Images courtesy of WSOP, GGPoker
The much-anticipated 2026 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) 2026 festival is over, and it was one for the history books, as all previous records were blown out of the water.
The festival awarded a total of 15 WSOP bracelets and more than €30,000,000, including a €2,000,000 first-place prize in the biggest WSOPE Main Event since the tournament’s inception.
Following years of mediocrity, WSOPE finally took its spot among the elite tournament poker festivals in 2026, as thousands of poker players from all over the world gathered in the Czech capital of Prague in a true poker celebration.
When it was all said and done, the Lithuanian player won his second WSOP bracelet in the Main Event and took the title of World Champion, along with the biggest first-place prize ever seen in a WSOPE tournament.
Kudzamanas Makes History in Prague
The 2026 WSOPE Main Event was a historic poker tournament in many ways. For the first time ever, the Series attached a €10,000,000 guaranteed prize pool to the tournament, and there was some doubt if the guarantee would be met even just a few weeks ago.
With the previous Main Event attendance record sitting at just 817 players, the event needed to more than double its previous best turnout just to meet the guarantee narrowly.
Yet, the €5,300 buyin event didn’t disappoint, as it attracted a total of 2,617 players, shattering both the attendance record and the guarantee, and demonstrating the popularity of Prague as a tournament poker venue.
This year’s Main Event drew in poker players from all corners of the world, with the American contingent of players finally showing up in force, led by the likes of Shaun Deen, John Juanda, and Texas Mike.
By the time it played down to 9 players, it was American Chris Hunichen who was the most famous name at the final table, as the high-roller sought his second WSOP bracelet.
Yet, it was not meant to be for Big Huni, who would end up busting in third place, good for €800,000, leaving Japanese player Akihiro Konishi to battle it out with Lithuanian Marius Kudzamans.
Kudzamans eventually cracked Konishi’s pocket Kings with his 6-7, and took down the most coveted prize of the festival, joining the ranks of Phil Hellmuth, Adrian Mateos, and Kevin MacPhee as a World Series of Poker Europe champion.
The Lithuanian outlasted the biggest WSOPE Main Event field in its history and captured his second WSOP bracelet, with the first coming from a 2023 online poker event and worth just over $145,000.
It was the greatest achievement of Kudzaman’s poker career, but also a feat that will go down in poker history, as WSOPE enters a new era of prosperity in its new home.
Here is a look at the final table results of the record-breaking event:
| Position | Player | Nationaility | Prize |
| 1 | Marius Kudzmanas | Lithuania | €2,000,000 |
| 2 | Akihiro Konishi | Japan | €1.200,000 |
| 3 | Chris Hunichen | USA | €800,000 |
| 4 | Nikolay Bibov | Bulgaria | €575,000 |
| 5 | Antonio Guimaraens | Spain | €425,000 |
| 6 | Hengtao Zhu | Finland | €320,000 |
| 7 | Thomas Eychenne | France | €245,000 |
| 8 | Brandon Sheils | UK | €185,000 |
| 9th | Joona Nyholm | Finland | €140,000 |
Record-Breaking Attendance Across the Festival
It wasn’t just the WSOPE Main Event that broke records this year, as the entire festival proved to be a massive success.
Event #1 – The Opener NLH Mystery Bounty was a great introduction to the show, with 2,195 entries made at €1,100 each, to create a prize pool worth €2.195 million to kick things off.
Event #12 – €1500 European Circuit Championship NLH drew the biggest crowd, just narrowly beating the Main Event with 2,628 runners to create a €3,547,800 prize pool.
The high rollers, mixed game aficionados, and mid-stakes players all had plenty to look forward to, as WSOPE events broke one record after another, and clearly showed that the reborn European festival had finally become what it was always destined to be.
