The Strongest Players in One-on-One Matches: How Did the Heads-Up Championship Go at WSOP 2026?

The start of the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas treated all fans to one of the most exciting events — the heads-up championship with a $25,000 buy-in. Elite players gathered at the tables for one-on-one matches to battle for a bracelet and the top prize of $800,000. This year, the WSOP organizers added a starting flight 1b, which gave players who busted on the first day a chance to return to the game. This decision gifted spectators a beautiful comeback story and several more thrilling showdowns. But first things first.

Starting Days

Photo: Eloy Cabacas

On the first day, 64 participants took their seats, among whom were many poker stars, including Alex Foxen, Phil Hellmuth, and Daniel Negreanu. However, for some of them the tournament ended very quickly. In the very first round, Phil Ivey lost to Darren Elias, Doug Polk fell to Alex Keating, and Viktor Blom busted to Harvey Castro. 

The main event of the day was the match between Phil Hellmuth and Michael Mizrachi. In the decisive hand, Hellmuth went all-in with suited J9 against Mizrachi's suited K9, and on the river of J8K9K the 2025 Main Event champion made a full house, knocking Phil out of the tournament. 

In flight 1b, Ryuta Nakai and Nikolay Mamut made the most of their second chances. The Japanese player lost in the third round to Cary Katz on the first day, while on the second day he got past Josh Reichard, Yaman Nakdali, and Brock Wilson. As for the Russian, he first beat Clemens Reuter, and then pulled off a miraculous comeback against Doug Polk. The American led with a 10-to-1 chip advantage, but after several successful all-ins by Mamut, he busted from the tournament for the second time. In the third round, the Russian player beat Shota Nakashi, who had knocked out Phil Ivey, and advanced to the round of 16.

Photo: Austin Currington

The most unusual elimination came from Alan Keating. The high-stakes pro was supposed to play against Petr Krupa, but… simply didn't show up. Later, the American called the WSOP organizers and said he was running late after appearing on a stream at Doug Polk's room The Lodge, where he had won $1 million. Krupa, however, didn't last long, busting in the second round to future finalist Nikita Kuznetsov. 

Meanwhile, Artur Martirosian failed to defend the heads-up championship title he won in 2025. In the very first round of flight 1b, the Russian player sensationally lost to Shogo Otani, who had earned just $12,321 over his live tournament career — 2,500 (!) times less than Martirosian. Also eliminated in the first round was Aleksey Boyka, who lost to Dario Sammartino, while Aleksey Ponyakov fell to Brian Battistone in the next stage. 

Sensations of the Round of 16

Photo: Eloy Cabacas

On the threshold of the quarterfinals, Michael Mizrachi was the very first to bust. The reigning Main champion couldn't overcome that same Ryuta Nakai, who had used a re-entry. In the decisive hand, the American's top pair wasn't enough against the Japanese player's overpair.

A far more painful elimination came for Daniel Negreanu. The six-time WSOP bracelet holder was confidently leading the match against Biao Ding with a 10-to-1 chip advantage. However, the Chinese player pulled off the same feat that Nikolay Mamut had a day earlier. In one of the hands, Ding went all-in with A♠️9♠️ against Negreanu's A♠️Q♦️, and on the river of 652T9 he caught a pair. This allowed the Chinese player to double up for the third time in a row. And shortly after that, Biao Ding closed out the win by flopping top pair. Negreanu left the table on tilt, and the $60,000 he earned hardly improved his mood much.

Showdowns in the Quarterfinals

Biao Ding's epic comeback apparently used up all his luck for this tournament, so the Chinese player busted in the quarterfinals, losing to Dimitar Danchev. The decisive moment in their showdown was a cooler in which the Bulgarian made a flush on the river. And Ryuta Nakai met Cary Katz for the second time and this time emerged victorious, taking revenge for his first-day defeat. 

Photo: Eloy Cabacas

Nikita Kuznetsov also continued his path to his first bracelet. In the round of 16 he beat Justin Saliba, and in the quarterfinal he met Henri Puustinen. The Finn had knocked out Nikolay Mamut in the previous stage, but couldn't handle the second Russian in a row. Kuznetsov later said that the cards ran well for him in this match:
"Against Puustinen things ran incredibly well. I think I won about 90 percent of all the hands. And thanks to that, against the strongest heads-up player in the world, it turned out to be the fastest match." 

