May 28-30, 2026
The 2026 $5K PLO got 41 fewer runners than last year, when Caleb Furth won his second bracelet.
-
1ST
Yang Wang
$595,388
-
2ND
Jesse Lonis
$396,890
-
3RD
Evan Krentzman
$277,537
-
4TH
Justin Scott
$197,139
-
5TH
Stephen Hubbard
$142,283
-
6TH
Dylan Weisman
$104,359
-
7TH
Jarred Graham
$77,815
Jesse Lonis plays big poker. And when things go his way, he can end up dominating.
He almost dominated the $5K 8-Handed PLO event from start to finish.
He was second in chips after Day 1, with just Dylan Weisman ahead of him on the overnight leaderboard.
He took charge on Day 2 and ended the day with a monster chip lead, with seven players remaining – 17.6 million compared to just 5 million for Stephen Hubbard.
Day 1 chipleader, Weisman, was in fourth place. Yang Wang was in sixth with a stack of 1.7 million.
How did Lonis get all those chips? Hands like the one below helped him a lot. Hey, if you want to win a tournament, you need to be lucky as well as good, right?
Dream run for Lonis
Lonis wasn't counting his chickens. "Far from over," he posted on his X account, followed by a more chest-beating prediction: "Gorilla time."
With $595,388 up top and steep pay jumps, the other players at the table were up against it. And cards were still running the way of Lonis.
He eliminated Jarred Graham when both players flopped a set and turned a full house. The money went in on the flop, with Lonis having the superior set.
Weisman was eliminated in sixth for $104,359 before Hubbard joined him on the rail just before the first break of the day.
Lonis was still running the show, but his chip lead had been cut.
- Jesse Lonis (USA) – 18,175,000
- Yang Wang (China) – 11,570,000
- Evan Krentzman (USA) – 4,395,000
- Justin Scott (USA) – 2,120,000
Wang tames the gorilla
Lonis took out Scott in fourth place. Scott had kings and had the best of it on a queen-high flop, but Lonis had flopped top pair, turned two pair and rivered a full house.
It really did seem like there was no stopping him.
But PLO is a swingy game.
The momentum shifted here when Wang pulled off a big bluff and asked Lonis if he wanted to see it. Lonis did, but perhaps he wished he hadn't.
Wang started chipping up and took the chip lead in a pot against Lonis, who was forced to fold after a big bet on the river.
By the next break, Wang had opened up a Lonis-style lead, with almost two-thirds of the chips in play. He had 22.8 million, while Lonis had slipped below 10 million.
And Wang continued his hot run through to the dinner break, when his stack had grown to 24.5 million to Lonis' 5.8 million, and Evan Krentzman's 5.5 million.
Finally, five-and-a-half hours after Scott hit the rail, Wang eliminated Krentzman to take his stack just shy of 30 million – five times what Lonis had.
Wang wins his first at the WSOP
Could Lonis find an epic comeback of his own?
It didn't take long to get an answer, and the final hand was pretty brutal for Lonis.
- Jesse Lonis:
- Yang Wang:
The flop was all Lonis. He had top pair and the nut flush draw. Wang had a pair of fives but picked up two pair on the 
turn.
The 
river brought in the flush for Lonis but filled up Wang, who celebrated his first WSOP bracelet win.
What was his mindset coming into the final table with such a dominant chip leader?
"I was always confident," Wang said. "I was short but I always thought I could win it."
You could see the excitement on his face.
"I was calm before I won the bracelet," Wang said, "but now I've won, it's exciting. I've made multiple WSOP final tables and I didn't want to lose this one."