Here is a closer look at the 2026 WSOPE attendance, all the bracelet winners, and the prizes won by the 15 new WSOPE champions:
| Event | Buyin | Entries | Champion | 1-st Place Prize |
| Event #1: The Opener – NLHE Mystery Bounty | €1,100 | 2,195 | Corel Theuma | €150,000 |
| Event #2: PLO Mixed | €3,300 | 181 | Frank Koopmann | €123,879 |
| Event #3: COLOSSUS NLHE | €565 | 2,662 | Gilles Silbernagel | €165,000 |
| Event #4: PLOSSUS Bounty PLO | €565 | 1,120 | Jules Ayoub | €50,780 |
| Event #5: WSOPE Main Event NLHE European Championship | €5,300 | 2,617 | Marius Kudzmanas | €2,000,000 |
| Event #6: Ladies Championship | €1,000 | 197 | Anca Eggenberger | €40,298 |
| Event #7: Turbo Bounty NLHE | €2,200 | 904 | Fahredin Mustafov | €142,420 |
| Event #8: Monster Stack NLH | €1,650 | 902 | Pedro Faustino | €221,770 |
| Event #9: PLO European Championship | €5,300 | 379 | Ole Schemion | €395,000 |
| Event #10: Rounder Cup NLHE (EU vs. Rest of World) | €2,750 | 647 | Mike Leah | €292,000 |
| Event #11: NL Super High Roller | €20,800 | 242 | Christopher Nguyen | €1,100,000 |
| Event #12: European Circuit Championship NLHE | €1,500 | 2,628 | Nikolai Ogoltsov | €455,000 |
| Event #13: GGMillion$ High Roller | €8,400 | 359 | Christian Pedersen | €600,000 |
| Event #14: PLO Double Board Bomb Pot | €1,100 | 280 | Richard Geyer | €60,000 |
| Event #15: The Closer NLHE Turbo Bounty | €2,750 | 466 | David Wintersberger | €140,000 |
Shaun Deeb Makes POY Strides with Two Near Misses
For the first time in a long time, WSOPE was able to attract many of the world’s most prominent poker players, including the reigning WSOP Player of the Year, Shaun Deeb.
Deeb came out to Prague in pursuit of POY points and title defense, as WSOP announced that all bracelet events across Prague, Las Vegas, and Paradise would count toward the POY leaderboard this year.
Shaun came to Prague with the intention of adding to his eight WSOP bracelets, and he very easily could have done that on more than one occasion.
One of the world’s greatest poker grinders came second in event #2 – PLO Mix, as he lost the heads-up match with a full house to quads.
Just days later, Deeb was once again heads-up for a bracelet, this time in the €656 Colossus, where he had outlived a massive field of 2,662 players, only to once again lose to quads, this time in a No Limit Hold’em game.
Deeb final tabled the €2,750 Rounder Cup as well, coming 9th in that event, and collected three other cashes. With six cashes out of the 15 events, and two second places, his POY title defense came to a strong start, as he collected 1,340 points and put himself well ahead of most other major contenders.
He currently sits second in the POY race, behind Marius Kudzamans, as they chase the $100k WSOP Paradise package reserved for the top three spots, and the historic POY title, only reserved for the top dog.
Annette Oberstad Makes Her Return to the Ring
The other big story of the 2026 WSOPE was the return of its inaugural champion, Annette Oberstad, who won the first WSOPE Main Event in 2007 when she was just 18 years old.
After taking a notable hiatus from the game, Oberstad was back in contention this year, and her highly publicized return to WSOPE could have easily ended in a truly epic story, as she was able to make the final few tables out of a field of over 2,600.
Annette eventually busted in 35th place, good for a €40,000 payout, but was unable to keep the momentum going all the way to the final table, which would have been one of the greatest sensations in poker history.
Yet, despite not making the final table, Annette showed the poker world she still has what it takes to compete, as she outlasted many players in their prime, who had been playing poker on a daily basis while she was busy engaging in activities away from the green felt.
Hopefully, Annette’s return to poker won’t be short-lived, and we’ll be able to see her play a lot more poker in the coming months, including the upcoming WSOP festival in Las Vegas.
