EPT Paris: Ottomar Ladva’s banner year continues with €100K win over absurdly strong field
Few poker players have begun 2026 in more fruitful fashion than Estonia’s Ottomar Ladva. Already the recipient of a seven-figure title-winning score in Cyprus earlier this month, Ladva further burnished his reputation with success in the €100,000 Super High Roller here in Paris, banking €970,920.
After currency conversion, he’s landed two near-equal prizes of $1.15 million in slightly less than three weeks. They’re the two biggest wins of his career and put him close to the summit of Estonia’s all-time money list.
The Super High Roller is the highest buy-in tournament of the festival in Paris, and it attracted the toughest field. On Day 2, when only 15 of the 24-entry field were left, last year’s Live League winner Enrico Camosci was the first to bust, followed by a procession of superstars.
Ottomar Ladva landed a second major title of 2026 already
SUPERSTARS NO MATCH FOR LADVA
American pair Brandon Wilson and Bryn Kenney hit the rail, followed by two former EPT champions in Thomas Eychenne and Artur Martirosian. Form player Dan Dvoress perished ahead of Spanish titan Adrian Mateos, with Aleks Ponakovs, Alex Kulev, Orpen Kisacikoglu and Kayhan Mokri then falling out of contention.
Stats fans, get this: all of Kenney, Martirosian, Mateos, Ponakovs, Kulev, Kisacikoglu and Mokri top their countries’ poker money lists. That’s the United States, Russia, Spain, Latvia, Bulgaria, Turkey and Norway.
Mokri’s elimination took the tournament into the money, with Ladva squaring off against Jean Noel Thorel (France’s No 1), Punnat Punsri (Thailand’s No 1) and the ever-threatening Dutchman Teun Mulder.
FOUR IN THE MONEY
But Thorel was out in fourth for €217,000. Mulder followed in third for €406,400. And that left Ladva with a big chip lead over Punsri. The Estonian closed it out for that near-million euro score, with Punsri banking €609,600 for second place.
Thailand’s No 1 Punnat Punsri finished second
Ladva’s previous best result at a PokerStars sponsored event came in Barcelona in 2024, when he won a €25,000 buy-in event for €439,400. But he went even better this time and seems set for a banner year.
But let’s just take another moment to admire the quality of this field. From Day 2 field of 15 players, NINE top their countries’ poker money lists, and two more (Dvoress and Ladva) are second.
That’s the kind of quality you have to contend with at the highest stakes. And it’s the kind of quality our new champion Ladva now exudes.
RESULTS
Event #18: €100,000 EPT Super High Roller
Dates: February 22-23, 2026
Entries: 24 (inc. 7 re-entries)
Prize pool: €2,257,920
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