Lauri Saaskilahti wrote his name in the history of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2026 by reaching the Main Event final table. With this campaign, the Finn secured US$ 1 million in prize money and recorded the best result in Finland’s history in the most important tournament in world poker.
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Thus, Saaskilahti surpassed the marks of Matti Kuortti, who finished 25th in 1997, and Miika Puumalainen, 59th in 2009. In doing so, he became the first player from the country to compete in the WSOP Main Event final.
Therefore, while many players showed nervousness, Lauri Saaskilahti stated that he lived the moment with tranquility. “I’m surprisingly relaxed. I don’t feel very strong emotions. Obviously, I’m extremely happy, but maybe that will happen later”, said the Finn in an interview with PokerNews.
However, the European highlighted a decisive hand in the final stretch of the tournament. “When I hit an ace on the river, I felt like maybe this was meant to be”, commented the player recalling the double-up achieved against Brock Wilson, which changed the course of his campaign.
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Tournament recovery occurred on Day 4
However, despite a complicated Day 3, Lauri Saaskilahti found his reaction on the very next day. After starting Day 4 with 224,000 chips, he ended the stage with 2,100,000, taking a position among the leaders with 533 players remaining in the dispute.
In addition, the Finn continued to accumulate chips in the following days. He started Day 8 with 15,600,000 and subsequently almost tripled his stack to bag 37,500,000 chips, an amount that guaranteed him seventh place among the nine finalists.
Finally, Lauri Saaskilahti will have about three weeks to prepare before the Main Event final. Meanwhile, he will enjoy a few days of rest with his family in the United States and will return to Las Vegas in search of conquering an unprecedented title for Finland in WSOP history.
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