Tsuf Saltsberg staged a comeback to win his first career €3,000 PLO High Roller title.

Tsuf Saltsberg staged a comeback to win the €3,000 PLO High Roller event at the 2026 King's Million European Poker Championship, taking home €87,000 and his first live tournament trophy. The event attracted 142 entries and had a prize pool of €500,000.

Another long day has come to an end at the 2026 King's Million European Poker Championship, and for Tsuf Saltsberg, the wait was worthwhile. After a heads-up deal, Saltsberg won by flipping a coin, claiming his first live tournament title in the €3,000 PLO High Roller event.

After more than 15 hours of intense play, Saltsberg rallied from a significant deficit against Oliver Tot, then agreed to an ICM deal to adjust the prize money for the top two players, and played a final hand to determine the winner of the King's Resort Royal Scepter. Saltsberg emerged victorious, winning his first poker trophy.

“I’ve been playing poker for about ten years,” the champion told PokerNews. “For the past five years, I’ve almost exclusively played PLO, PLO tournaments, and cash games. I’ve spent most of my time playing online poker, so yes, this is the first time I’ve won a major live event. I love it, I love this moment.”

The two-day tournament saw a surge of 142 entries during the evening registration phase, all vying for a share of the €500,000 prize pool. A total of 60 new entries were recorded, with Saltsberg beating everyone to take home €87,000, the second-largest live prize of his career.

This result came just days after he finished 11th in the €1,500 PLO Championship, one of Saltsberg's many close victories over the past five years.

€3,000 PLO High Roller Final Table Results

* indicates a one-on-one ICM protocol.

Dramatic developments the next day

At the start of the final day, 28 players returned after bagging their chips on the first day, and the registration counter remained busy until registration closed in the evening.

The official prize money was quickly confirmed, with the top 22 players guaranteed at least €7,400. The next few hours were fast and intense, and by dinner break, they were just two spots away from the prize pool.

Shortly after the match resumed, Oleksii Holubov smashed A, eliminating Viktor Wessman in the bubble.

From then on, the elimination process became more consistent, with the final nine players being determined before midnight.

No elimination, no problem.

After the tables were redrawn, the pace of the game slowed, and it took another six hours to determine a champion. Saltsberg entered the final table with the third-largest chip stack, but his stack didn't come from playing big pots. In fact, quite the opposite, Saltsberg tried to avoid large confrontations. He recorded an 18th-place elimination and didn't eliminate any more players in the tournament after that.

“I tried to get some prize jumps, and that worked,” Saltsberg explained, recalling his strategy in the final hours. He has come close to victory many times in the past, including a runner-up finish at King's in the 2024 World Series of Poker Europe. His deep run to the cut in this week’s €1,500 PLO tournament guided his offensive plan this time.

"Just be more focused, more focused, and play my best. That's it. I think I did my best."

As he watched others around him go out of the game, Saltsberg hit a straight with Tot to survive and celebrated with his family and friends.

"When I doubled, it was a big pot, so that was the moment." From then on, Saltsberg has been confident in his mindset and patient. He also devised a plan to deal with a more than four-to-one deficit against Tot at the start of heads-up play.

"Let him attack me. He attacked, and he was punished." Saltsberg overcame his disadvantage to take the lead, and the advantage swung back and forth until an agreement was reached.

After winning the coin toss, the newly crowned champion was able to enjoy the moment with his friends and explain how the atmosphere helped him achieve his first live victory.

"This is a great help. Every time we go to a poker event with a lot of friends, it helps and provides support."

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