Ruijs defeats Sturm to become PokerStars Open Monte Carlo champ for €317,398
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Joris Ruijs came back from just six big blinds to capture the PokerStars Open Monte Carlo 2026 Main Event for €317,398, following a heads-up with super high roller beast Leon Sturm.
Reporting by PokerStars Media Coordinator Jan Kores.
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Joris Ruijs prevailed from 1,634 entrants in the €1,650 PokerStars Open Main Event at EPT Monte Carlo 2026. The 34-year-old from Rotterdam bounced back from six blinds to emerge victorious for €317,398 after a heads-up deal with Leon Sturm.
With three players left, Ruijs had fewer than 4% of all chips in play. His opponents, Sturm and Julien Bolimowski, had seemingly insurmountable advantage, but Ruijs scored the much-needed first double and took off from there.
“When I had a very small stack at the last break, I was a bit resigned. I thought I’d finish third. But then I started running really hot, and everything went well,” Ruijs told ClubPoker, describing his unexpected rise to the pedestal.
Quite the comeback for Ruijs
This result helped him eclipse $5 million in live tournament cashes. While this achievement marked his second PokerStars-sponsored live tournament, he’d have to wait almost eight years to emulate his win from a €2,200 side event at EPT Barcelona 2018.
“It’s always incredible to win a tournament, especially with so many players, and so many talented players at the final table,” Ruijs said. “The secret is just that I was incredibly lucky.”
Eight years may seem like a long drought, but Ruijs was by no means inactive during that period. One of the most consistent MTT players from the Netherlands, he’s been very prolific lately on the European Poker Tour circuit.
Back in October, he fell just short of claiming the trophy in the PokerStars Open Malta High Roller. Then he bubbled the official EPT Paris Main Event final table. Now he’s finally made it all the way to the pinnacle.
Leon Sturm, always one of the best
That entailed defeating Leon Sturm, arguably one of the most skilled players who entered the tournament. Sturm, as a well-rounded high roller, joined the PokerStars Open Main Event minutes after he conquered the €10k Mystery Bounty. And he steamrolled this contest for nearly three full sessions.
But in the end, Ruijs’ comeback from short stack proved that even Sturm can be stopped this week. The two, however, met heads up and agreed to redistribute the prize money, so the German picked up €275,042. Ruijs then outmuscled him with ace-queen against ace-ten and closed it out.
PokerStars Open Monte Carlo 2026 Main Event final table results:
- 1st – Joris Ruijs, Netherlands, €317,398
- 2nd – Leon Sturm, Germany, €275,042
- 3rd – Julien Bolimowski, France, €162,360
- 4th – Filippos Fragkopoulos, Greece, €124,820
- 5th – Romain Matteoli, France, €95,780
- 6th – Mehdi Rebai, Tunisia, €73,480
- 7th – Vahe Martirosyan, Armenia, €57,280
- 8th – Gabriel Valls, Uruguay, €44,040
The €1,650 PokerStars Open 2026 Main Event drew 1,634 entries from 857 unique players. The top 242 finishers reached paid places, sharing €2,352,960 in prize money.
Ruijs banked the second largest top prize in event history
POKERSTARS OPEN MONTE CARLO MAIN EVENT HISTORY
- 2014: 837 entries, €811,890 prize pool, Yury Nestrenko (Ukraine) for €150,000
- 2015: 993 entries, €963,210 prize pool, Sebastian Supper (Germany) for €177,000
- 2016: 1,261 entries, €1,223,170 prize pool, Stephane Dossetto (France) for €218,000
- 2017: 1,252 entries, €1,214,440 prize pool, Andreas Klatt (Germany) for €151,445
- 2018: 1,501 entries, €1,455,970 prize pool, Guillaume Diaz (France) for €250,000
- 2019: 1,425 entries, €1,382,250 prize pool, Stefano Schiano (Italy) for €244,500
- 2022: 1,918 entries, €1,841,280 prize pool, Lucas Scafini (Brazil) for €250,000
- 2023: 2,138 entries, €2,052,480 prize pool, Daisuke Ogita (Japan) for €307,160
- 2024: 2,096 entries, €2,012,160 prize pool, Atanas Malinov (Bulgaria) for €303,190
- 2025: 2,387 entries, €2,291,520 prize pool, Jon Kyte (Norway) for €340,000
- 2026: 1,634 entries, €2,352,960 prize pool, Joris Ruijs (Netherlands) for €317,398
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