The flagship event of the 2026 Onyx High Roller Series has crowned its champion. After a marathon final table session that saw aces cracked repeatedly, Dutch pro Nino Pansier emerged victorious in Event #13, the $25,000 PLO Main Event.
Pansier navigated a tough field of 199 entries to capture the trophy and the massive $1,125,000 top prize, the largest single payout of the entire PLO series. To seal the deal, he had to overcome Germany’s Justin Steinbrenner, who had been on a relentless “Ace-cracking” tear throughout the final table.
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The Final Hand: A Massive Cooler
The heads-up battle for the title ended in dramatic fashion with a classic Pot Limit Omaha hand. With the blinds at 250k/500k, Pansier raised the button and Steinbrenner defended in the Big Blind.
The flop fell Q♣ 5♠ 4♠, giving Steinbrenner middle set with Q♦ 5♥ 5♣ 4♦. However, the board gave Pansier the nut flush draw holding A♠ 10♦ 9♦ 8♠.
The chips flew into the middle immediately. Steinbrenner was a statistical favorite to double up, but the 10♠ on the turn completed Pansier’s flush. Steinbrenner needed the board to pair on the river to survive, but the 6♦ bricked off, sending the German rail home in 2nd place for a career-best $710,000.
Justin Steinbrenner: The “Ace Hunter”
While Pansier took the trophy, the story of the final table was undoubtedly Justin Steinbrenner’s incredible run of eliminations. In a game often defined by preflop equities, Steinbrenner single-handedly cleared the field by cracking pocket Aces in three consecutive bust-outs.
- 5th Place ($250,000): High roller regular Artur Martirosian got his stack in with A♥ A♣ Q♣ 5♠ on a 10♥ 7♦ 4♠ flop. Steinbrenner called with J♥ 10♦ 7♠ 6♠ for top two pair and held, sending the Russian phenom to the rail.
- 4th Place ($340,000): Moments later, Espen Sandvik woke up with A♠ A♦ Q♥ 7♣ and got it all-in preflop. Steinbrenner’s A♣ J♠ J♦ 3♣ looked in trouble until the J♥ hit the turn, giving him a set to crack aces yet again.
- 3rd Place ($483,000): The trend continued three-handed. Youness Barakat found A♥ A♦ K♦ 6♠ on a 6♦ 4♥ 3♥ flop and got it in good. Steinbrenner, holding 9♦ 9♣ 8♥ 6♥, needed help and found it on the river when the J♥ completed his flush, eliminating the Italian in a heartbreaking third place.
A Series for the Record Books
Pansier’s victory caps off a dominant week for PLO specialists in Cyprus. The Onyx High Roller Series has seen some of the game’s best claim titles across the varying formats.
Earlier in the week, Artur Vyborov kicked things off by winning the $10k PLO Opener, followed quickly by Cesar Garcia taking down the massive field in the $50k PLO Grand Slam. The high-speed action saw Norway’s Mads Amot ship the High Roller Turbo, while just yesterday, Gruffudd John Pugh-Jones denied legend Laszlo Bujtas in the $50k Finale.
Notable finishes in the Main Event also included Lautaro Guerra (6th), Eelis Pärssinen (29th), and turbo winner Mads Amot, who continued his hot streak with a 24th place cash.
Event #13: $25,000 PLO Main Event – Final Results
| Place | Player | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nino Pansier | $1,125,000 |
| 2 | Justin Steinbrenner | $710,000 |
| 3 | Youness Barakat | $483,000 |
| 4 | Espen Sandvik | $340,000 |
| 5 | Artur Martirosian | $250,000 |
| 6 | Lautaro Guerra | $190,000 |
| 7 | Tomasz Krzesinski | $143,000 |
| 8 | Bassel Alanaz | $112,000 |
| 9 | Maksim Shuts | $112,000 |
| 10 | Quan Zhou | $94,000 |
| 11 | Joni Jouhkimainen | $94,000 |
| 12 | Eugene Golubchik | $80,000 |
| 13 | Aku Joentausta | $80,000 |
| 14 | Marcel Grubinger | $70,000 |
| 15 | Oswin Ziegelbecker | $70,000 |
| 16 | Espen Myrmo | $70,000 |
| 17 | Vincent Khoueiry | $70,000 |
| 18 | Geoffrey Mooney | $63,000 |
| 19 | Klemens Roiter | $63,000 |
| 20 | Martin Dam | $63,000 |
| 21 | Sondre Stormyr | $56,000 |
| 22 | Maximilian Wieser | $56,000 |
| 23 | Michael Komatz | $56,000 |
| 24 | Mads Amot | $50,000 |
| 25 | Dennis Weiss | $50,000 |
| 26 | Luuk van den Belt | $50,000 |
| 27 | Gergo Nagy | $50,000 |
| 28 | Thomas Hueber | $50,000 |
| 29 | Eelis Parssinen | $50,000 |
With over 12 years of Omaha Poker experience, Lebi is the Head of Content at PLO365. A dedicated PLO specialist, he bridges the gap between complex GTO theory and practical street poker. He leads our review team, stress-testing PLO solvers, HUDs, and training courses to ensure they meet the demands of the modern grinder. When he isn’t auditing poker room RNGs or writing strategy guides, you can find him grinding mid-stakes PLO cash games and Turbo MTTs.
