Max Korlinge: $2,200 in Lifetime Earnings, One Table From a Bracelet

Max Korlinge's entire recorded tournament career is worth $2,200. Less than the average first-place payout in a $250 daily deepstack. And on the night of June 30, the Swedish player rode that sliver of a résumé all the way to 10th place in WSOP Event #375, the $250 Daily Deepstack H.O.R.S.E., before busting on the final-table bubble.

That $2,200 figure is real. Zero bracelets. Zero rings. No recorded final tables on his sheet before this one. Korlinge, listed with a Swedish flag next to his name, entered a mixed-game event at the 2026 World Series of Poker and outlasted a field deep enough to pay 15 players with meaningful money.

Zero bracelets, zero rings, $2,200 in lifetime cashes, and Korlinge outlasted every player in the $250 H.O.R.S.E. field except nine.

The Run

With 15 players remaining, Korlinge sat on 106,000 chips. Not a comfortable stack. Tyler Bonkowski of Canada and Bryce Stephens of the United States co-led the field at 350,000 each. Christopher Kennedy, a U.S. player with $98,731 in lifetime earnings and six career final tables, held 145,000. Nicolas Barthe of France, who carries $145,181 in lifetime cashes and one prior final table, sat at 78,000.

Korlinge's 106,000 put him in the middle of the pack at two tables. He was not the short stack. He was not the tourist clinging to a min-cash. He had chips and was using them in a five-game rotation that punishes one-trick players.

Then the bubble hit.

Korlinge finished 10th. His elimination set the official nine-handed final table. The field that moved on included Kennedy and several players with far deeper résumés. Remy Biechel of France ($214,516 in lifetime earnings) also fell short, busting 11th. Tyler Bonkowski, who had co-led at 15 players, went out 13th.

Why This Matters

H.O.R.S.E. is not a format that rewards tournament tourists. The rotation cycles through Hold'em, Omaha Hi-Lo, Razz, Stud, and Stud Eight-or-Better. Surviving deep in this field requires competence across all five games. Players who specialize in No-Limit Hold'em and stumble into a mixed event tend to bleed out during the Razz and Stud rounds.

Korlinge didn't bleed out. He accumulated chips through the rotation, sat comfortably at 106,000 with two tables left, and played his way to the bubble before his run ended.

The $2,200 lifetime number is striking because it means Korlinge has almost no public tournament footprint. That doesn't mean he can't play. It means his experience likely comes from cash games, home games, European cardrooms that don't report to Hendon Mob, or some combination. Sweden has a small but serious poker scene, and mixed-game specialists from Scandinavia have a long history of showing up at the WSOP and performing above their on-paper credentials.

The Company He Kept

Consider who else was at those final two tables. Kennedy has six career final tables and nearly $100K in earnings. Barthe has crossed $145K. Biechel has cashed for over $214K. These are not recreational players.

Korlinge held his own against all of them. He outlasted Bonkowski, Biechel, and several others with longer records.

A 10th-place finish won't rewrite his Hendon Mob page overnight. But the next time Korlinge's name appears in a H.O.R.S.E. field at the Horseshoe, the $2,200 lifetime number will carry a footnote: he's been here before, and he nearly sat down nine-handed for gold.