Ukraine’s Andrii Novak banked the biggest score of his career on September 23, 2026, topping a stacked 6,008-entry field to win the WSOP Online Main Event and claim his first World Series of Poker bracelet, along with a life-changing $3,931,259.
A Massive Field for the $5,000 WSOP Online Main Event
Event #28, the $5,000 buy-in WSOP Online Main Event, is the marquee tournament of GGPoker’s 2026 WSOP Online series, which runs from August 16 through September 29 and features 33 gold bracelet events. Spread across 19 separate starting flights to accommodate the volume of entries, the Main Event drew 6,008 players and built a prize pool of $28,538,000, comfortably clearing its advertised guarantee. Every player who survived to the unified final table was already guaranteed $72,550, but it was Novak who left with the lion’s share of the pool and the honor of being crowned bracelet number 28 in the series.
Novak Controls the Final Table From Start to Finish
Novak arrived at the nine-handed final table holding the chip lead, and rather than let it slip away, he tightened his grip as the table shortened. Online tournament final tables at this level often swing wildly on a single hand, but Novak’s stack proved remarkably durable through the bubble-to-heads-up stretch, and by the time he reached the final two, he held a commanding advantage of roughly 10 to 1 in chips over his last opponent, Austria’s Simon Beckmann. That cushion gave Novak enormous room to apply pressure without risking elimination, a luxury few players get to enjoy this deep in a tournament of this size.
The Final Hand: Ace-Jack Survives a Scare
With his overwhelming chip advantage intact, Novak raised holding ace-jack and Beckmann shoved all in with queen-seven of hearts, a spot Beckmann had little choice but to take given his short stack. The flop brought an ace, putting Novak firmly in front, and while Beckmann picked up a ten on the turn to add a gutshot and a flush draw to his outs, the river fell a blank five, ending the tournament and sending the bracelet, the trophy and the seven-figure top prize to Novak. Beckmann’s deep run was still worth $3,030,486 for second place, a career-best result for the Austrian grinder.
A Deep and International Final Table
The final table reflected the global reach of modern online poker. China’s Moyan Chen finished third for $2,336,938, while Austria’s Fernando Liano took fourth for $1,802,141. Canada’s Charles La Boissonniere rounded out the top five for $1,389,754, and Ukraine’s Pavlo Yakoliev, playing alongside his countryman Novak, finished sixth for $1,071,761. With players from Ukraine, Austria, China and Canada all cashing seven figures, the event underscored just how far WSOP Online’s reach now extends beyond any single region, a trend that has become common across GGPoker’s bracelet series in recent years.
From a Five-Figure Score to a Seven-Figure Bracelet
Novak, who plays out of Odessa, was already a known face in GGPoker’s high-volume community before this win. Back in February 2021, he took down the $525 Bounty Hunters High Roller Main Event on the same platform for $91,016 after outlasting 1,981 entries, a result that hinted at the final-table composure he would need years later on a much bigger stage. Tuesday’s win instantly becomes the defining result of his career, transforming him from a solid mid-stakes specialist into a seven-figure bracelet winner in a single tournament. Beyond the cash, Novak also picked up a $30,000 Super Pass, which includes a package to the 2026 WSOP Paradise Super Main Event, giving him a direct route into one of the live circuit’s richest events later this year.
What the Win Means for the 2026 WSOP Online Series
The Main Event is historically the centerpiece of the WSOP Online calendar, and its $28.5 million pool made it, by a wide margin, the largest single prize pool of this year’s series. With the schedule running into late September, GGPoker’s 33-bracelet lineup continues to draw record participation from recreational and professional players alike, a pattern that has held steady since the online bracelet format was introduced. For newer players trying to understand how bracelet formats differ from a standard buy-in event, Poker Pro Academy’s WSOP guide breaks down the structures, side events and qualification paths that make the series unique.
For Novak, the win caps a series that has already produced a string of massive scores, but few will match the scale of a $28.5 million prize pool converted into a $3.9 million first-place check. As the 2026 WSOP Online series heads toward its final events before wrapping up on September 29, bracelet number 28 stands as one of the defining results of the entire series.
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