The most decorated player to make it through the quarterfinals was Alex Foxen. The three-time WSOP bracelet holder dealt with Thomas Boivin. And the Belgian even led at one point during the match with a fivefold chip advantage. However, Foxen evened out the situation, and then with pocket fives he knocked out Boivin, who went all-in with suited 76 on a board of K943K. 

The Road to the Final

Photo: Eloy Cabacas

After three days of tense showdowns, only four players remained in the game. The semifinal pairings were as follows:

Alex Foxen — Nikita Kuznetsov
Dimitar Danchev — Ryuta Nakai

Kuznetsov quickly seized the lead in the match against Foxen. In one of the hands, the opponents grew the pot to a crazy 6.8 million chips. The Russian with pocket fours and the American pro with offsuit 98 each made several large bets. On a board of 5488T Kuznetsov made a full house, while Foxen had trip eights. The American, after long deliberation, ultimately folded his cards, and Kuznetsov increased his stack by 2.15 million chips. 

The decisive hand in this match was a cooler. Foxen with Q5 gradually raised the bets, and on the turn of Q256 he went all-in. However, Kuznetsov had Q6, and he quickly called, having made the stronger two pair. The river brought the A♠️, which didn't help anyone. Kuznetsov advanced to the final, and Foxen — to his rail. 

Danchev, meanwhile, had to battle Nakai. The Japanese player started actively and built a large stack gap in his favor. Later, the Bulgarian admitted:
"Against Nakai I was in a very tough spot. He methodically ground me down, I could barely win a hand. I got very lucky to win the two biggest hands."

The situation was changed by a hand in which Danchev flopped a set of fours, while the Japanese player only made pairs of queens and jacks. The Bulgarian player took a pot of 3.6 million chips and surged into the lead. Soon Nakai made a 5-bet all-in with AJ, to which Danchev responded with a call holding pocket queens. On a flop of 7QT the Bulgarian made a set, but his opponent had a straight draw. The 4♥️ on the turn gave both players a flush draw, and with the 8♥️ on the river both made a flush. But Danchev's flush was stronger thanks to the queen against his opponent's jack. Nakai, like Foxen, busted, earning $300,000.

The Final Match

Photo: Eloy Cabacas

Nikita Kuznetsov quickly seized the lead in the final heads-up. The Russian methodically took small pots and gradually built a twofold chip advantage. But, as in the semifinal, coolers brought Dimitar Danchev success.

In one of the hands, Danchev opened with pocket fives for 225,000. Kuznetsov called with T9. On a flop of 5TT the Russian made trips, but his opponent had immediately made a full house. Kuznetsov raised the bets both after the turn of 6♠️ and after the 2♠️ on the river. The Bulgarian called and ultimately took a huge pot, surging into the lead with a big advantage.

Photo: Eloy Cabacas

However, such a frustrating loss of a hand did not lead to a quick defeat. The final dragged on for more than three hours. Kuznetsov occasionally narrowed the gap, but Danchev didn't let his opponent get close. 

In the decisive hand, Danchev held Q7 against Kuznetsov's Q8. The Russian played via check-call on the flop of 7JQ and on the turn of 3♣️, when the Bulgarian bet 400,000 and 1,600,000 respectively. On the river of Q♣️ Kuznetsov called the all-in, but once again he had trips against his opponent's full house. The Russian's impressive deep run ended in second place.

Conclusion

Photo: Jess Beck

The heads-up championship drew 128 entries for the first time in history. This generated a prize pool of $3,008,000 and a record payout for the win. Dimitar Danchev earned $800,000 and won his second career bracelet. The Bulgarian's first came online in 2022, when he also became the best in the heads-up championship. A similar achievement was previously accomplished by Artur Martirosian, who won titles online in 2023 and live in 2025.

For Nikita Kuznetsov, the result in this heads-up championship was also significant in its own way. The Russian player set a new live tournament best cash, earning $528,000. After the tournament, he admitted that he was pleased with his play, despite the bitter aftertaste of losing in the final:

"There's a bit of an aftertaste left. Of course, you always want to win. Especially in such a prestigious tournament.

Heads-up isn't my primary discipline. But when you win match after match, you feel the fight, like in sports. When you play a classic final table, you make money off folds. But here you have to claw your way through every match!

I'm pleased with the level of play in all the matches. And I believe that the strategy I chose was close to as effective as possible. Even in the match against Dimitar."