Ari Engel Interview: The Chainsaw Series $1,100 HORSE Champion at Borgata

Some players you interview because they had a good week. Others you interview because they’ve had a good two decades. Ari Engel is both.

This week at the Borgata in Atlantic City, Ari won the $1,100 H.O.R.S.E. Championship at Allen Kessler’s Chainsaw Mixed Series of Poker, part of the 2026 Borgata Fall Poker Open. Just a few minutes ago I got the chance to sit down with him for an interview.

Below you’ll find the interview, plus a full look at who Ari is, how this win happened, and why he’s one of the most respected grinders on the live tournament circuit.

Who Is Ari Engel?

If you’ve played live tournaments anywhere in North America, there’s a good chance you’ve seen Ari at a table. Alan “Ari” Engel was born in Toronto, Canada, and calls himself a full-time nomadic poker player. He’s on the road almost constantly, from Circuit stops in the Midwest to festivals in Europe and Asia.

Before the live results, there was online poker. Under the screen name BodogAri, he became the third player ever to reach #1 in the PocketFives online rankings, back in 2006. He first got into the strategy side of the game in college at NYU, where his roommate was fellow bracelet winner Andrew Brown.

These days he also creates poker content on his own channel, the AriJoShow.

Follow Ari:

• X: @AriJoShow
• Instagram: @ariengelpoker

Ari Engel’s Career by the Numbers

Here’s the short version of an extremely long résumé:

Achievement	Details
WSOP bracelets	4
WSOP Circuit rings	20, second on the all-time list
Biggest win	2016 Aussie Millions Main Event, $1,120,000
Recorded live earnings	About $10.7 million
Recorded tournament wins	69
Recorded cashes	835
Former online #1	PocketFives, September 2006 (as BodogAri)

His WSOP bracelets

• 2019: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em, for $427,399. This was his first bracelet after roughly 15 years of chasing one.
• 2021: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship, for $317,076. He beat a 134-entry field after a heads-up match with Zachary Milchman that lasted about six hours.
• WSOP Online: his third bracelet.
• November 2024: his fourth bracelet, won online while he was playing at a PokerStars NAPT stop.

The WSOP Circuit ring race

Ari’s biggest claim to fame among grinders is the WSOP Circuit. He and Maurice Hawkins have traded the all-time ring lead back and forth for years. Ari won his 20th ring at Horseshoe Council Bluffs, and Hawkins has since pulled further ahead.

What makes Ari’s ring count special is the variety. He’s won rings live and online, in No-Limit Hold’em, Pot-Limit Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo, H.O.R.S.E., heads-up, six-max and Mystery Bounty formats. That range is exactly why a mixed-game title at Borgata is no surprise.

The Win: $1,100 H.O.R.S.E. at the Chainsaw Mixed Series

The $1,100 H.O.R.S.E. Championship was the first of the two championship events on the Chainsaw schedule at Borgata. It was a two-day tournament that started at 12:15 p.m. and crowned its champion on Day 2.

Detail	Info
Event	$1,100 H.O.R.S.E. Championship
Series	Chainsaw Mixed Series of Poker, 2026 Borgata Fall Poker Open
Venue	Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, Atlantic City
Format	Two-day event
Entries	38
Finish	Six-way deal; Ari took the trophy
Champion	Ari Engel

About that six-way deal

The tournament ended in a six-way deal. That means the last six players agreed to split the remaining prize money among themselves instead of playing it all out. Ari got the Chainsaw trophy as the champion.

Ari was the first to poke fun at it. On social media he joked that a six-way chop in a field of 38 was “not something to be proud of.” That’s very much his style: low ego, very honest, and always more focused on the next tournament than the last one.

How it compares

Thirty-eight entries is a solid number for a $1,100 mixed-game championship on the East Coast, but it’s a smaller and tougher field than you’ll see in Las Vegas. For comparison, the $1,100 H.O.R.S.E. at the 2024 Mixed Game Poker Series drew 68 entrants (Ari finished 10th in that one). Smaller fields in mixed games usually mean more regulars and fewer recreational players, so every final table is tough.

What Is H.O.R.S.E.? A Quick Guide for Beginners

If you mostly play No-Limit Hold’em, H.O.R.S.E. can look intimidating. It’s simply five games played in rotation, usually with fixed-limit betting:

• H – Hold’em: Texas Hold’em, the game everyone knows, but with limit betting.
• O – Omaha Hi-Lo: four hole cards, and the pot is split between the best high hand and the best low hand (eight or lower).
• R – Razz: Seven Card Stud where the lowest hand wins. A-2-3-4-5 is the best possible hand.
• S – Seven Card Stud: no community cards. Each player gets their own mix of face-down and face-up cards.
• E – Stud Eight or Better: Seven Card Stud with the pot split between high and low hands.

The game changes every orbit or every few hands. To win a H.O.R.S.E. title, you have to be good at all five, not just one. That’s why mixed-game titles carry so much respect among players.

Why Ari Fits the Chainsaw Series So Well

The Chainsaw Mixed Series of Poker, created by Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler, came to Borgata for the first time this November. It has 11 mixed-game events, a custom trophy for each one, and a Player of the Series leaderboard.

Ari has spoken publicly before about why he likes playing at Borgata. In a past interview with Poker.org, he praised the venue for giving back to players, including a mixed-game leaderboard where Borgata matches the money that comes out of the prize pool. For a player who plays as many events as he does, those details make a real difference.

His 2026 has been busy too:

• A win at The Festival in Bratislava in February
• 16 cashes at the 2026 WSOP, including 6th in the $25,000 High Roller H.O.R.S.E. for $147,648 and 10th in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship for $80,636
• A win at WPT Cambodia in August, taking $91,444 from a 391-entry field
• And now, a Chainsaw trophy at Borgata

Final Thoughts

Ari Engel is proof that consistency wins in poker. He doesn’t rely on one huge score. He shows up, plays everything from $400 Circuit events to $25,000 High Rollers, and keeps adding to one of the deepest résumés in the game.

Winning the $1,100 H.O.R.S.E. at the Chainsaw Mixed Series adds another trophy and another game type to his list. It was a pleasure to sit down with him at Borgata, and I hope you enjoy the interview.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Ari Engel?

Ari Engel is a Canadian professional poker player from Toronto. He has 4 WSOP bracelets, 20 WSOP Circuit rings and about $10.7 million in recorded live tournament earnings. He was once ranked #1 online under the name BodogAri.

What did Ari Engel win at the Borgata Chainsaw Series?

He won the $1,100 H.O.R.S.E. Championship at the 2026 Chainsaw Mixed Series of Poker, part of the Borgata Fall Poker Open in Atlantic City. The event drew 38 entries and ended in a six-way deal, with Ari taking the trophy.

How many WSOP bracelets does Ari Engel have?

Four. His first came in 2019 in a $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em event, and his second in the 2021 $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo Championship.

How many WSOP Circuit rings has Ari Engel won?

He has won 20 WSOP Circuit rings, making him second on the all-time list behind Maurice Hawkins.

What is a six-way deal in poker?

It’s when the last six players in a tournament agree to split the remaining prize money instead of playing to the finish. The trophy still goes to the declared champion.

What games are in H.O.R.S.E.?

Hold’em, Omaha Hi-Lo, Razz, Seven Card Stud and Seven Card Stud Eight or Better, played in rotation.