Albanian by origin, he lives in Zurich but above all he is a very keen poker player. Elvir Nuhiu, the winner of the PokerStars Open Campione 2026 Main Event, prevailed over 1582 participants and briefly tells us his story.
Elvir Nuhiu, the Omaha player lent to NL Hold’em
The relationship between “Omaha players” and “Hold’em players” has never been very smooth, because playing with 4 cards (or even 5 or 6) is too different from playing with two. Elvir Nuhiu knows this well, and in his immediate post-victory interview, he admits to being a very strong player of PLO5 and PLO6, i.e., Pot Limit Omaha with 5 and 6 cards respectively. He downplays it, but those who know him well say he regularly plays high stakes cash games in these two disciplines.
Temporarily lent to No Limit Hold’em, Elvir took it as a challenge: “my friends always told me to leave No Limit Hold’em because it’s not for me, so this was an opportunity to prove them wrong.”
Elvir, Vincenzo Petruzziello, and GTO
In our interview, Elvir Nuhiu reveals that he changed his strategy once he reached the final table. “Initially, I followed the instructions of my pro friends who follow GTO a bit, but in the end, my style is a bit unorthodox, so I seized the opportunity to show the GTO pros that there isn’t only one way to achieve victory.”
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Elvir also has high praise for his heads-up opponent. “It cost me quite a few chips to figure out how he played. I have to admit that at a table of 8-9 players, it’s very difficult to win hands against him.”
Interview with Elvir Nuhiu
“It’s nice to have the passion of the Albanians and a bit of the mind of the Swiss. Let’s say it’s a perfect mix.” You can watch and listen to the interview with Elvir Nuhiu by our reporters in Campione d’Italia, right below:
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Cover image: Elvir Nuhiu (Manuel Kovsca & RHL)
