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Abhishek Mhatre Defeats Former World Champion for First WSOP Bracelet in $3,000 6-Max

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Samantha Doyle 2 hours ago

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Abhishek Mhatre wins his first WSOP bracelet in the $3,000 6-Max event.
He outlasted 1,150 entrants and defeated 2014 champ Martin Jacobson.
Mhatre claims $492,050 in his largest-ever live tournament cash.

Abhishek Mhatre arrived at the 2026 World Series of Poker with little tournament preparation, only a handful of recorded live results and, by his own admission, no particularly grand expectations.

He left Event #56 with a WSOP bracelet and $492,050.

The Canadian outlasted a field of 1,150 entries in the $3,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em event, overcoming several major swings at a chaotic final table before defeating 2014 WSOP Main Event champion Martin Jacobson heads-up.

The result represents Mhatre’s first WSOP title, his largest live tournament cash by a considerable distance and another Canadian bracelet victory at this year’s series.

Mhatre Turns a Casual WSOP Trip Into a Bracelet Run

Mhatre is hardly a familiar face on the live tournament circuit. Before this victory, he had only two recorded live cashes, with neither coming particularly close to the amount he collected at the Paris Ballroom in Las Vegas. That relative lack of experience did not seem to bother him too much.

Speaking after the victory, Mhatre explained that poker remains something he plays primarily for enjoyment rather than as a full-time pursuit.

It feels great. This is just for fun, but you know, it’s only my second series.

He was similarly candid about his preparation for the event, noting that his regular job had prevented him from putting in the sort of study commonly associated with high-level tournament players.

"I didn’t prepare at all because I have a job,” he said, adding that he had never spent much time formally studying tournaments.

That made his eventual victory somewhat unlikely, even in his own estimation. After surviving the opening day, Mhatre calculated that his chances of winning were somewhere in the region of 20-to-1. Apparently, that was enough encouragement to keep the Canadian dreaming.

There may also have been a little borrowed Canadian luck involved. Mhatre gave a shout-out to Kristen Foxen after the tournament, explaining that the Canadian poker star had given him some chips early in the event and told him to put them to good use.

Event #56 Draws 1,150 Entries

The $3,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em event attracted 1,150 entries, creating a prize pool of $3,075,500.

Only 53 players returned for Day 2, with the shortened tables helping produce the sort of relentless action generally expected from a six-max tournament. By the second break of the day, the remaining field had already been reduced to three tables.

Several established professionals were eliminated before the final table, including Faraz Jaka, Joey Weissman, Anthony Spinella, Barak Wisbrod, Maria Konnikova and Colin Robinson.

WSOP Hall of Famer Nick Schulman and 2024 Main Event champion Jonathan Tamayo were also unable to make it through to the final seven.

Naseem Salem began the day as the chip leader and the only returning player with more than two million chips. He maintained his position among the frontrunners throughout much of the day, eventually reaching the final table and finishing third.

Mhatre, meanwhile, entered the final table with the largest stack, although his route from chip leader to champion was anything but straightforward.

$3,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em Final Table Results

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Abhishek Mhatre	Canada	$492,050
2	Martin Jacobson	Sweden	$327,370
3	Naseem Salem	United States	$226,350
4	Paulina Loeliger	Austria	$159,050
5	Kevin Rand	United States	$113,620
6	Christopher Vitch	United States	$82,530
7	Maxim Lykov	Russia	$60,970

Mhatre Survives a Wild Final Table

Although Mhatre started the final table in front, Paulina Loeliger soon took control of the chip lead.

One of the defining early hands saw Loeliger call Kevin Rand’s bluff with a jack-high flush, a decision that sent her surging up the counts. Mhatre then headed in the opposite direction, doubling both Salem and Christopher Vitch in quick succession.

For a while, the Canadian went from leading the tournament to fighting simply to remain in it. His recovery began when he doubled through Salem, with pocket queens holding against pocket sixes. From there, the momentum changed quickly.

Maxim Lykov became the first final-table elimination after getting ace-king in against Mhatre’s jack-nine suited. Mhatre flopped a flush, leaving Lykov unable to recover and sending him out in seventh place.

The hand pushed Mhatre back towards the top of the standings, but his biggest boost came against Loeliger. Holding pocket eights against her pocket queens, Mhatre flopped a set and scored a significant double that returned him to the chip lead.

Vitch and Rand were subsequently eliminated in sixth and fifth, leaving Mhatre, Loeliger, Salem and Jacobson to compete for the bracelet.

Loeliger, who had held the lead at several points, exited in fourth. She moved all-in with jack-eight suited and was called by Mhatre’s jack-nine. Neither player improved enough to change the preflop order, leaving Mhatre’s higher kicker to send the Austrian to the rail for $159,050.

Salem followed in third after pushing with king-queen and running into Mhatre’s ace-ten. The board brought no rescue for the Day 1 chip leader, who collected $226,350 for his run.

By that point, Mhatre had accumulated nearly six times as many chips as Jacobson heading into heads-up play.

Mhatre Denies Martin Jacobson a Second Bracelet

Despite Jacobson’s experience and status as a former Main Event champion, the heads-up contest lasted only around ten hands.

Mhatre later admitted that the significance of facing Jacobson for the bracelet had not entirely registered with him at the table. He knew who his opponent was, but the fact that the last player standing between him and the title was a world champion did not seem to add much pressure.

Jacobson was unable to build any meaningful momentum, and the tournament ended when Mhatre’s ten-nine went up against the Swede’s jack-nine.

WSOP 2026 — Mhatre and Jacobson at Event #56

A nine on the flop paired both players, but Mhatre’s ten kicker put him in front. Jacobson could not improve, locking up the bracelet and the $492,050 top prize for the Canadian. Jacobson earned $327,370 as the runner-up.

Mhatre’s victory is more than ten times larger than his previous biggest recorded live cash and immediately becomes the defining result of his young poker résumé. Whether it remains there is another matter.

Asked where the victory might eventually rank among his career achievements, Mhatre joked that it would only fall from the top if he somehow managed to run even better in the future.

For someone playing the WSOP largely for fun, that is not a bad problem to have.

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