WSOP 2026 | Sterling Lopez defeats Jesse Lonis to win TORSE's first gold bracelet

On July 13, 2026, the final day of the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Event #92: $3,000 TORSE took place in Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. Twenty players returned to the arena to compete for a spot from the original 457 entries, creating a total prize pool of $1,220,190 and a first-place prize of $247,842. After approximately 12 hours of intense competition, Sterling Lopez ultimately defeated Jesse Lonis to claim his first WSOP gold bracelet.

This victory holds special significance for Lopez. A year ago, he also reached the final day of this $3,000 TORSE event, ultimately finishing sixth and taking home $40,753, which was his best result in a WSOP gold bracelet event at the time. A year later, he returned to the final stage of the same event and this time made a breakthrough, winning the gold bracelet.

Lopez has successfully avenged himself, moving from two rings to his first gold bracelet.

Before winning this title, Sterling Lopez already possessed two WSOP Circuit rings, from the Lake Tahoe and Hammond PLO events respectively. However, a WSOP gold bracelet remained his unfulfilled goal. This time, he broke through the ranks of top mixed-game players at the TORSE event, becoming the only player at the official final table to pursue his first gold bracelet, and ultimately achieving victory.

After the match, Lopez mentioned that because he had extensive experience with the same event last year, he was more mentally stable when he returned for Day 3. He was initially hesitant about returning to Las Vegas to compete, but ultimately flew back specifically for this match, and the result proved that the trip was absolutely worthwhile.

Three-man battle, overtaking the opponent against the odds, one-on-one duel, dominating Lonis

The key turning point in the final stage of the match came in the three-player battle. Jesse Lonis and Gary Bolden took turns leading, while Lopez was often in the middle or even short-score position. However, as the Razz rounds changed, Lopez gradually increased his score and broke through eight figures for the first time in the later stages of the three-player battle, officially taking the initiative.

Bolden ultimately finished in third place in the 2-7 Triple Draw round. He finished with 9 low cards, but Lopez drew 8 low cards to take the pot, eliminating the player who had previously won the HORSE version of the tournament and bringing the match to heads-up against Jesse Lonis.

The heads-up match lasted only about 40 minutes. Lopez maintained a lead throughout the entire heads-up phase, and the two eventually played a decisive pot in the Stud round. Lopez made an 8-high straight on 7th Street, defeating two-time WSOP bracelet winner Jesse Lonis. Lonis finished as runner-up with $160,862, missing out on his third WSOP bracelet.

Day 3 saw a rapid elimination wave, with top players being forced to stop one after another.

The final day saw a rapid elimination process. Joseph Bowers was eliminated in 20th place, followed by Thomas Taylor in 19th, both earning $10,241. Several 25K Fantasy favorites also failed to advance past the official final table, including Nick Guagenti in 17th, Naoya Kihara in 16th, Marco Johnson in 14th, Viktor Blom in 12th, and Brandon Shack-Harris in 11th.

After reaching the final two tables, Larry Tull and Menikos Panagiotou were eliminated in the same round. Tull went all-in with Kings in the Stud Hi-Lo round, but was ultimately defeated by David Bach's two pair, finishing in eighth place. At the other table, Panagiotou's triplets of eights lost to Qinghai Pan and Lonis' full houses, with Lonis holding an even bigger full house, winning the pot and entering the official final table with approximately 40% chips.

After dinner break, Qinghai Pan failed to recover his short score and lost to Bolden in the Triple Draw round, finishing in sixth place. Three-time bracelet winner David Bach was eliminated in the Seven-Card Stud round, ultimately finishing in fifth place; Alex Livingston then lost to Lonis's wheel in the 2-7 Triple Draw, finishing in fourth place.

Event #92 Official Final Table Results

Key rankings and elimination

Match data compilation

TORSE, as a mixed-game tournament, tests players' ability to switch between various hand types and their long-term consistency. Lopez did not maintain a lead throughout the early stages of the final table, but he successfully capitalized on opportunities in the Razz and 2-7 Triple Draw rounds in three-way play, ultimately finishing in a heads-up pot against Stud.

With Lopez's victory, the 2026 WSOP gains another mixed game champion to win their first gold bracelet in the later stages. Jesse Lonis, despite reaching the heads-up finals again, failed to secure his third bracelet in this TORSE event, making the mixed game competition in the final stages of the series a highly anticipated event.

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