The Lithuanian player Marius Kudzmanas sealed a memorable victory in Prague last night as the poker professional topped the record-breaking WSOP Europe Main Event for €2,000,000. At a tense and at times dramatic final table, the PokerStake player Chris ‘Big Huni’ Hunichen showed he had a huge heart as he battled to a third-place finish worth an incredible €800,000 ($935,000).

Chip Leaders Hit Early Trouble

The final table had everything, with Finland the only country represented twice at a truly cosmopolitan set of players. Of the eight different nationalities at the felt, the overnight chip leader heading into the final was the Finnish player Hengtao Zhu but he, along with other big stacks, was to endure a horrendous start to proceedings.

The WSOP Europe Main Event had a record-breaking 2,617 entries in Prague, more than three times as many played the previous biggest year’s total in 2023. The pressure was huge by the time the final table began, and the prize pool of €13,085,000 ($15.3m) began to weigh heavily on some, while others thrived. The short stack, Finnish player Joona Nyholm, was the first to depart, as expected, when his king-ten lost to Chris Hunichen’s pocket eights. The Finn took home €140,000 but went no further.

Then came a trio of eliminations for the top three players heading into the final. British star Brandon Sheils, who qualified for the event from a $150 WSOP Express satellite event on GGPoker, ran that ticket all the way to eighth place and a massive €185,000 as his ace-queen lost to Nikolay Bibov’s ace-king.

Shortly after Sheils’ departure, the previous leader Thomas Eychenne was gone, losing with pocket kings for 20 big blinds only to be sunk by Kudzmanas’ pocket nines which flopped a set. The Frenchman’s exit for €245,000 in seventh was swiftly followed by the man with the chips overnight leaving in sixth for €320,000. Finnish player Hengtao Zhu won far less than he might have expected when his bluff on the river was sniffed out superbly by Kudzmanas, who called it off with just third pair for a vital pot in the grand scheme of things.

Big Huni Falls Just Short of Glory

Spanish professional Antonio Guimaraens fell in fifth place for €425,000. All-in with ace-three, he couldn’t catch Akihiro Konishi’s ace-queen with a queen on the flop meaning that eventually, the Spaniard was drawing dead to the river. While the remaining four players broke for their last dinner break of a whirlwind week, Guimaraens headed to the rail.

With four players left, it was the turn of Bulgarian Nikolay Bibov to get his chips into the middle. He was desperately unlucky not to see double their number returned to him his ace-queen defeated by the fortunate Kudzmanas’ ace-jack, a jack-high flop followed by zero drama for the Lithuanian as the Poker Gods smiled on him yet again. Bibov cashed for €575,000 as three-handed play began.

With three players left, there was no elimination for some time, as the chip swapped stacks and each player seemed to have his moment in the sun. PokerStake’s Chris Hunichen (below) led the final three at one stage but lady luck abandoned him and he cashed for €800,000 (around $938,500) in third place when his short-stack shove with seven-eight ran into the king-jack of the Japanese player Akihiro Konishi.

The Last Fence Denies Konishi

“I just needed to not get any big coolers and just play my game.”

Konishi had a sizeable lead heads-up but couldn’t become the first Japanese WSOPE Main Event winner in poker history.  Despite taking a big hand with a straight, Konishi was unlucky to lose a big hand where a single pip out-kicked him. A board of K-K-2-J-4 saw Konishi make a big river bet with jack-seven. Kudzmanas called with jack-eight, however, and from the moment on, the tide seemed to turn in the Lithuanian’s favor.

Kudzmanas sneaked into the lead and in the final hand, once again saw his number come up after going into the final showdown behind. On a flop of 7-5-4, Kudzmanas called the Japanese player’s shove. Konishi had pocket kings, while Kuzmanas had only seven-six. A seven on the turn changed everything, though, and when the Lithuanian rode out a blank river, he had the title, a gold WSOP bracelet and top prize of €2,000,000. Konishi, gracious in defeat, won €1,200,000 as a worthy runner-up.

“I felt like ‘I’m the best player at the table’,” the Lithuanian told reporters after his victory. “I just needed to not get any big coolers and just play my game as best as possible.”

The new WSOPE Main Event champion was able to win in those two marginal spots late in the day heads-up but said that the earlier exits of the powerful overnight leaders made more of a difference to his chances.

“It was much easier after [Sheils and Eychenne] were gone because they are very good players” he said. “It’s nice to be with as many amateurs as possible left.”

WSOP Europe 2026 €5,300 Main Event Final Table Results:
Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Marius Kudzmanas	Lithuania	€2,000,000
2nd	Akihiro Konishi	Japan	€1,200,000
3rd	Chris Hunichen	United States	€800,000
4th	Nikolay Bibov	Bulgaria	€575,000
5th	Antonio Guimaraens	Spain	€425,000
6th	Hengtao Zhu	Finland	€320,000
7th	Thomas Eychenne	France	€245,000
8th	Brandon Shiels	United Kingdom	€185,000
9th	Joona Nyholm	Finland	€140,000