button in SafariThree Years, Three Bracelets: Inside Santhosh Suvarna's Meteoric Rise
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He won the $50,000 High Roller three days ago, and today Santhosh Suvarna is back for more.
He's jumped into Event #41: $250,000 Super High Roller on Day 1, two years after winning the same event.
Since 2023, Suvarna has battled against the best players in the world. His fearless attitude, combined with his affable nature, has propelled him to over $20 million in career earnings, with the vast majority coming in just the last three years.
Fast forward to 2026, and Suvarna is now the first Indian to win three live WSOP bracelets. Here, PokerNews takes a look back at his WSOP history and how he's come to be a recurring fixture in these big buy-in events.
Bracelet Breakthrough in Rozvadov
Suvarna’s journey to the upper echelons began in 2023 when, after a slew of cashes on the Triton Poker Series in Vietnam, Cyprus, London, and Monte Carlo, he arrived at the 2023 WSOP Europe in Rozvadov and immediately got to work.
Entering Event #12: €50,000 NLH Diamond High Roller, he faced a field stacked with seasoned crushers. Demonstrating the trademark fearlessness that would soon define his table presence, Suvarna navigated through a grueling final table and found himself heads-up against the highly unpredictable Ren Lin.
Suvarna outmaneuvered Lin to capture his maiden bracelet and a €650,000 payday.
Event #12: €50,000 NLH Diamond High Roller
Field: 37
Payout: €650,000
More Success in 2024
The momentum from his first bracelet carried directly into the following year. During the February 2024 EPT Paris €25,000 No-Limit Hold'em event, Suvarna captured his career-first European Poker Tour title. The triumph pushed his lifetime tournament earnings to $6,672,704, closing the gap at the top of India's All-Time Money List and signaling that his WSOP Europe victory was anything but a fluke.
If the poker world viewed Suvarna as an ascending threat in 2023, the 2024 summer in Las Vegas solidified him as a superstar. He entered the biggest buy-in event of the summer, the 2024 WSOP Event #55: $250,000 Super High Roller No-Limit Hold'em. The field was a minefield of poker legends, including Phil Ivey, who was ultimately eliminated in eleventh place by Ben Tollerene. Tollerene looked like an unstoppable steamroller at the final table, entering three-handed and heads-up play with a commanding advantage. Yet, Suvarna refused to back down. Staging a dramatic and resilient comeback, Suvarna turned the tables on the online legend, defeating Tollerene heads-up to secure a staggering $5,415,152.
Event #55: $250,000 Super High Roller No-Limit Hold'em
Field: 75
Payout: $5,415,152
The historic victory did more than award him a second bracelet; it vaulted him past Vivek Rajkumar to claim the coveted number one spot on India’s All-Time Money List.
Completing the Hat-Trick in 2026
The final piece of Suvarna's high roller hat-trick arrived this month at the 2026 World Series of Poker
As the High Roller events got underway, Suvarna dominated the action late in Event #29: $50,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em, bursting the money bubble by eliminating Bernhard Binder to lock up six-figure cashes for the remaining field.
Suvarna carried an overwhelming chip lead into the final stretch and closed the deal by defeating Chang Lee heads-up. Taking home the $1,922,870 top prize, this victory marked the fourth seven-figure score of his career, a mind-boggling stat for someone who emerged on the global tournament scene so recently.
Event #29: $50,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em
Field: 167
Payout: $1,922,870
Behind the Scenes of Suvarna's Meteoric Rise
PokerNews Editor Calum Grant is reporting at the 2026 WSOP, and was also present at both of Suvarna's first two bracelets.
"I remember the one in Rozvadov, he played really well," he told PokerNews. "But it was a small field, so you know, anyone on their day sort of can win those ones.
"But at the time, you could really tell from the way he spoke that he really cared about the game."
"You could really tell from the way he spoke that he really cared about the game"
According to Grant, Suvarna became a fixture on the European circuit, playing six-figure buy-ins at EPT Monte-Carlo just prior to his second bracelet in 2024.
"When I saw him in Monte Carlo, firing everything and dusting off bullets, it made me think he was just a flash in the pan. But the performance he gave in the 250K, the guy is the real deal.
"And what I've heard in cash games as well, he's, if anything he's more dangerous in cash games."
Whether it's cash games or tournaments, Suvarna is often in the spotlight.
"There's a reason you see every clip of him in these high-stakes cash games is him dragging pots in. The guy knows how to play."
There's a high likelihood that we'll see Suvarna at the business end of the $250,000 Super High Roller. Another win wouldn't be surprising in the slightest.
