Raoul Kanme Captures Onyx Main Event Title

The poker world watched with bated breath as Raoul Kanme, the formidable Dutch competitor, etched his name into the annals of high-stakes history, seizing the coveted title at the 2026 Onyx Super High Roller Series $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event. Staged amidst the opulent confines of the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa in North Cyprus, Kanme's masterful performance saw him outlast a formidable field of 255 entries, culminating in a staggering career-best payday of $1,250,000.

This monumental victory marks a significant milestone for Kanme, whose previous top score was a respectable $157,368 for a runner-up finish in a €3,000 event at the Master Classics of Poker in his native Netherlands just last year. With this latest triumph, his lifetime earnings have soared to nearly $2.4 million, firmly establishing his presence on the global poker stage. Beyond the immense financial reward and the gleaming hardware, Kanme also accrued 1,428 Card Player Player of the Year points, propelling him into the top 250 of the 2026 POY race standings, presented by CoinPoker, with a total of 1,588 points.

The 2026 Onyx Super High Roller Series Main Event proved to be a resounding success, with the robust turnout of 255 participants effortlessly eclipsing the ambitious $5 million guarantee by over $1.1 million, creating a truly impressive prize pool. The top 38 finishers shared in this bounty, with notable deep runs from a constellation of poker stars including David Coleman (33rd), Matthew Wantman (28th), Nicholas Seward (26th), Mikalai Vaskaboinikau (21st), Aleksejs Ponakovs (19th), Boris Kolev (17th), Sergio Aido (16th), Eelis Parssinen (12th), and Weiran Pu (12th).

As the final day commenced, a tense atmosphere enveloped the final table, with nine elite players vying for the ultimate prize. Raoul Kanme entered as the chip leader, poised for a deep run. The first casualty was two-time bracelet winner Fahredin Mustafov, whose 10-3 suited ran headlong into the pocket kings of Jordan Woodall. Despite picking up a gutshot straight draw on the turn, Mustafov's river bricked, sending him to the rail in ninth place with $143,000.

Intriguingly, while pocket kings secured the first elimination, the monster preflop holding proved less fortunate in the subsequent two knockout hands. Anze Smajd, holding K♦K♣, found himself out-flopped by Kanme's Q♠Q♥ when the board delivered Q♦6♥6♦A♠4♦, giving Kanme queens full and sending Smajd packing in eighth place for $171,000. Shortly thereafter, Italo Modena's K♥K♣ met its demise against Matthias Lipp's A♠A♥, with the superior pair holding firm. Modena, finishing seventh for $200,000, had an impressive series, marking his third final table appearance, including a runner-up finish in a $15,300 six-max event for $181,000 just the day before.

The Austrian contingent then faced its own struggles. Bracelet winner and 2025 Onyx Poker $50,000 high roller champion Daniel Rezaei suffered a significant blow, losing a substantial portion of his stack with top two pair against a king-high straight held by Aliaksandr Shylko. The two soon tangled again in a classic preflop coin flip: Rezaei's 9♠9♦, though a slight favorite, succumbed to Shylko's Q♣J♠ when the board of Q♠5♣2♣4♣8♣ delivered a winning flush for the Belarusian. Rezaei's sixth-place finish earned him $250,000 and 476 POY points, marking his ninth final table of 2026, which included a $1.9 million victory at Triton Poker Jeju. His career earnings now exceed $17.1 million.

Manuel Fritz, another Austrian talent, was the next to depart. Committing the majority of his stack with A♦J♥ from under the gun, he called off his remaining chips against Jordan Woodall's K♦K♣. The board, J♣8♣5♣10♣A♠, gifted Woodall a king-high flush, ending Fritz's run in fifth place for $320,000. This strong showing pushed his lifetime cashes close to $7.5 million.

Four-handed play stretched on for over two hours, during which Kanme's already formidable chip lead continued to swell. The Dutch powerhouse then delivered two swift blows, winning a pair of crucial preflop races involving pocket tens. First, Aliaksandr Shylko's Q♣J♣ failed to overcome Kanme's 10♥10♣, sending the 2023 PokerStars Players No-Limit Hold’em Championship winner home in fourth place with $420,000 – his second-largest payday after his $3.1 million PSPC triumph. Shortly after, Kanme's 10♠10♣ held firm against Jordan Woodall's A♣K♥, securing Woodall a career-high $600,000 for his third-place finish.

With a commanding 7:1 chip lead, Kanme entered heads-up play against Matthias Lipp, and it wasn't long before he sealed the deal. In the decisive hand, Lipp shoved his remaining 3,200,000 (six big blinds) from the small blind with K♥3♥. Kanme made the call with A♣3♦, and the board ran out 8♥7♣5♦J♥4♠, bringing the tournament to a triumphant close for Kanme. Matthias Lipp, an admirable runner-up, collected $800,000, his largest score by a significant margin.

Here are the final table results:

| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points | | :---- | :-------------- | :---------- | :--------- | | 1 | Raoul Kanme | $1,250,000 | 1428 | | 2 | Matthias Lipp | $800,000 | 1190 | | 3 | Jordan Woodall | $600,000 | 952 | | 4 | Aliaksandr Shylko | $420,000 | 714 | | 5 | Manuel Fritz | $320,000 | 595 | | 6 | Daniel Rezaei | $250,000 | 476 | | 7 | Italo Modena | $200,000 | 357 | | 8 | Anze Smajd | $171,000 | 238 | | 9 | Fahredin Mustafov | $143,000 | 119 |