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Harry Rubin Tops 3,763-Entry Field to Win First WSOP Bracelet
“Na, I’m just going to hang out with my dad tonight, guys, you go ahead,” said Harry Rubin to his rail after winning his first WSOP bracelet. PokerNews caught up with Burton Rubin, the winner's father, for a quick quote: “Harry’s actually my coach!” to which Harry laughed and responded, “No, he’s lying. My dad taught me to play years ago.”
Rubin has won his first bracelet and the largest live tournament score of his poker career after taking down Event #57: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha at the 2026 World Series of Poker. Rubin denied Narcis-Gabriel Nedelcu of Romania his second bracelet in what could be described as every poker player's dream heads-up match, lasting just one hand.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harry Rubin | United States | $390,300 |
| 2 | Narcis-Gabriel Nedelcu | Romania | $260,220 |
| 3 | Toby Joyce | Ireland | $191,500 |
| 4 | James Sedlacek | United States | $142,140 |
| 5 | Roussos Koliakoudakis | Greece | $106,430 |
| 6 | Francois Scapula | France | $80,390 |
| 7 | Dechang Zhang | United States | $61,260 |
| 8 | Tony Cousineau | United States | $47,100 |
Rubin beat a field of 3,763 entries at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas to get his hands on the $390,300 top prize from the $2,558,182 prize pool. The Philadelphia resident began the final day fourth in chips and transformed that stack into his biggest score to date, and one of the most memorable moments of his life.
“Wow, it feels amazing, obviously, I still can’t believe I won that tournament,” said Rubin after PokerNews asked him how he was feeling straight after his victory. “This is my number one accomplishment by far.”
Rubin's motivation came from winning a tournament earlier this month at Aria. “Coming into the summer, I had played a couple of PLO tournaments. Honestly, I think I played five tournaments, so I did not have an idea of how to switch from cash to tournaments, but I knew I was going to have a profitable summer, so that felt good coming into today.”
Journey to his first bracelet
Twenty-three players came back with hopes and dreams of winning a WSOP gold bracelet and that $390,300 first-place prize. It did not take long for many to make their exit as six players were lost within the first 45 minutes of play, but, as with any poker tournament, play would slow down when the final table was approaching. That did not stop Harry Rubin from putting his foot on the gas.
“In these tournaments, you really need to have some gamble in you. This was part of my strategy coming into today, just raise and raise until they play back at you, then check your cards to see if you have it.”
Bobby James was one of many casualties to exit the tournament in a cooler with a set of kings against a set of aces at the hands of Rubin, who was not done there sending players to the cash desk. In the previous hand, Rubin gained a lot of his lead by taking a huge pot off Paul Zappulla in a post-flop collision, as Rubin made a flush against Zappulla’s aces, which took his stack to over 20 million and sent him into the final table as chip leader.
Rubin may have sat down at the final table as chip leader, but it was not all smooth sailing on the way to his heads-up match. “Yeah, well, after the dinner break, I was the chip leader. I had about 25 million, and over the next two hours, I really did not have any hands, and I went down to ten million, so I actually went from the leader to the bottom out of us five.”
During the break, Rubin was seen talking to his rail and later told PokerNews, “If I get some hands, I will make it work.” Rubin then held with his pocket kings against Roussos Koliakoudakis’s rundown and, shortly after, eliminated Koliakoudakis with a stronger pair.
Shortly after that elimination, Rubin went on a rampage after regaining the chip lead and eliminated all of his remaining competitors, starting with Toby Joyce in third place, where Joyce got his stack in with two pair but ended up losing to Rubin’s flush. If the heater was not hot enough already, Rubin eliminated Nedelcu on the first hand of heads-up play, where Rubin’s trips held to make him the eventual champion.
You would think after a huge score and the feeling of winning a WSOP bracelet that big stakes would be on the table, but not for Rubin, who humbly said, “I only come out for two weeks of the summer. I actually had my flight booked for tonight, but obviously I’m going to miss that,” Rubin said with a chuckle. “I’m looking forward to going to California tomorrow and spending time with my family.”
Rubin also wanted to shout out how supportive his family has been of his profession. His dad told PokerNews, “Yeah, what he does is great. This is what he likes to do, and this is what he’s really good at. You should do the things you love in life and what makes you happy.”
Stay tuned to PokerNews for continuing coverage from the 2026 WSOP, with dozens of bracelets still to be awarded throughout the summer in Las Vegas.