The 2026 World Series of Poker $500 Colossus occasion attracted 16,269 complete entries throughout a plethora of beginning days, making for a $6,751,635 prize pool within the low-stakes affair. After six complete days of match motion, that sea of gamers was narrowed to a single champion: Justin Smith. The aviation high quality engineer earned $550,000 and his first WSOP gold bracelet for the win.
This was simply the tenth recorded in-the-money end for the Yakima, Washington native, blowing away his earlier high rating of $31,741 earned for a runner-up displaying within the 2014 Fall Poker Round Up foremost occasion at Wildhorse Resort & Casino.
The proverbial hometown hero not solely needed to navigate an enormous area but in addition needed to deal with loads of extremely achieved gamers down the stretch. Bracelet winners like Jonas Lauck (sixty fourth), Sean Jazayeri (63rd), Stephen Song (thirty eighth), David Jackson (thirteenth), and Eric Baldwin (eighth) joined Smith on the enterprise finish of this match.
Smith was in the end in a position to convert his third straight money on this explicit occasion into his first main title and greater than half of 1,000,000 {dollars}. When requested why he has focused this occasion, he instructed PokerInformation dwell reporters on the scene, “It’s just a fun tournament to play. A lot of people, it’s an easy buy-in.”
Smith scored the ultimate three knockouts down the stretch to lock up the win after sliding right down to only a handful of huge blinds at one level throughout four-handed motion.
In addition to the cash and the {hardware}, Smith additionally earned 720 Card Player Player of the Year factors for this win. It was his first certified rating in the direction of the 2026 POY race, which is offered by CoinPoker.
Smith Surges Early On The Final Day
While 1000’s of gamers cashed on this occasion, solely 9 superior to the ultimate day of play. Yuefan Wang held the in a single day chip lead, with Smith in fourth chip place when playing cards acquired within the air as soon as once more contained in the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.
Eric Baldwin
Smith scored the primary knockout of the day, with A♣Q♦ besting the A♠J♣ of Min Ji (ninth – $60,171). He then discovered a giant double-up with A♣Okay♥ holding in opposition to A♦Q♥ for Myles German after an ace-high flop.
German bounced again when his pocket aces held in opposition to the A♠3♦ of Baldwin. The two-time bracelet winner flopped two pair, however German’s high set of aces held by the river to slender the sector to seven. Baldin earned $76,000 for his newest robust displaying on the sequence, crossing the $10-million mark for his profession within the course of.
Wang then busted Andrew Sanchez (seventh – $98,000) because of a superior kicker along with his aces and nines. Karabet Keshishyan (sixth – $125,000) quickly misplaced a preflop race with 5♥5♦ in opposition to the Okay♣Q♣ of Jose Orozco to additional trim the sector.
Closing The Colossus
Despite scoring that knockout, Orozco was the subsequent to fall. He ran A♦3♥ into the A♣9♣ of Victor Chong for his final eight huge blinds to complete fifth ($163,000).
Several shorter stacks doubled by Smith throughout four-handed play. He was left with simply 4 huge blinds when his A♥9♣ misplaced in opposition to A♦Okay♦ for Wang, however he quickly doubled proper again by Wang to seek out some respiratory room. Smith then got here from behind with Q♦J♣ besting Wang’s A♠Q♣. The 9♠8♣2♣4♦J♠ runout gave Smith a pair of jacks and the pot. Wang settled for $212,000 because the fourth-place finisher.
Chong’s ultimate stand noticed him get all in on a Q♥J♣7♥A♠ board with Okay♥Q♠ trailing Smith’s A♦6♦. Chong had dedicated virtually all of his stack preflop and hit high pair on the flop, solely to fall behind to Smith’s aces on the flip. The 9♥ accomplished the board and Chong was despatched packing in third place ($278,000).
The ultimate battle for the bracelet didn’t take lengthy. German was quickly all-in with 8♠8♦ racing in opposition to A♠Okay♥ for Smith. The first 4 playing cards got here down J♥4♣2♥10♥ to present Smith an enormous array of flush, straight, and overcard outs going to the river. The 4♥ on the top accomplished his flush and his victory on this occasion. German earned $367,000 because the runner-up, a career-best rating for the Florida resident.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points |
| 1 | Justin Smith | $550,000 | 720 |
| 2 | Myles German | $367,000 | 600 |
| 3 | Victor Chong | $278,000 | 480 |
| 4 | Yuefan Wang | $212,000 | 360 |
| 5 | Jose Orozco | $163,000 | 300 |
| 6 | Karabet Keshishyan | $125,000 | 240 |
| 7 | Andrew Sanchez | $98,000 | 180 |
| 8 | Eric Baldwin | $76,000 | 120 |
| 9 | Min Ji | $60,171 | 60 |
Photo credit score: WSOP / Dominic Iaquinto, Alicia Skillman
