Alexander Kostritsyn wins his first WSOP bracelet
July 16, 2026
Russian player Alexander Kostritsyn successfully wrapped up the 2026 World Series of Poker. The high-stakes cash player entered four events this year, and the last of them brought him the first bracelet of his career and his first live tournament cash in 8 years. Kostritsyn became the winner of the $25,000 High Roller H.O.R.S.E, which combines limit hold'em, Omaha hi-lo, razz, stud, and stud hi-lo.
On the final day of the tournament, Kostritsyn knocked out Alex Foxen in 10th place and Julien Sitbon in fourth, and also took most of the stack from Naoya Kihara. The Japanese player soon lost his remaining chips in a hand against Ali Eslami and finished third. Shaun Deeb busted in eighth; in the Player of the Year race, he leads Kihara and Foxen by 21 and 29 points respectively.
In heads-up against Eslami, Kostritsyn fairly quickly built himself a comfortable lead and then gradually kept eating into his opponent's stack. In the decisive stud hand, the Russian made two pair against the American player's one pair. Eslami settled for $578,718 for second place, while Kostritsyn added $872,052 to his first bracelet, which was the second-largest score of his career.
After the win, the Russian said in an interview with PokerNews that there's a 25 percent chance he'll play the full WSOP schedule in 2027, and admitted that he had wanted to become a World Series champion:
"Starting from Day 2, I felt I had good chances. I just tried to make fewer mistakes — that way you need less luck to win.
I stopped playing tournaments on a regular basis 14 years ago. It's a nice feeling. I wanted to have a WSOP bracelet. I'm glad I got it."
On the final day of the tournament, Kostritsyn knocked out Alex Foxen in 10th place and Julien Sitbon in fourth, and also took most of the stack from Naoya Kihara. The Japanese player soon lost his remaining chips in a hand against Ali Eslami and finished third. Shaun Deeb busted in eighth; in the Player of the Year race, he leads Kihara and Foxen by 21 and 29 points respectively.
In heads-up against Eslami, Kostritsyn fairly quickly built himself a comfortable lead and then gradually kept eating into his opponent's stack. In the decisive stud hand, the Russian made two pair against the American player's one pair. Eslami settled for $578,718 for second place, while Kostritsyn added $872,052 to his first bracelet, which was the second-largest score of his career.
After the win, the Russian said in an interview with PokerNews that there's a 25 percent chance he'll play the full WSOP schedule in 2027, and admitted that he had wanted to become a World Series champion:
"Starting from Day 2, I felt I had good chances. I just tried to make fewer mistakes — that way you need less luck to win.
I stopped playing tournaments on a regular basis 14 years ago. It's a nice feeling. I wanted to have a WSOP bracelet. I'm glad I got it."
