We’re over half way through the 2026 World Championship of Online Poker on PokerStars, and the winners keep on coming.
The race for the all-time WCOOP title leaderboard is heating up, as one lucky satellite winner secured themselves a WCOOP title with an incredible ROI.
There’s still time to get involved with the action on PokerStars, with the Main Events getting underway in less than week.
Former Sunday Million Anniversary Champion Kade Wins Women’s Championship
In 2021, Vanessa “Niffller” Kade won $1,514,920 after topping a 69,876-player field to win the Sunday Million 15th Anniversary.
The following year, Kade missed out on the WSOP Online Ladies Championship, finishing as runner-up to Huanhua Long.
Kade now has her hands on her first WCOOP title after topping the 75-player field to take home $4,049. The final table feature PokerStars Ambassador Marle “MarlzTV” Spragg, who would have to settle for third-place for $2,269.
Fun Fact: Kade also finished 3/249 in the WCOOP 73-L: $5.50 Women’s Event and 4/209 in the WCOOP 73-M: $22 Women’s Event
WCOOP 73-H: $215 Women’s World Championship Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Country | Payout |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vanessa “Niffler” Kade | Canada | $4,049 |
| 2 | l_CáKons_l | Brazil | $3,031 |
| 3 | Marle “MarlzTV” Spragg | United Kingdom | $2,269 |
| 4 | baakemi | Brazil | $1,699 |
| 5 | SamaNeSvoya | Belarus | $1,272 |
| 6 | The_Gr3nade | United Kingdom | $952 |
| 7 | jzzca | Germany | $713 |
| 8 | REwARDsAA | United Kingdom | $534 |
| 9 | mmAAnz | Brazil | $481 |
15th WCOOP Title and Second of the Year for Leonard
Patrick “pads1161” Leonard, Niklas “Lena900” Astedt and Joao “Naza114” Vieira have all added titles this year as the WCOOP all-time title leaderboard heats up.
The three, along with Denis “aDrENalin710” Strebkov, had all sat on 14 career WCOOP titles, but Leonard has nudged ahead with victory in WCOOP 69-H: $530 NLHE 7-Max Turbo, trailing Benny “RunGodlike” Glaser by just two.
Leonard defeated “Caldini00” heads-up, denying his opponent a second WCOOP title and first since 2020. For topping the 147-player field, Leonard bagged himself $15,428.
WCOOP 69-H: $530 NLHE 7-Max Turbo Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Country | Payout |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Patrick “pads1161” Leonard | United Kingdom | $15,428 |
| 2 | Caldini00 | United Kingdom | $11,790 |
| 3 | CatfishBillyMan | Mexico | $9,011 |
| 4 | Hendurr | Sweden | $6,886 |
| 5 | GodOf.com | Romania | $5,263 |
| 6 | Bocyk | Ukraine | $4,022 |
| 7 | AdiosFabrica | Mexico | $3,074 |
Patrick “pads116” Leonard WCOOP Titles
It’s the fifth time in six years that Leonard has won at least two WCOOP titles in a calendar year, with Leonard bagging five in 2023 alone. His latest payday is the smallest of his 15 WCOOP titles, that include two World Championships, in Heads-Up NLHE and Razz in 2023 and 2024 respectively.
His largest victory came back in 2016, winning WCOOP 65: $700 NLHE for $162,055.
Did You Know? Nine of Leonard’s 15 WCOOP titles have come in Hold’em, including his World Championship of Heads-Up NLHE title
| Year | Event | Field | Prize Pool | Payout |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | WCOOP 17: $700 NLHE | 959 | $637,735 | $108,416 |
| 2016 | WCOOP 65: $700 NLHE | 1,605 | $1,067,325 | $162,055 |
| 2021 | WCOOP 08-H: $5,200 NLHE | 147 | $735,000 | $121,328 |
| 2021 | WCOOP 15-H: $1,050 NL 2-7 Single Draw | 70 | $70,000 | $20,475 |
| 2022 | WCOOP 67-H: $1,050 6+ Hold’em | 73 | $73,000 | $17,445 |
| 2023 | WCOOP 105-H: $1050 NLHE Super Tuesday | 302 | $302,000 | $54,506 |
| 2023 | WCOOP 46-M: $109 FLHE | 204 | $20,400 | $4,011 |
| 2023 | WCOOP 93-M: $109 NLO8 | 411 | $41,100 | 7448.79 |
| 2023 | WCOOP $5200 World Championship of Heads-Up NLHE | 46 | $230,000 | $80,500 |
| 2024 | WCOOP $1,050 World Championship of Razz | 78 | $78,000 | $19,414 |
| 2024 | WCOOP 107-H: $2,100 NLHE | 241 | $482,000 | $103,349 |
| 2025 | WCOOP 36-M: $109 NLHE Sunday Kickoff | 1,866 | $186,600 | $28,023 |
| 2025 | WCOOP 116-H: $5,200 NLHE | 54 | 270000 | $77,990 |
| 2026 | WCOOP 29-H: $530 NLHE [Deep Stack] | 194 | $100,000 | $19,838 |
| 2026 | WCOOP 69-H: $530 NLHE [7-Max, Turbo] | 147 | $73,500 | $15,428 |
Massive Value for “Value858Vn”
Lastly, shout out to Vietnam’s “Value858Vn” for bagging their first WCOOP title in WCOOP 61-L: $11 Stud H-Lo. They satellited into the event for $1.10, and turned that into a victory of $1,276.
That victory of 714 players equates to a satellite return on investment (ROI) of 1,159%!
Will Shillibier
Managing Editor