There is a particular kind of mental strength that separates good poker players from great ones — the ability to stay dangerous when every reasonable calculation says the battle is already lost. Joris Ruijs demonstrated exactly that quality in Monaco, engineering a remarkable late-tournament resurrection to become the Joris Ruijs PokerStars Open Monte Carlo 2026 Main Event champion.
The Dutch professional, a familiar name at European Poker Tour stops across the continent, turned in arguably the defining performance of his live tournament career inside the storied Salle des Etoiles — banking $371,356 and his second EPT-branded spade trophy in the process.
Monaco Sets the Perfect Stage for PokerStars Open Monte Carlo 2026
Monte Carlo occupies a unique place in the poker world. The glamour of the principality, the weight of the venue’s history, and the quality of the player pool combine to make every EPT edition here feel consequential. The 2026 running of the €1,650 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event added another chapter worth remembering.
Four starting flights attracted players from across the globe — 62 countries in total — with the final entry count settling at 1,634. The prize pool crossed $2.76 million, with money spread across dozens of finishers. The sheer international breadth of the field ensured that reaching the final table required navigating not just variance, but an exceptionally wide range of playing styles and experience levels.
A Final Table Stacked With Danger at EPT Monte Carlo
When the last ten players returned for the decisive day, the seat assignments alone told a compelling story. Leon Sturm, the 24-year-old German high-stakes specialist, commanded the table with the biggest stack — a position he had constructed methodically over the previous days. Sturm had already banked a six-figure score earlier in the same festival, winning a high buy-in mystery bounty event, and arrived at the Main Event final table riding significant momentum and nearly $12 million in career earnings.
Ruijs, by contrast, began the day in a far more modest position — sixth in chips among ten survivors. He had ground, not dominated. His path forward required patience, precise aggression, and a willingness to pick the right spots against opponents who would not offer many mistakes.
The Moment Joris Ruijs Almost Let Go at PokerStars Open Monte Carlo 2026
What makes this victory genuinely compelling is not the final hand — it is what happened just before it. Approaching one of the late breaks in three-handed play, Ruijs found himself with a dangerously shallow stack. By his own admission, he had mentally begun to accept that the title was not going to be his.
Most players, in that moment, go into survival mode — playing overly cautiously, waiting for a spot that may never come, and blinding out quietly. Ruijs did the opposite. He reset, refocused, and began accumulating chips at precisely the moment the pressure on his opponents was greatest. It is the kind of internal recalibration that cannot be coached — it has to be found in the moment.
That reset changed everything.
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Heads-Up at the Joris Ruijs PokerStars Open Monte Carlo 2026: A Deal, Then a Decision
As the field narrowed to two, Ruijs and Sturm faced each other with the title and a meaningful prize gap still on the table. The two negotiated a financial arrangement that guaranteed both players significant money — Sturm locking up $321,799 while Ruijs secured the larger share at $371,356 — before continuing play to determine the outright champion.
The agreement made practical sense for both sides. But the poker still had to be played. And when it was, Ruijs finished the job — completing one of the more satisfying narrative arcs of the 2026 live poker season.
A Career Milestone for Joris Ruijs at PokerStars Open Monte Carlo
For Ruijs, this is not simply a large number added to a database. It represents a genuine milestone — the kind of result that reshapes how a player is perceived within the professional community. His record at EPT stops had always marked him as a consistent, dangerous competitor. Now he can add champion-level performer to that description.
The win contributes over 1,000 points to his Card Player Player of the Year standing, nudging him further up a leaderboard where he had already been building momentum through earlier deep runs in Paris and at WSOP Europe. His career live earnings now exceed $4.8 million — a figure built over years of disciplined, high-level play.
What Leon Sturm’s Run at EPT Monte Carlo Tells Us
It would be a disservice to close this account without acknowledging what Leon Sturm accomplished across the festival. Winning a high buy-in event and then running deep in the Main Event within the same week is an extraordinary feat requiring sustained focus, energy, and execution across very different tournament dynamics. Sturm’s runner-up finish does nothing to diminish his week — it further establishes him as one of the most dangerous young players currently on the live circuit.
Final Verdict: Joris Ruijs PokerStars Open Monte Carlo 2026 Delivers a Worthy Champion
The 2026 PokerStars Open Monte Carlo delivered everything the game promises at its best: a sprawling international field, elite competition at the final table, a dramatic swing in fortune, and a worthy champion in Joris Ruijs.
The result is a reminder that in tournament poker, chip counts are snapshots, not verdicts. The player who finds something extra when the math looks bleakest is often the one holding the trophy when the night ends.
Ruijs found it. And Monte Carlo will not forget it quickly.
Event Summary
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Tournament | PokerStars Open Monte Carlo €1,650 NLH Main Event |
| Entries | 1,634 |
| Prize Pool | $2,760,960 |
| Champion | Joris Ruijs (Netherlands) |
| First Place | $371,356 |
| Runner-Up | Leon Sturm (Germany) — $321,799 |
| EPT Edition | 21st EPT Monte Carlo |
