Santhosh Suvarna wins third WSOP bracelet in epic $50,000 high roller win

The Indian poker professional Santhosh Suvarna won his third WSOP bracelet in under three years in Las Vegas last night, taking down the $50,000 High Roller event in the Paris Ballroom for almost $2 million.

A stacked final table produced the biggest winner of the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) so far last night as India’s Santhosh Suvarna took down the $50,000-entry High Roller Event #29. Winning a top prize of $1.99 million, Suvarna beat South Korean player Chang Lee heads-up to claim his third bracelet since November 2023.

When the final day began, a dozen players had hopes of victory, but these were extinguished one by one, many by the same player. Russian pro Anatoly Zlotnikov bullied his way to a huge lead with six players left but Suvarna’s resurgence began when he refused to back down with pocket eights and Chang Lee’s double through Zlotnikov evened up the chips a little too.

Brandon Wilson departed in sixth for $340,905 before Zlotnikov’s journey from hero to zero was completed, his ace-nine losing to Lee’s pocket queens to leave the visibly stunned Russian on the rail with $460,445. Chris Brewer left for $634,870 in fourth place, the same position he finished in last week’s live GGMillion$ event, losing a coinflip with threes to Lee’s ace-jack which flopped a full house and turned quads. Suvarna himself dominated Colin Robinson to defeat in third for $893,225 before the heads-up battle.

Lee held 60% of the chips in play but a bluff-catch from the Indian player reversed the stacks and when Suvarna made value on a flush, he held a vital 4:1 chip lead. An overpair of pocket kings looked good for Lee when he got Suvarna to commit with a bottom pair of eights with nines on the flop. But another eight fell on the river for a full house for Suvarna, consigning Lee to a runner-up result worth $1,281,905. Suvarna celebrated with friends, posed with his third bracelet and took home the $1,992,870 top prize.

Here’s how the finalists finished in the $50,000 WSOP Event #29 NLHE High Roller:

Could Suvarna’s victory spur poker growth in India?

It’s been just two and a half years since the high roller regular Santhosh Suvarna won the first of his three bracelets in Rozvadov in the Czech Republic. The WSOP Europe €50,000 event saw Suvarna beat the controversial character Ren ‘Tony’ Lin to the title and €650,000 as he broke his WSOP duck. Since then, Suvarna has won a $250,000 Super High Roller event for $5.4 million in Las Vegas in 2024 before grabbing his third title last night.

The growth of Suvarna’s own game mirrors much of his country’s development in the game, with poker in India growing immensely in the last decade. A ban on online poker in 2025 threatened that, but with many Indian players meeting with success in tournaments worldwide, Suvarna is hopeful that his bracelet success will prompt other Indian players to pursue their own dreams at the felt.

After another stunning victory in this latest $50,000 High Roller WSOP event, Suvarna’s success will be beamed across the globe, which can only be good for him and the further growth of the game.

Here’s how the $50,000 High Roller Event #29 played out at the 2026 WSOP.