Amid a 2026 World Series of Poker dominated by seven-figure high-roller scores and a 22-year-old Main Event champion, one of the summer's most remarkable stories belonged to a 90-year-old. Perry Green reached the final table of the $1,500 Omaha 8 or Better event, finishing sixth for $30,973 and becoming, in all likelihood, the oldest player ever to reach an open final table at the World Series of Poker. In a game increasingly defined by youth, solvers and stamina, Green's deep run is a reminder that poker remains one of the very few competitive arenas where a nonagenarian can still sit down and beat a field of players a third his age.
A Record Six Decades in the Making
Green is not a newcomer who wandered into a lucky run. He is a genuine piece of poker history — a player whose career stretches back to the game's earliest televised era, and who famously finished runner-up in the WSOP Main Event in 1981, losing heads-up to Stu Ungar during one of the most storied periods in the tournament's history. That a player who contested a Main Event title in the early 1980s was still reaching final tables in 2026 is a span of competitive relevance almost unheard of in any sport.
Reaching an open final table at 90 is a feat that combines skill, endurance and a particular kind of composure. WSOP events are grinds: multi-day marathons that demand hours of focus, resilience through swings, and the physical stamina to remain sharp deep into the night when fatigue erodes decision-making. Younger players train for that endurance the way athletes prepare for a season. For a 90-year-old to navigate a full-field event to its final table is a testament to both his command of the game and his sheer durability at the felt.
Why Omaha 8 Suits a Lifetime of Experience
It is fitting that Green made his mark in Omaha 8 or Better rather than a fast, aggressive no-limit hold'em event. The split-pot mixed-game formats reward exactly the qualities a player accumulates over decades: patience, precise hand selection, and a deep, almost instinctive understanding of when to commit and when to release. Omaha 8 is a game of nut-peddling discipline and careful pot management, where recklessness is punished and experience compounds. It is the kind of game where a player who has seen every situation thousands of times holds a real edge over talented but impatient opponents.
That distinction matters for how we read Green's achievement. In the highest-variance formats, a deep run can be dismissed as a hot streak. In a grinding, skill-intensive split-pot game against a full field, reaching the final table is far more a product of sound decision-making than of luck. Green's finish is, in that sense, an emphatic argument for the enduring value of fundamentals over athleticism — a theme that runs through our broader poker strategy coverage and is worth internalizing at any age.
What This Means for Players
Green's story carries a genuinely uplifting message for recreational players, and it is worth stating plainly: poker is a lifelong game. Unlike nearly every physical sport, where a competitor's prime is measured in a narrow window of years, poker rewards accumulated wisdom, and that wisdom does not expire. A 90-year-old can sit down against the sharpest young professionals in the world and, in the right format, hold his own and better. Few pursuits offer that. For anyone who worries they have started too late or is past their competitive peak, Green is living proof that the felt does not care how old you are.
There is also a practical, strategic lesson embedded in his success: the power of playing a game that suits you. Green thrives in Omaha 8, a format where his patience and reading ability are maximized and where the physical demands of hyper-aggressive, high-variance play are minimized. Improving players often default to no-limit hold'em because it is what they see on television, but exploring the mixed games can reveal a format where your natural tendencies become strengths rather than liabilities. Our guide to the differences between Omaha and hold'em is a useful starting point for players curious about branching out.
Finally, Green's run underscores a truth about the World Series that gets lost amid the high-roller headlines: the WSOP remains an open competition where anyone can create history. The same series that crowned a 22-year-old millionaire in the Main Event also gave a 90-year-old legend one more moment in the spotlight. That range — from the youngest to the oldest, from $30,000 cashes to $10 million scores — is exactly what makes the series the beating heart of the poker calendar. Our WSOP 2026 results hub captures the full sweep of the summer's stories, and Green's is among the ones most worth remembering.
A Legacy That Transcends the Cash
Thirty-one thousand dollars is a modest sum by the standards of a modern WSOP, and it will not move any needles on the money list. But the significance of Green's finish was never about the payout. It was about a player who helped shape poker's early televised identity proving, more than four decades after his famous Main Event runner-up finish, that his edge has not dulled. In a summer of records — the youngest champions, the biggest guarantees, the first player past $90 million — the oldest man to reach an open final table may be the record that lingers longest, precisely because it says something hopeful about the game itself.
Poker, at its best, is a meritocracy of thought rather than of physical gifts. Perry Green, at 90, reminded everyone watching that the mind is the only muscle that matters at the table, and that it can stay sharp long after the rest of the sporting world has moved on. It is a story to keep in mind the next time you sit down feeling like the underdog — the game rewards those who keep learning, keep playing, and keep showing up, no matter how many years they have been doing it.