Mayukh Chakraborty Wins Record WSOP Super Circuit Canada Main Event

WSOP Circuit ring and poker chips on a tournament table with a Canadian flag in the background.

By Sandra Gaweda · September 14, 2026 · 5 min read

Mayukh Chakraborty won the 2026 WSOP Super Circuit Canada Main Event for CA$1,500,000 and a WSOP Circuit ring on September 10.
The CA$5,000 event drew 2,844 entries and built a CA$13,082,400 prize pool, the biggest Main Event in Canadian poker history.
Chakraborty arrived with just US$3,260 in career live earnings, making this his first tournament title and third recorded cash.
A mid-tournament payout correction cut first place from CA$2,000,000 to CA$1,500,000, drawing some player pushback.

Mayukh Chakraborty Turns $3,260 Into CA$1.5 Million

Mayukh Chakraborty turned a near-empty tournament résumé into the biggest score in Canadian poker history. On Thursday, September 10, the North York, Ontario player won the 2026 WSOP Super Circuit Canada Main Event. The tournament took place at Playground Poker Club in Kahnawake, Quebec. Chakraborty banked CA$1,500,000 and a WSOP Circuit gold ring. The CA$5,000 Main Event drew 2,844 entries and generated a CA$13,082,400 prize pool. That smashed the CA$10 million guarantee by more than CA$3 million. Chakraborty entered with only US$3,260 in recorded live earnings across two prior cashes. This was his first tournament win and just his third career cash.

A Record-Breaking Field

This was the first WSOP Super Circuit stop in North America, and it rewrote the Canadian record books. The Main Event drew 2,844 entries and generated a CA$13,082,400 prize pool. That more than tripled the previous Canadian Main Event record of CA$4,450,500, set at the same venue in August 2025. A total of 428 players cashed. Across the full festival, the series prize pool topped CA$18,862,400. That surpassed the previous Canadian record of CA$15,540,000 for a single tournament series.

Chakraborty’s Unlikely Run To The Title

Chakraborty entered the Main Event with almost no live tournament résumé. Before this week, Chakraborty had only two recorded results. He finished 30th in the World Cup of Cards CA$1,150 Main Event in January 2025 for $2,254. He also finished 19th in a $400 WSOP Circuit event in Verona, New York, in March 2026 for $1,006. That is US$3,260 in lifetime live earnings walking into a field of nearly 3,000 players. He left with a Circuit ring and CA$1.5 million, by far the biggest score of his career.

An All-Canadian Heads-Up Finish

Paul Klann, the 2013 WPT L.A. Poker Classic champion with roughly US$1,170,830 in career earnings, led the final day with 11.3 million in chips. Chance Kornuth started sixth and Jack Salter ninth. Six of the nine final-table seats belonged to Canadians. Kornuth, the pre-final-table favorite on résumé alone, fell in fourth for CA$600,000, while Salter took third for CA$750,000. That left an all-Canadian heads-up battle between Chakraborty and Benjamin Veenstra, who earned CA$1,000,000 as runner-up. Chakraborty won a high-card flip to seal the title.

Stars Came Out At Playground

The event drew some of the biggest names in the game. Daniel Negreanu, who grew up in Toronto, called the traditional “Shuffle Up and Deal” to open the Main Event. He then entered the tournament himself and reached Day 4 before Kornuth eliminated him. Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, the 2025 WSOP Main Event champion, also ran deep. Two-time bracelet winner Mike Leah and former WSOP Main Event final-tablist Griffin Benger were among the other notable players. Rayan “beriuzy” Chamas and 2026 WSOP Main Event standout Will Givens also made deep runs. If you follow the sport’s headline names, our list of WSOP Main Event champions and records shows how players like Mizrachi fit into the wider picture.

A Payout Controversy Behind The Numbers

The result was not free of drama. About an hour into Day 3, after the money bubble had already burst, organizers discovered that an older payout model had been loaded into the system. That model allocated CA$2,000,000 to the winner and reserved 47% of the prize pool for the final table. WSOP representatives stepped in and redistributed the structure mid-tournament, cutting first place to CA$1,500,000 and lowering the final-table share to 42.5%, with the savings pushed down to lower finishes. The change drew some player discontent, and it is worth being clear about why: altering payouts after players are already in the money affects the decisions they make. In practical terms, Chakraborty’s first-place prize came in CA$500,000 below the amount shown in the original payout structure. As a WSOP Circuit ring winner, he also secured a package to the WSOP Circuit Championship at WSOP Paradise in the Bahamas this December, a perk explained further in our 2026 WSOP guide.

A New Benchmark For Canadian Poker

This was a Canadian live event, but it carried plenty for US players to watch. American pro Chance Kornuth reached the final table, and 2026 WSOP Main Event standout Will Givens ran deep in a WSOP-branded field that drew players from both sides of the border, showing how much cross-border tournament traffic these big stops attract. Chakraborty’s win also shows how quickly one deep tournament run can change a player’s résumé. US players looking to play online can compare options in our guide to the best legal US poker sites. For now, Playground holds the new benchmark for a Canadian Main Event.

Sandra is a content writer and digital creative with 10+ years of experience across Web3, crypto, NFTs, iGaming, wellness, and media. She creates blog content, email campaigns, and brand copy for companies ranging from early-stage ventures to established platforms. She currently writes for Legal US Poker Sites, continuing to grow her presence in the digital content space.