place finisher. Bracelet winner Mike Wilklow made his last stand with K♣7♠. WazWaz came along with A♣4♠ and ace high remained best to narrow the field to two. Wilklow secured $118,057 for his podium showing. WazWaz held 34,200,000 to Mark Cahill’s 12,840,000 when heads-up play began. The chips soon went in with A♣6♦ leading K♣6♣. The final runout of J♠9♥7♦8♠2♦ missed both players, which meant that ace high was once again enough to earn WazWaz a knockout. Cahill was awarded $154,077 as the runner-up.