The latest action in Prague has been red hot, with the money bubble now in the rearview in the record-breaking WSOP Europe Main Event. Plenty of PokerStake players performed well and made profits, while two female hopes ran deep into Day 4 before they were both taken out of contention. In other events, Pedro Faustino won his first WSOP bracelet as the Norwegian PokerStake player Jon Kyte put his investors in profit.

WSOPE Main Event Continues to Set the Pace

The World Series of Poker Europe Main Event set records when late registration closed, reaching an incredible 2,617 entrants, a new record for European poker events with an entry of over €5,000. Three times the number of the WSOP Europe Main Event’s biggest previous field (in 2023), this year’s event has been nothing short of sensational.

Two very deep runs from Josh Arieh and Roberto Romanello ended on Day 4, with Arieh’s run particularly painful. Hoping to win a huge pot, Josh was all-in preflop with the best hand in poker, pocket aces, but was overtaken by the Norwegian player Sondre Stormyr as the Scandi’s pocket queens found another lady on the river.

“I’m a grizzled vet. You can’t hurt me!” Josh commented afterwards on X.

Romanello’s defeat was to the better hand pre-flop, as the Welsh Triple Crown winner saw his own pocket queens shot down by pocket kings. There was a painful bust-out for the 2024 and 2025 back-to-back Ladies Event winner Shiina Okamoto, too. All-in with pocket aces, she was stunned to see her opponent turn quads, leading to her elimination. She was offered support by Shaun Deeb in the aftermath, who announced that he was hosting a ‘busted to quads’ support group meeting in Prague after having lost heads-up for a bracelet to the unlikely holding not once but twice so far this series.

In the shake-up, Day 4 of the year’s biggest tournament so far ended with a relative unknown at the top of the chipcounts. The Finnish player Hengtao Zhu (16.3m) doesn’t have six figures to his name in career winnings in live events, but still sits atop the leaderboard, marginally ahead of the British online qualifier Brandon Sheils. In the long run, Sheils’ experience of winning over $3m in his poker career may count for something as a top prize of €2,000,000 looms closer.

Kyte Flies High as Faustino Finds Gold

In Event #8, the €1,650-entry Monster Stack NLHE event, Portuguese player Pedro Faustino won his first-ever WSOP gold bracelet. The event saw 902 total entries, each at €1,500, as PokerStake’s finest cashed in their droves. David Baker won €3,270 in 128^th place, while Justin Saliba took home the same amount in 100^th place.

Ilija Savevski cashed for €3,440 in 83^rd, Esther Taylor won €3,570 in 79^th place and the reigning world champion Michael Mizrachi finished 64^th for €3,790. Jon Kyte flew higher, however, the Norwegian playing himself into 28^th place for a score of €7,060 as a profitable 2026 has continued for the live pro.

At the final table, plenty of the finalists were hoping to add a second WSOP bracelet to their collections. None of them were able to do so, however, as Lukas Zaskodny (8^th for €21,510), Valentino Konakchiev (7^th for €28,400), Luka Timo (6^th for €38,160) and Jinho Hong (2^nd for €147,440) fell short. It was the Portuguese player Pedro Faustino who won the day, claiming a maiden WSOP win and a top prize of €221,770.

2026 WSOP Online Bracelet Schedule Announced

“The 2026 schedule is designed to give players more ways than ever to compete for WSOP gold.”

Amid the drama at the felt, big news was made away from it. The World Series of Poker announced the WSOP Online schedule for this summer, and with over $7 million in guarantees, there are 30 WSOP bracelet events taking place. The Series runs from May 30 through to July 14 and there are WSOP Main Event seats up for grabs for players in four eligible U.S. states of Nevada, New Jersey, Michigan and Pennsylvania to take part too.

“The WSOP Online Bracelet schedule continues to be one of the most exciting extensions of the World Series of Poker,” said Danielle Barille, Vice President of Online Poker at Caesars Entertainment. “From massive guarantees and our Online Bracelet Leaderboard to live final tables and Main Event qualification opportunities, the 2026 schedule is designed to give players more ways than ever to compete for WSOP gold.”

The WSOP Online Bracelet Leaderboard will award $50,000 in prizes to the best players across the series. Three of the WSOP Online schedule’s high roller events will end not at the virtual felt but in Las Vegas, as the ‘hybrid’ events’ final tables play out under the lights in the gambling capital of the world.

As well as the 30 bracelets on offer, two unique 25-seat ‘Scramble’ events which are listed for June 28 and June 30 will guarantee 25 seats into the 2026 WSOP Main Event which kicks off at the start of July. And just like in 2025, players are free to play WSOP Online events while simultaneously competing in live WSOP tournaments in Las Vegas.

It’s going to be a great summer!