April 7-8, 2026
European representatives at the Rounder Cup final table.
- 1STMike Leah€292,000
- 2NDTornike Tchkonia€192,000
- 3RD
James Obst€132,000 - 4TH
Paul Hong€92,500 - 5TH
Joris Ruijs€66,100 - 6TH
Mehdi Chaoui€48,100 - 7TH
Ryan Leng€35,700 - 8TH
Yongjae Lee€27,000 - 9THShaun Deeb€20,800
"A lot of stuff can happen when you're that deep."
A lot of stuff did happen, but Mike Leah got it done in a long bout of heads-up play after walking into the final day of the WSOPE Rounder Cup with the chip lead.
It's yet another instance of Leah getting it done this spring, where he's been on an incredible heater that started in Canada at the beginning of March. The now two-time WSOP champ walked into Casino Regina for the Station Poker Classic and won back-to-back events before finishing second in a third. Add an online WSOP Circuit ring to all of that and March was some month.
The heater burns on
Leah's April performance extends the magical run, this time with bracelet #2 and a €292K prize. It wasn't easy, however, after a difficult heads-up battle with Georgia's Tornike Tchkonia, who fought into the lead and had a chance to put Leah away several times. But the Good Canadian Guy fought back with double after double and willed his way to victory for his first bracelet since WSOP Australia in 2014.
Tornike Tchkonia almost put Leah away (several times.)It's been a fantastic return to poker after Leah took some time away from the full-time grind to slow down and raise a couple of kids.
"I don't get to play the full summer anymore. I wanted to come over here to have a few more chances to win a bracelet and maybe have a chance at Player of the Year since I'm never going to be able to do a full summer in Vegas anymore."
Shaun Deeb's explosion of points at WSOP Europe might have made that difficult for Leah, but it's still in play for the bracelet winner. Meanwhile, both performed well in the unique EU vs. The World format.
'I feel like Europe stalled a lot'
It started with split flights, one for the Euros and one of the rest of The World. The Euro flight drew 380 players and the Rest of the World brought 267. They combined flights on Wednesday for a sprint to the gold bracelet and despite the smaller pool of players, the Rest of the World carried an edge all the way to the final table.
"I feel like Europe stalled a lot on Day 1 to make sure they play with us," Deeb said on X as the final table came into focus with seven of nine players belong to the World side. "Not working out great for them."
Deeb would end up finishing ninth, the victim of yet another deck slap at WSOP Europe after bad beats caused two runner-up finishes earlier in the series.
Deeb dealt with it in stride this time, passing along a golf clap on X. "People wanted better sportsmanship out of me, so I golf clapped as this guy sucked out for big [chip lead] on [final table] bubble punting as hard as you can [preflop] vs me."
It was a fun event for the post-Main Event crowd, offering a second chance for anyone who went bust in the first three days. Expect to see a lot more of the format, and maybe a few more geographical grudges.
Images courtesy of World Series of Poker/Miguel Cortes.
