Anthony Finley redeemed himself in the 2026 Oklahoma State Championship $800 Main Event.

Anthony Finley won the Oklahoma State Poker Championship 800 Main Event, taking home $58,803. He redeemed himself this year after finishing third in the same event last year, defeating Arturo Toscano heads-up.

Anthony Finley last year at the 2025 Oklahoma State Poker Championship $800He\; made\; his\; first\; major\; final\; table\; appearance\; in\; the\; Main\; Event,\; where\; he\; finished\; third.$27,869, that was the highest prize money of his career at the time. Now, Finley returned to the final day of the same event, and as night fell, he became the last surviving player, defeating Arturo Toscano heads-up to win the championship trophy and a champion's prize of $58,803.

 

Ranking	player	country	bonus
1	Anthony Finley	United States	$58,803
2	Arturo Toscano	United States	$36,344
3	Dylan Murrell	United States	$25,557
4	Bobby Randolph	United States	$18,369
5	Tandi Stevens	United States	$13,500
6	Taylor Holcomb	United States	$10,151
7	Nick McGuire	United States	$7,812
8	Kyle Michael	United States	$6,159
9	Jason Royman	United States	$4,976
10	Michael Varnell	United States	$4,122

"It feels amazing, really great," Finley told PokerNews after his win. "I actually got into this tournament through a 1TP 4T 140 satellite. It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing. I came, played in Saturday's group, and it felt great. I acted when I needed to. I had to make a lot of important folds before I was able to build up chips on Day 1."

Finley describes himself as someone who has been playing poker since childhood, but only started taking the game more seriously a few years ago.

"I've been playing since I was a kid. My grandpa introduced me to it. I played online occasionally when I was very young and shouldn't have been playing yet. Then, during my teenage years, I almost completely stopped playing. In my early twenties, I only played a few cash games. When I picked up poker again two and a half years ago, I would play in the monthly tournaments here. The tour would come here and Durant. Two and a half years ago, I was fully committed. I played both cash games and tournaments."

When asked if last year's final table experience gave him more confidence to enter this year's final table, Finley replied, "100% certain. Last year's final table was almost one of my very first final table experiences. I really didn't have much experience last year. I faced a lot of aggressive play and didn't quite know how to respond. This year, I feel like I'm the aggressive one, and I'll take the lead when possible. I think that was a huge learning curve for me."

Final Day Results

From a field of 417 entries, only 29 players returned for the final day. The elimination was swift and intense from the start. Players eliminated before the final table included Eric Bunch, chip leader Brad Stevens (1a), chip leaders Richard Gebhart (starting the day), Sarah Renko, and Doug Paxton (the inaugural 2006 champion).

The final table lineup was set after Michael Varnell was eliminated in 10th place. Tandi Stevens entered the final table as the chip leader, while Finley was fifth in chips. Toscano quickly heated up the final table, eliminating Jason Royman in ninth place and Kyle Michael in eighth to propel himself to the top of the chip stack. Finley, still in the middle of the pack, kept himself competitive after eliminating Nick McGuire in seventh. In that hand, McGuire went all-in with A-4, and Finley called with A-10.

After Taylor Holcomb was eliminated in sixth place, the game stalled. The chip stacks of all five players quickly became very close, and it took more than two hours for the next elimination to occur.

“The prize money was huge,” Finley said of the long five-handed game. “I had two big stacks to my left, which was the worst seat at the table. I was a bit hampered by my luck. I didn’t really have many opportunities to make a move until I got a big double-up. My mindset was to wait for good cards, wait for good opportunities, and seize the advantage when possible.”

Two crucial hands ended the stalemate in the five-handed battle. First, Toscano dealt a heavy blow to Dylan Murrell in a straight-against-straight matchup. Then, Toscano eliminated Stevens with two pair against his open-ended straight draw, giving him a significant lead over the remaining three opponents. Shortly after, Finley flopped a flush, eliminating fourth-placed Bobby Randolph and narrowing the gap between him and Toscano.

After Murrell was eliminated in third place, Toscano entered heads-up play against Finley with a 1.5:1 chip lead. Finley chipped away at Toscano's stack, winning the first few hands without a showdown to gain a very small lead. Then, the decisive hand came. Finley made bottom two pair on the flop against Toscano's top two pair, but both players checked on the flop. Finley made a full house on the turn. This triggered a major raising battle until all the chips were in the center of the pot. After successfully avoiding the possibility of Toscano making a bigger full house on the river, Finley won the final pot of the tournament.

This concludes PokerNews' coverage of the 2026 Oklahoma State Championship. Stay tuned for more updates on tournaments around the world.

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