Have you drafted your Pick 3 SCOOP team yet? All you need to do is pick three players for the 2026 SCOOP festival and you could win a $5K Irish Open package! Hurry – the deadline is March 1 at 8am ET.
When picking your team of 3 SCOOP stars to win you a $5K poker package, it helps to know who has been there, done that and got the t-shirt.
Here’s the good news: We’ve put together a quick rundown of some of SCOOP’s biggest winners since the series was born 17 years ago, so you can see at a glance who’s got the most experience when it comes to taking down the titles.
The bad news? Each of them is, understandably, on the ‘Big Hitters’ list, so you can only pick one for your team.
Who will it be? You can pick your team of 3, for free, right now.
14 wins: Simon Mattsson
Since winning his first SCOOP title in 2012 the man known as ‘C. Darwin2’ has evolved into an apex predator of the annual series.
His 14 victories are primarily in no-limit hold’em, and at the higher stakes, although he does also have titles in limit hold’em, Omaha hi/lo and 5-card pot-limit Omaha.
What’s more, he’s been known to go on a tear: last year alone he won an incredible 5 SCOOP events, cementing his place at the top of the all-time SCOOP ladder — for now, at least.
11 wins: Niklas Astedt
Niklas ‘Lena900’ Astedt is nothing less than a legend of online poker. One of the most successful online tournament players of all time — as well as a WSOP Main Event final tablist in 2024 — Astedt scored his first SCOOP title in 2017. It would be the first of 11 to date, with 2020 the only year since in which he failed to add to his tally.
Astedt is a grinder with a raft of skills — 5 of his 11 SCOOP wins have come playing variants of Omaha hi/lo — and he doesn’t just stick to the high rollers, making him a potentially valuable addition to your 3-player roster.
11 wins: Benny Glaser
Benny ‘RunGodlike’ Glaser is known as a mixed-game maestro. The Brit picked up an incredible 3 WSOP bracelets last summer playing mixed variants, and 9 of the 11 SCOOP victories he’s recorded since 2016 have been in non-hold’em variants.
Glaser is also the leading player in the race for WCOOP titles, with 16 wins to his name, and doesn’t shy away from events at any buy-in level.
If you’re looking to draft someone who plays every game, and plays them well, then look no further.
11 wins: Andre Skvortsov
The Russian known as ‘Premove’ is another player with 11 SCOOP wins under his belt, and another known for playing any variant, at any buy-in level. 9 of his titles have come in non-hold’em events, 3 at the Low buy-in level, 4 at Medium and 4 High.
Based in Montenegro, Skvortsov joined the list of SCOOP winners in 2019 and has added new titles to his collection every year since.
10 wins: Denis Strebkov
The screen name ‘aDrENalin710’ has been listed among PokerStars’ biggest winners for over a decade, and the Thailand-based Russian player continues to be one of the most fearsome competitors in both SCOOP and WCOOP events.
Not only does Strebkov have 10 SCOOP titles — including two last year — he also has another 14 WCOOP victories under his belt. Including, yup, two last year. What’s more, he’s another player who’s capable of picking up points at any buy-in level, in any game, making him an ideal player to back for a Pick 3 team.
10 wins: Jerry Odeen
Sweden’s ‘perrymejsen’ is another mixed-game master, who has collected victories in everything from razz to stud since his first SCOOP win in 2019.
That five of those victories have come in the past two years suggests Odeen is a smart pick for this year’s series, and he’s a danger in every game, at every level. If he plays a full schedule in 2026 he will take some stopping.
10 wins: Patrick Leonard
Known online as ‘pads1161’, Britain’s Leonard already has a string of good live results in 2026, including a win in a $10K PokerGO Tour event in January worth $315K.
But while he has over $5 million in live tourney winnings, his reputation was forged online where he has won much more. He’s previously won SCOOP Player of the Year honors and is well-known for committing to the grind, which is just what you want when putting together a trio for your Pick 3 team.
9 wins: Kelvin Kerber
Adding ‘Kelvin_FP:A’ to your roster could bve a wise move; over the past four SCOOP series the Brazilian has amassed an impressive 8 titles. That record includes the feat, in 2024, of winning both the Medium and High versions of the same event (fixed-limit hold’em).
Another accomplished mixed-game pro, the only thing not in Kerber's favor might be his lack of activity on the Low leaderboard — since his first SCOOP victory in 2017, all his wins have come in Medium and High events.
9 wins: ‘FAL1ST’
Another former SCOOP Player of the Year, ‘FAL1ST’ is a name constantly found at or near the top of PokerStars’ most competitive leaderboards.
Theirs seems like such a constant presence that it’s tough to believe they only won their first SCOOP title in 2021. Since then, however, they’ve amassed multiple wins in 2023, 2024 and 2025, when they notched an impressive four SCOOP event titles. Another reason they’d make a good pick is their range of events, taking in all variants and all buy-in levels. In fact, so far they have no SCOOP titles in hold’em, but that could soon change.
7 wins: Andras Nemeth
Andras ‘probirs’ Nemeth of Hungary has more than $10 million in live tournament winnings, with results stretching all the way back to 2009. It was in 2015 that he scored his first SCOOP victory, though, with six more wins coming in the following years — all but one in no-limit hold’em.
Nemeth has become a regular on the super high roller live circuit, but there’s no better time to log on to PokerStars and chase a big score than during SCOOP.
Draft your 2026 SCOOP Pick 3 team now and you could win a 2026 $5K Irish Open package.
Additional images courtesy of Manuel Kovsca/Jules Pochy/Miguel Cortes/Rational Intellectuial Holdings Ltd.
