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Nishant Sharma Knows How to Crush in Asia; Now He Does in USA Too
As the 2026 World Series of Poker comes to a close, so too did Event #98: $800 Deepstack No-Limit Hold’em, and, as is very often the case, just a single player is now left standing.
That player, claiming one of the final opportunities for WSOP glory this summer, is Nishant Sharma, having outlasted a field of 2,036 entries to claim their maiden WSOP bracelet right at the death.
Not only that, but he will of course be returning home from Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas with quite the payday, as the $196,659 top prize is now all his, a top prize which stems from the whopping $1,425,200 prize pool that was generated across the single Day 1 flight that took place yesterday.
This bolsters Sharma’s total live earnings by taking them to over $3,300,000, with the near-$200,000 score counting for his fourth-highest career live cash, according to The HendonMob.
Chung-Tang Lin, or Sharpedo Poker as he is known to his fans on YouTube, may have lost the heads-up match, but still received a very respectable $131,002 payday for his runner-up finish, following an incredible run in which he outlasted over 2,000 players.
Event #98: $800 Deepstack No-Limit Hold’em Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nishant Sharma | India | $196,659 |
| 2 | Chung-Tang Lin | Taiwan | $131,002 |
| 3 | Jason Wheeler | United States | $95,018 |
| 4 | Ian Schechter | United States | $69,677 |
| 5 | Steven Daly | United States | $51,663 |
| 6 | Atanas Pavlov | Bulgaria | $38,737 |
| 7 | Javier Fernandez | Spain | $29,376 |
| 8 | Alexandru Vasilescu | United States | $22,534 |
| 9 | Alexander Voros | Sweden | $17,487 |
Winners Reaction
Nishant Sharma may not be a particularly well-renowned name in the US poker scene, nor in Europe's, but ask anybody who plays in the Eastern hemisphere and they’ll all tell you the same thing: he crushes.
Sharma’s career-high live score is a seven-figure one: a total most players dream of making in their lifetime. This comes from a first-place finish at an APT Championship event less than a year ago in Taipei City. He ended atop the 671-strong field for $1,189,559.
He also boasts tournament wins all across the continent, with number one results in Macau, India, Vietnam, Malaysia, and India. This bracelet represents his first ever win on American soil, and what a way to do so as he becomes the eighth player flying the Indian flag to secure a piece of WSOP hardware.
“I think everybody’s dream is to win a bracelet at the World Series,” said Sharma, in conversation with PokerNews. “You can win in Asia, but to get to the WSOP and win a bracelet is the best feeling, it’s hard to even imagine.”
Sharma noted that this is now his fifth summer in Vegas, and each time he comes for just one reason: to triumph and take home the coveted first-place prize.
Not only did Sharma join an elite group of “those who have,” but he did so representing his country, which is, of course, a source of real pride.
“It’s a pleasure representing India. The only bad thing is that we can’t hear the national anthem because there is no time left for a bracelet ceremony.” Due to the lateness in the series, Sharma will have to wait for a second victory to hear his country’s national hymn. “I’m glad I won for my country,” he added, nonetheless.
During the final table, at one point, Sharma was down to just six big blinds, but the cards and his rail spurred him on. “I got the right cards at the right time, and the wrong cards at the right time, too,” he joked, adding that his compatriots watching on gave him a huge boost.
“Even when I was getting a walk, they were cheering so loud, especially when I was short, it helped me not lose focus and keep grinding.”
Sharma also discussed an incredible call for his tournament life he made whilst three-handed holding just fourth pair on an ace-king high board.
“He shoves some kings, some two pair, and I didn’t like that I had the nine-kicker; it interacts with some of his bluffs,” explained Sharma as he broke down the hand. “But he also has missed draws and some airballs,” and it was one of the latter that he managed to look up to secure an incredible position in the three-handed battle.
Sharma will be celebrating tonight with his rail, but beyond that, he plans to get some much needed rest. “I’ve been grinding for five months, back-to-back,” he noted, before “taking a one-month break.” That being said, a month is not too long, so rest assured this isn’t the last you’ll hear of Nishant Sharma at the World Series of Poker.
Final Day Action
More than half of the field was lost before the first break of the day, with Jonathan Little (87th), Ryuta Nakai (71st), and Ivan Govorov (66th) all falling during this time, despite coming into the day in the Top 10 list.
With a 30-minute clock, the eliminations certainly didn’t stop there, but rather came thick and fast until play began to slow later on. ODB bonus player Justin Young and Bracelet winner Roman Korenev were included in the onslaught of eliminations, coming in 62nd and 57th place, respectively.
Action then began to wilt, with bigger money and larger pay jumps on the line. Some players took the stalling to an extreme, but most were unable to use it fruitfully. Three tables became two, and two became one as the final ten were confirmed as the unofficial final table.
Unofficial lost its prefix following the elimination of Nadav Avrahami in tenth. He had lost quite the cooler on the final table bubble, before falling to the big slick of eventual champion Sharma.
There were then two eliminations in very quick succession, both at the hands of Chung-Tang Lin, with "deuces never looses," not coming true for Alexander Voros, before the player from Taiwan took another life, with his nines holding up against the two overs of Alexandru Vasilescu.
A series of doubles then ensued, before blood was drawn again as Spaniard Javier Fernandez’ run came to an abrupt end. He had scored a massive double just moments beforepicking up kings blind on blind, before then running into kings himself. His ace-queen made top pair, but top pair only as he fell to Jason Wheeler in seventh.
Atanas Pavlov saw himself eliminated next, only adding to the monster chip lead of Wheeler. It was shades of Givens vs Jumalon in the Main Event, but Pavlov couldn’t find the same miracle, as in this case Wheeler flopped top-top and held.
Sharma and Steven Daly then traded pots back and forth, with the short stack doubling on multiple occasions, with Sharma the beneficiary of the final one. In another blind on blind cooler, Sharma’s rail managed to will in the hold to leave Daly short.
It went from bad to worse for Daly, who suffered a brutal one-outer at the hands of Wheeler to end his summer and confirm the final four.
Ian Schechter missed out on the podium by one, as he lost a massive flip to Lin to leave him with less than a single big blind behind.
A 20-minute break then followed, leaving Lin time to ponder on how best to play a quarter big blind stack. He ended up being forced all in from his big blind, unable to pay even a piece of his ante. He flopped top pair, but by the time cards were on their backs he was no longer ahead, with Lin rivering an ace to bust him.
Three-handed play was the Sharma Show, as his first port of call was pulling off an incredible call against Wheeler, with his fourth pair and medium kicker being good against Wheeler’s fourth pair and inferior kicker. He then knocked the 2021 champion of this event out very shortly after, but not without some resistance.
Wheeler managed to score a triple up, then stole a few blinds before running into the aces of Sharma to end an incredible run in third.
Heads-up play started relatively even in chips, with two players who are incredibly familiar with the Asian circuit battling it out on American soil. Sharma held the slight advantage, which he increased following a few shoves that got through. The final hand didn’t take long to come, as he rivered two pair and was serenaded by cheers and shouts from his rail.
And that's a wrap on PokerNews coverage of one of the final events of the summer. Stay tuned, as the poker never stops, meaning more is certainly to come moving forward.