Santhosh Suvarna first ventured into poker seven years ago, but it was only in recent years that he began participating in tournaments. The 43-year-old businessman from India has accumulated over $13.1 million in career earnings, with his first recorded cash in 2020. His most recent and largest win came at the 2024 World Series of Poker $250,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em event, where he earned $5,415,152 and his second career gold bracelet.
“This is a very big tournament,” he continued. “I played a million-dollar buy-in tournament, but this had bigger numbers. The main thing is that this is World Series of Poker.”
This win came just over seven months after Santhosh Suvarna secured his first bracelet by winning the €50,000 buy-in high roller at the 2023 World Series of Poker Europe for $689,000. Before that, he achieved his then-highest score of $1.7 million for a third-place finish in the 2023 Triton Monte Carlo main event.
Santhosh Suvarna attributes his rapid success in tournaments to diving into high-stakes events against top players. “I started with Triton only, big tournament only,” he said. “In those events, all of the players are the best in the world. So, daily, I am learning.”
The event attracted 75 entries, creating a prize pool of $18,675,000, distributed among the top 12 finishers. Bracelet winner Brian Kim was eliminated on the $506,757 money bubble, followed by notable players like World Poker Tour champion Jonathan Jaffe (12th), 11-time bracelet winner Phil Ivey (11th), and four-time bracelet winner Adrian Mateos (10th).
High-stakes online cash game player Ben Tollerene led when the final table was set, with Santhosh Suvarna in third. Sean Winter was knocked out in ninth place when his pocket kings were bested by Taylor von Kriegenbergh’s pocket queens, earning Winter $550,878 and pushing his career earnings past $30 million.
Bracelet winner Mikita Badziakouski was eliminated next, all-in with A-8 against Matthias Eibinger’s pocket jacks, earning $629,407 for eighth place, bringing his lifetime earnings to nearly $57.8 million.
Six-time bracelet winner Jeremy Ausmus was sent to the rail with K-Q against Tollerene’s A-10, who extended his lead. Ausmus earned $754,052, increasing his total winnings to over $21 million.
Von Kriegenbergh was next to fall when Tollerene rivered a straight against his top set. Von Kriegenbergh earned $945,219 for sixth place. Tollerene then knocked out Charles Hook in fifth place ($1,237,296) after winning a race with A-K against Hook’s pocket tens.
Matthias Eibinger finished fourth after his pocket deuces lost to Tollerene’s K-9 suited, marking the second-largest score of his career. Chris Hunichen, fresh off a $100,000 buy-in win, finished third for $2,397,312, pushing his career earnings to nearly $18.4 million.
Heads-up play began with Tollerene holding a slight lead over Suvarna. However, Santhosh Suvarna gained the upper hand after a significant hand where he flopped a straight against Tollerene’s top pair. Eventually, Tollerene was all-in with Q♢4♧ against Suvarna’s 10♥7♧. The board ran out A♥J♠5♥A♠10♠, giving Suvarna a winning pair of tens.
Tollerene earned a career-best $3,537,135 as the runner-up, bringing his lifetime tournament earnings to nearly $15.6 million.
2024 WSOP $250K Super High Roller Payouts
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santhosh Suvarna | India | $5,415,152 |
| 2 | Ben Tollerene | United States | $3,537,135 |
| 3 | Chris Hunichen | United States | $2,397,312 |
| 4 | Matthias Eibinger | Austria | $1,688,278 |
| 5 | Charles Hook | United States | $1,237,296 |
