2025 marked the debut of the PokerStars Live League, a leaderboard contest with over €150K in prizes on offer. Play live poker events, rack up the points, and finish in the top spots for some bonus prizes.
Plus there was an extra sweetener for one player in the top 30: a rare chance at becoming a PokerStars ambassador.
That honor went to David Lappin (below), who is now wearing the red spade patch as he competes in PokerStars’ 2026 season of live events. And while this year’s Live League doesn’t come with the promise of an ambassador patch for one lucky winner, it does feature more than €250K in leaderboard prizes.
In addition to the prizes listed below, the top 30 players on each of the High, Medium and Low leaderboards at the year’s end will be invited to play a €100,000 live freeroll in early 2027.
It’s definitely not too late to make a charge up the league, so what prizes are at stake? And at this early stage, who is in pole position to win them?
Prizes from €3,750 to €50,000
As with the 2025 version, this year’s PokerStars Live League is broken down into three leaderboards, divided by buy-ins. Unlike last year’s edition, points will be weighted more towards those who make final tables and win.
The High leaderboard tracks results in events with buy-ins of $/£/€4,900 and above, and will award the following prizes at the end of the year:
- 1st: €50,000 PokerStars LIVE credit
- 2nd: €25,000 PokerStars LIVE credit
- 3rd: €12,500 PokerStars LIVE credit
The Medium leaderboard is for events with buy-ins from $/£/€1,000-5,500, with these prizes on offer:
- 1st: €25,000 PokerStars LIVE credit
- 2nd: €12,500 PokerStars LIVE credit
- 3rd: €6,250 PokerStars LIVE credit
The Low leaderboard awards points in events with buy-ins of $/£/€1,200 and below, and will also pay out three spots as follows:
- 1st: €15,000 PokerStars LIVE credit
- 2nd: €7,500 PokerStars LIVE credit
- 3rd: €3,750 PokerStars LIVE credit
Did you spot the deliberate mistake? Some events — for example, EPT Main Events with a €5,300 buy-in or PokerStars Open Main Events with a €1,100 buy-in — fall into more than one category.
That’s not a bug, it’s a feature. Deep runs in these events will reward players with points on multiple leaderboards.
The early leaders
With the Irish Open ending earlier this week and EPT Monte Carlo coming up at the end of the month, now’s a good time to take a look at the current state of the leaderboards for an idea of the players to beat.
The Low leaderboard
Romania’s Narcis Gabriel Nedelcu took down the Irish Open Main Event — after an unprecedented 5-way chop — which has seen him claim top spot on the Low leaderboard.
All of Nedelcu’s 2026 results came at the tour stop in Ireland, where he cashed three more times in addition to his Main Event victory, which highlights how easily things can change; even if you haven’t played an event yet this year, you’re not out of the running.
Top 10
| Position | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Narcis Gabriel Nedelcu (Romania) | 1,305.66 |
| 2 | Danilo Donnini (Italy) | 1,225.95 |
| 3 | Vasyl Palandiuk (Italy) | 910.24 |
| 4 | Andrew Hulme (England) | 849.66 |
| 5 | Jamie Patrick Flynn (Ireland) | 773.64 |
| 6 | Ian Simpson (England) | 746.35 |
| 7 | Wei Jie Zheng (Ireland) | 745.44 |
| 8 | Luca Bernardi (Italy) | 742.25 |
| 9 | Tudor Bartha (Romania) | 707.59 |
| 10 | Dimitrios Anastasakis (Greece) | 700.18 |
The Medium leaderboard
As with Nedelcu, the leader of the Medium leaderboard has only recorded results at one tour stop so far in 2026: EPT Paris.
Jorge Carvalho Abreu of Portugal won the Main Event there for over €1.1M, as well as picking up a cash in the PokerStars Open high roller. It’s worth remembering that players don’t have to actually cash in a tournament to collect points, though.
Top 10
| Position | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jorge Carvalho Abreu (Portugal) |
2,300.17 |
| 2 | Roope Tarmi (Finland) | 2,211.54 |
| 3 | Felix Schneiders (Germany) | 1,951.53 |
| 4 | Danilo Donnini (Italy) | 1,898.79 |
| 5 | Richard Geyer (USA) | 1,583.08 |
| 6 | Mathew Frankland (England) | 1,551.30 |
| 7 | Antoine Labat (France) | 1,540.27 |
| 8 | Ladislao Dalfo Batlle (Spain) | 1,433.85 |
| 9 | Patrik Demus (Hungary) | 1,428.94 |
| 10 | Julien Sitbon (France) | 1,371.06 |
The High leaderboard
Klemens Roiter currently sits atop the High leaderboard, and it’s a spot with which he’s familiar. The Austrian spent much of 2025 vying for top spot in the High rankings, eventually finishing second only to Italy’s Enrico Camosci.
The high roller made four final tables at EPT Paris, before spending much of March picking up even more big scores on the Triton tour over in Korea. Those won’t help his PokerStars Live League standings, of course, but winnings are always welcome; these high roller buy-ins don’t pay themselves.
Top 10
| Position | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Klemens Roiter (Austria) | 3,000.88 |
| 2 | Brandon Wilson (USA) | 2,899.32 |
| 3 | Punnat Punsri (Thailand) | 2,555.74 |
| 4 | Kayhan Mokri (Norway) | 2,276.89 |
| 5 | Juan Pardo (Spain) | 2,224.88 |
| 6 | Michael Watson (Canada) | 2,102.84 |
| 7 | Jorge Carvalho Abreu (Portugal) | 1,964.28 |
| 8 | Daniel Dvoress (Canada) | 1,885.69 |
| 9 | Teun Mulder (Netherlands) | 1,872.29 |
| 10 | Niklas Astedt (Sweden) | 1,761.19 |
The next major European event on the PokerStars Live calendar is just around the corner, with EPT Monte Carlo taking place from April 30 to May 10.
Images courtesy of Danny Maxwell Photography/Rational Intellectual Holdings Ltd.
