Shrikant Pillamarapu Wins WPT Prime Lodge Championship in Texas After Short-Stack Comeback

Last Updated on October 14, 2026 by Bala Kumar

Shrikant Pillamarapu has won the 2026 WPT Prime Lodge Championship at The Lodge Card Club in the Austin area of Texas. He started the final table with the shortest stack of the nine players and came back to beat 1,084 entries, collecting $148,527 after a heads-up deal with Kenneth Quattrocchi. The prize includes a $10,400 seat in the WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas this December.

The final table had a little of everything: a disciplined fold of an ace-high flush, a player who turned down a three-way deal and busted on the very next hand, and a pair of pocket aces folded preflop because the player ran out of time.

Quick Facts: WPT Prime Lodge Championship 2026

Final Table Results

*Amounts reflect a heads-up deal. Pillamarapu’s total includes a $10,400 WPT World Championship seat, so $138,127 of it is cash.

From Short Stack to Champion

Pillamarapu came back for the final day on Monday, October 12, as the shortest stack at the table, with 1,980,000 chips. That might sound like trouble, but at the time it was worth about 25 big blinds, enough to play real poker rather than simply waiting to shove.

At the start of the day, Pranay Reddy Patlolla led the final nine with 9,485,000 chips, while Quattrocchi sat on 3,180,000.

Pillamarapu got his first big boost by getting his chips in with pocket aces against Michael Jones’s ace-king. The aces held, Jones went out in ninth, and the short stack was now in the game.

Why 25 big blinds is enough: with 25 big blinds you can still open-raise, re-raise and fold without risking your whole stack. Below about 15 big blinds, most players are reduced to all-in or fold. That flexibility is how short stacks fight back.

The Straight Flush Hand

The hand of the final table came between the two eventual heads-up players.

The board: K♦ 9♣ 8♣ 10♣ then Q♣ on the river

By the turn, Quattrocchi had made an ace-high flush and called a bet of 3,000,000, about half the pot. Pillamarapu had a straight plus a straight flush draw, needing the Q♣ or 7♣.

The Q♣ landed on the river and completed a straight flush (8♣ to Q♣). Pillamarapu moved all in for maximum value against a slightly bigger stack. Quattrocchi thought for a long time before folding his flush, which was the right decision.

Why Folding a Flush Was Correct

An ace-high flush feels like a monster, but it wasn’t the best possible hand on that board. With four clubs and a run of connected cards, a single club like the J♣ or 7♣ makes a straight flush. When an opponent who has been betting suddenly moves all in, the range of hands that beats you becomes very real. Quattrocchi’s fold saved most of his stack and let him reach heads-up.

Beginner tip: the “nuts” is the best possible hand on a board. Before calling a big bet, check whether a better hand is possible. Our Poker Odds Calculator can help you practise spotting these situations.

The Three-Way Deal That Was Turned Down

When three players were left, Quattrocchi, Pillamarapu and David Urban were offered an ICM chop: a deal that splits the remaining prize money based on each player’s chip stack. The Lodge staff came over and announced the numbers, but Urban, the shortest stack, turned it down and chose to keep playing.

On the very next hand it looked like a smart call. Urban picked up Q♦ Q♣ and got all in against Quattrocchi’s A♥ 7♦. Pocket queens are about a 70% favourite in that spot, and a clean board would have moved Urban into second place.

But the A♦ hit the flop, Urban went out in third for $75,000, and that was about $10,000 less than the deal he had refused.

Was Turning Down the Deal a Mistake?

Not necessarily. Urban got his chips in as a strong favourite, and losing that hand was bad luck rather than a bad decision. The real question is whether the deal was worth more than his chance of winning extra money by playing on. For short stacks facing two bigger stacks, ICM deals are often good value because they lock in money before the pay jumps.

Want to check deal offers yourself? Enter the stacks and payouts into our free Poker ICM Calculator, and read our guide to ICM in poker tournaments.

Heads-Up and the Final Deal

After knocking out Urban, Quattrocchi led heads-up by roughly 27 million to 16 million chips. The two agreed a deal that split most of the remaining prize money and left the trophy and the rest to play for.

Pillamarapu took the lead and finished it off by winning a race: Quattrocchi moved all in with ace-jack, and Pillamarapu’s pocket fives held.

The deal cost the eventual winner about $24,700 compared with the original first prize, but it guaranteed both players a big payday before the final hands.

The Pocket Aces Fold

One of the strangest moments of the tournament came earlier, when a player ran out of time on the shot clock and had to fold pocket aces preflop, the best starting hand in Hold’em. Reports did not name the player. It’s a harsh reminder that live tournament clocks are strictly enforced.

2026 vs 2025: How the Event Compared

The field fell by 564 entries, about a third, compared with last year’s debut. With $970 from each buy-in going to the prize pool, the $1 million guarantee needed about 1,031 entries. This year’s field cleared it by just 53 entries, a much thinner margin than in 2025.

About The Lodge Card Club

The Lodge, in Round Rock near Austin, is the largest poker club in Texas and is co-owned by well-known poker personalities Doug Polk, Brad Owen and Andrew Neeme.

Traditional casinos aren’t legal in Texas, so poker clubs use a social club model: players pay membership and seat fees instead of the usual per-pot rake. Players need to buy a membership before they can register for tournaments.

The festival also included a $2,000 WPT Prime Lodge High Roller with a $100,000 guarantee, and $150 daily satellites into the main event.

What’s Next for the WPT

Pillamarapu’s $10,400 seat gets him into the season’s biggest event at the Wynn, an impressive step up for a player with very few recorded live results. One report listed only $381 in previous tournament earnings.

Find more on the tour on our World Poker Tour page and in our tournaments section.

What to Watch Next

Pillamarapu now heads to Wynn Las Vegas in December for the WPT World Championship. The WPT moves on to Cyprus (October 15–19) and Bay 101 in San Jose (October 23–27).

For more tournament results this week, read our coverage of Poker Masters 2026 and the KPC Poker Series in Jeju. To plan your own tournament buy-ins, try our Poker Bankroll Calculator.

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