WSOP Online PLO Championship | Max Stenberg wins his first gold bracelet, defeating Narcis-Gabriel Nedelcu for $282,000.

On September 10, 2026, the WSOP Online Event #18:$5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship concluded at GGPoker. Swedish player Max Stenberg emerged victorious from a field of 327 competitors, ultimately defeating Romanian star Narcis-Gabriel Nedelcu in the Heads-Up round to claim his first WSOP gold bracelet.

Stenberg also won the $282,125 first-place prize and a $30,000 2026 WSOP Paradise Super Main Event Super Pass. This victory marks a significant breakthrough for him, having previously finished 12th in the 2025 WSOP Europe PLO event after reaching the final two tables.

327 people competed for the prize pool of $1.55 million.

This $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship attracted:

327 contestants

Total prize pool reached:

$1,553,250

Ultimately, the top 45 players successfully entered the prize pool.

Key event data

Notable players such as Benjamin Miner, Rodrigo Selouan, Joakim Andersson, Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, and Anton Suarez all won prizes but failed to make it to the final seven-player table.

Espen Myrmo became the final table bubble contestant.

Stenberg makes up for his disappointment at the 2025 WSOP Europe.

Max Stenberg was actually very close to winning the WSOP gold bracelet.

In the €2,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event at the 2025 WSOP Europe Rozvadov, he made it all the way to the last two tables, ultimately finishing in 12th place.

That run was just a few places away from the Final Table and the gold bracelet.

A year later, at WSOP Online, Stenberg once again reached the advanced stages in his preferred PLO format, and this time he didn't miss out.

In the end, he took home the championship trophy, $282,125, and his first WSOP gold bracelet.

Ravid Garbi was eliminated in 7th place.

After entering the 7-player Final Table, Israeli player Ravid Garbi had the second shortest score in the entire table.

He ultimately became the first player eliminated from the final table, achieving:

7th place

bonus:

$47,020

Next, Ioannis Kontonatsios, the Greek PLO expert representing Cyprus, finished in 6th place, earning $63,684.

Bjorn Verbakel finished 5th, former WSOPE PLO champion runs deep again.

Dutch athlete Bjorn Verbakel ultimately won:

5th place

bonus:

$85,442

Verbakel previously won the 2021 WSOP Europe €550 PLO event, so this is not his first time completing a deep run at the WSOP Omaha event.

But this time he failed to make a further attempt at a second gold bracelet.

Lautaro Guerra finished in 4th place, bringing his WSOP Omaha prize money to over $6.2 million.

Lautaro Guerra, a top PLO player from Spain, competed from Mexico and ultimately achieved:

4th place

Takeaways:

$115,177

This achievement brought his total WSOP winnings to a new high:

$6.2 million

The vast majority of these achievements came from the Omaha project.

Guerra has consistently earned high prize money in PLO tournaments around the world in recent years, and this match once again proves that he remains one of the most consistent Omaha players.

Andreas Freund made a remarkable comeback from the shortest stack at the final table to finish third.

One of the most resilient players at the final table was Andreas Freund from Austria.

He entered the Final Table ranked last, but survived and advanced multiple times, eventually making it into the final three.

Although he failed to complete the comeback from shortest yard to champion, Freund still finished with:

3rd place

Takeaways:

$155,259

This became the biggest short-yard deep run story at the final table.

Nedelcu once again finished as runner-up.

The final one-on-one match was between Max Stenberg and Narcis-Gabriel Nedelcu.

For Nedelcu, this was originally an opportunity to win his second WSOP gold bracelet.

He won the following at the 2025 WSOP Las Vegas:

$1,500 8-Game Champion

Successfully obtained my first gold bracelet.

But at the 2026 Summer WSOP, he was again:

$1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha

They made it to the Heads-Up, but ultimately only managed to secure second place.

Now in the $5,000 PLO Championship, he is once again in the final two, but still fails to cross the championship threshold.

Nedelcu's final takeaway:

$209,290

And once again, he narrowly missed out on a second WSOP gold bracelet.

Stenberg won the heads-up match and officially became the WSOP champion.

With Nedelcu eliminated at Heads-Up, Max Stenberg became the last player remaining.

He officially won:

$282,125 in prize money for the champion

as well as:

First WSOP gold bracelet of my career

In addition, the champion also receives:

$30,000 WSOP Paradise Super Main Event Super Pass

This means that Stenberg has not only achieved his first gold bracelet breakthrough, but has also secured an important entry qualification for the WSOP Paradise at the end of the year.

$5K PLO Championship Final Table Results

Stenberg achieves a breakthrough in PLO with his first gold bracelet.

For Max Stenberg, the value of this championship goes beyond the $282,125 prize money.

By 2025, he had proven his ability to reach the deep end of the PLO in WSOP Europe, but ultimately finished in 12th place.

In the 2026 WSOP Online, he once again faced a star-studded PLO lineup, this time making it all the way to the end and defeating Nedelcu, who already possessed a WSOP gold bracelet.

From the last two tables at WSOPE to his official WSOP Online victory, Stenberg has finally completed the most important step and officially joined the ranks of WSOP gold bracelet champions.

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