Martynas Stoskus is Norgesmester 2026: Norway's one permitted championship crowns its champion
Martynas Stoskus won the Main Event of the 2026 Norgesmesterskapet i poker at Thon Congress Gardermoen, taking the Norwegian championship title on 4 October. The Main Event drew 608 entries at NOK 5,000, cut to 62 players going into the final day. Mats Ullereng won the High Roller and the Ladies Event went to a player the organisers name only as Paula. The organisers describe the 2026 edition as their largest ever but have not published the winner's prize.
Norway allows exactly one tournament poker championship a year on its own soil, and the 2026 edition is now settled. Martynas Stoskus won the Main Event at Thon Congress Gardermoen beside Oslo Airport, under the organisers' headline "Stoskus ble Norgesmester!" dated 4 October 2026.
The Main Event cost NOK 5,000 to enter and drew 608 entries. Saturday 3 October cut that field to 62 players, who returned for the final day on 4 October. The organisers have not published the winner's prize or the final-table payouts; a prize-money article is linked from their front page but the figures were not readable when we re-checked on 9 November 2026, so we are not quoting a number. The organisers describe the 2026 championship as the largest they have run.
Other titles went the same way. Mats Ullereng won the High Roller, under a headline dated 5 October. The Ladies Event went to a player the organisers identify only as Paula, on 4 October. A player they call Brox took a further trophy at Gardermoen on 5 October, in an event the site does not name. Earlier in the week Ian Gjerland won the Level of Each PLO/NLH event and Lars Erik Anderssen won the Turbo, each a first national title and each against what the organisers call a record field, with Anders Berg taking the Cashout event the day before.
Why there is only one
Norwegian law permits a single national championship in tournament poker each year, which pre-approved nationwide non-profit organisations may apply to host. For the 2026 to 2030 term the permit is held by Gynkreftforeningen, Norges Doveforbund and Blodkreftforeningen. The permit sets hard ceilings: at most 5,000 entrants in the main event, a cap of NOK 20,000 on what any one player can lose across the series, and a maximum first prize of NOK 2 million.
A 608-entry Main Event is a useful measure of how far those ceilings actually bind. The entrant cap is eight times the field that turned up, so the legal limit is not what keeps Norwegian live poker small - the single-event-per-year rule is. The prize cap is the one that bites: it fixes the top of the payout structure regardless of how large the field becomes.
That is also why the Norwegian names on our all-time money list earned almost all of it abroad. A country with one permitted tournament a year does not produce domestic earnings; it exports players.
This is general information about how the Norwegian permit works, not legal advice.
Read the original at Norgesmesterskap i poker — Forside →
Frequently asked questions
Who won the 2026 Norwegian Poker Championship?
Martynas Stoskus won the Main Event at Thon Congress Gardermoen, announced by the organisers on 4 October 2026.
How big was the 2026 Norwegian Main Event?
The organisers report 608 entries in the NOK 5,000 Main Event, reduced to 62 players going into the final day.
What did the winner receive?
The organisers have not published the winner's prize. The permit caps the maximum first prize at NOK 2 million, but that is a ceiling rather than the amount paid.
Why does Norway hold only one poker championship a year?
Norwegian law permits a single national tournament poker championship annually, hosted by pre-approved nationwide non-profits. For 2026-2030 the permit is held by Gynkreftforeningen, Norges Doveforbund and Blodkreftforeningen.