Lauri Saaskilahti's Real Name: Lauri Saaskilahti

Quick answer: Lauri Saaskilahti's name is Lauri Saaskilahti. No online screen name is publicly documented by a reputable source. Finnish player, the 2026 WSOP Main Event runner-up. On the PokerGO Tour (PGT) 2026 leaderboard (updated Nov 4, 2026), Lauri Saaskilahti ranks #15 with 1,350 PGT points (0 wins, 1 cash, $6,000,000 PGT earnings).

Real name

Lauri Saaskilahti plays under his own name. WSOP.com spells it the transliterated way, Lauri Saeaeskilahti (the "ae" stands for the Finnish "ä"), while PokerNews, Card Player and the PGT use Saaskilahti. These are the same Finnish player, not two people. Poker.org calls him a Finnish businessman, and PokerNews says he has lived in Spain while building his poker résumé.

Screen names

We found no online poker screen name documented by PokerNews, Card Player, the PGT, The Hendon Mob, Wikipedia, WSOP.com, the GPI or the player. Until one is, this page lists none. Forum guesses aren't included.

Career highlights

• PGT standing (Nov 4, 2026): #15 with 1,350 PGT points (0 wins, 1 cash, $6,000,000 PGT earnings). Championship eligibility on the PGT page: requirements pending. PGT leaderboard
• Finished 2nd of 9,208 entries in the 2026 WSOP Main Event for $6,000,000, losing heads-up to Lucas Jumalon. That was his first WSOP Main Event, and his first WSOP cash on WSOP.com.
• Card Player reports the runner-up finish was worth 1,350 PGT points.
• Poker.pro says the score makes him the fifth-highest earner in Finnish poker history. His previous best live cash was 14th in the EPT Barcelona €5,300 Main Event in August 2025 for €70,900 (PokerNews).

The 2026 WSOP Main Event drew 9,208 entries and a prize pool of $85,634,400. The final table, held back for a live ESPN broadcast and played August 3-5, finished: Lucas Jumalon (1st, $10,000,000), Lauri Saaskilahti (2nd, $6,000,000), Greg Mueller (3rd, $3,750,000), Michael Gagliano (4th, $2,750,000), Han Feng (5th, $2,250,000), Rami Hammoud (6th, $1,750,000), Jamie Shaevel (7th, $1,500,000), Mario Boos (8th, $1,250,000) and Evagoras Evagorou (9th, $1,000,000). Because the WSOP Main Event is a PGT-qualifying event, every final-table finish carried a large block of PGT points, which is why several Main Event finalists sit in the PGT top 40 off a single cash.

More to know

Poker.org reports that at the start of 2026, Saaskilahti wrote "Win the WSOP Main Event" on a piece of paper and kept it in a drawer. On Day 7 he survived an all-in with ace-high against Brock Wilson's top pair of kings by rivering an ace, which he later said made him feel it was "meant to be" (PokerNews). In heads-up play a runner-runner flush kept him alive, but Jumalon won 17 hands into the match. PokerNews describes the deciding hand as a hero call that went wrong.

About the PGT leaderboard: the PokerGO Tour ranks players on points from qualifying high-stakes events, including PokerGO Studio series and qualifying WSOP events. The top 40 at season's end qualify for the PGT $1,000,000 Championship freeroll, which The Hendon Mob's schedule lists for January 11-12, 2027 in Las Vegas. The PGT page also marks whether each player has met the championship's participation requirements. Rankings can still move before the season closes.