Photo Credits: WSOP
Juan Rodriguez won Event #39: $5,000 Seniors High Roller No-Limit Hold’em at the 2026 World Series of Poker, turning a tough final table spot into a first WSOP bracelet and a $673,011 payday.
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Juan Rodriguez started the final table near the bottom of the counts, but he ended the event with the bracelet, the biggest score of his poker life and a loud rail behind him.
The Peruvian born player, who lived in Indiana for years before moving to Florida, outlasted one of the toughest 50 and over fields of the summer. Event #39: $5,000 Seniors High Roller No-Limit Hold’em drew 844 entries, the largest turnout yet for the event, which first appeared on the WSOP schedule in 2024.
Rodriguez earned $673,011 from a $3,882,400 prize pool. Nariman Yaghmai of Iran finished second for $448,634 after a heads up match that ended with a rivered king for Rodriguez.
The win also put Rodriguez in rare company. Only two Peruvian born players had won WSOP bracelets before him.
The Seniors High Roller ran for four days and tested more than just patience. After Day 1, 291 players remained. After Day 2, only 44 were still in. Rodriguez entered Day 3 just outside the top 10, then reached the final table as one of the shorter stacks.
Gary Herstein and Luke Graham exited before the end of Day 3. On the last hand of that night, Rodriguez doubled with pocket jacks against A♣10♠, giving himself room to fight on the final day.
Qing Lu started the last day as chip leader, but the stacks quickly tightened. Rodriguez moved ahead after winning A♠J♦ against Arie Kliper with pocket tens, then knocked out Kenneth Kim in seventh place when pocket nines held against A♣J♥.
Rodriguez later sent Kliper out in sixth with A♦9♣ against A♥6♥. Lu then eliminated Marc Rivera in fifth with pocket kings, before Chad Lipton doubled through Rodriguez when an ace hit the river against Rodriguez pocket queens.
Yaghmai then gathered chips fast. He eliminated Lipton in fourth with K♦Q♥ against K♣8♣ and later removed Lu in third after flopping two pair against top pair. That gave Yaghmai the lead entering heads up play, but Rodriguez quickly took it back. On the final hand, Rodriguez shoved K♣8♣, Yaghmai called with A♦3♥, and a K♠ on the river gave Rodriguez the title.
| Place | Player | Payout |
| 1 | Juan Rodriguez | $673,011 |
| 2 | Nariman Yaghmai | $448,634 |
| 3 | Qing Lu | $314,158 |
| 4 | Chad Lipton | $223,439 |
| 5 | Marc Rivera | $161,446 |
| 6 | Arie Kliper | $118,541 |
| 7 | Kenneth Kim | $88,469 |
| 8 | Luke Graham | $67,130 |
| 9 | Gary Herstein | $51,804 |