Anonymous Wins WSOP Europe Main Event For $2.3 Million

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The first World Series of Poker Europe main event held in Prague drew a record field of 2,617 entries, the largest turnout ever for the event. In addition to the WSOPE’s relocation from Kings Resort Rozvadov to the Hilton Hotel Prague in 2026, the main event buy-in was lowered from the €10,000 price point to €5,300. That change helped see the previous best turnout of 817 entrants (2023) for this event bested by 1,800 entries.

The €10 million guarantee was easily surpassed, with the final prize pool growing to €13,085,000. That amounted to $15,311,740 USD, which made for a $2.3 million top prize. That massive sum was ultimately awarded to a player who has requested anonymity.

Narrowing The Record Field

This event featured three starting flights to choose from. The bubble then burst late on day 2, with the top 393 finishers making the money. Plenty of notables ran deep in this event, including seven-time bracelet winner Josh Arieh (44th), triple crown winner Roberto Romanello (42nd), two-time WSOP ladies event champion Shiina Okamoto (37th), 2007 WSOP Europe main event champion Annette Obrestad (35th), and bracelet winners Carl Shaw (32nd), Rokas Asipauskas (11th), and Thomas Hall (10th).

The final day began with nine players remaining and Hengtao Zhu atop the leaderboard.

The first knockout of the session saw Finland’s Joona Nyholm commit his stack with K♦10♣ racing against the 8♠8♦ of bracelet winner Chris Hunichen. Nyholm’s final fraction of a big blind went in after the A♦7♦7♠ flop. The Q♦ turn gave him flush and straight draws, but the 3♠ river was a brick that ended the 29-year-old’s run in ninth place ($161,000).

Brandon Sheils got his last 16 big blinds in preflop with A♦Q♥. Unfortunately for the UK player, he was dominated by the A♣K♦ of Nikolay Bibov. Neither player connected with a jack-high runout and Sheils settled for $212,750 as the eighth-place finisher. This was the second-largest score yet for the 30-year-old, who now boasts nearly $2.9 million in career earnings.

Start-Of-Day Big Stacks Fall Early

Thomas Eychenne’s run in this event concluded in brutal fashion, with his pocket kings cracked by the pocket nines of the eventual champion. The 36-year-old French poker pro, who began the day as the second-largest stack, was an 81.25% favorite to win the pot preflop according to Card Player’s poker odds calculator, but the 9♠6♠3♠ flop left him with less than an 8% chance of doubling up. The 2♣ turn and 10♦ river changed nothing and Eychenne was knocked out in seventh place ($281,750). The 2025 European Poker Tour Barcelona main event champion grew his lifetime haul to more than $5.4 million with this latest deep run.

Despite starting the day in the lead, Zhu had slid towards the lower end of the leaderboard as the table grew short-handed. The 24-year-old Finnish player’s final hand began with a min-raise from the hijack to 2,000,000. Anonymous came along from the big blind with 5♣4♣ and hit bottom pair after the J♦9♠4♠ rolled off on the flop. Zhu took a stab when checked to, firing 1,500,000 and receiving a call from Anonymous. The 3♦ turn saw both players check, but the 3♠ kicked off some exciting river action. Anonymous led out for 1,700,000 and Zhu moved all-in for 11,000,000. Anonymous went deep into the tank before making the hero call to beat Zhu’s A♠K♦.

Zhu was awarded $368,000 for his strong showing in this event, his largest live score yet.

Hengtao Zhu’s Main Event journey comes to a close in 6th place, earning €320,000.

A remarkable climb from low‑stakes qualifiers to a @GGPoker Bracelet Pass, and a deep run through Prague’s record-breaking field. pic.twitter.com/03NwKoi3mf

— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) April 10, 2026

Konishi and Anonymous Surge

Antonio Guimaraens was the next to fall. The 44-year-old Spaniard was down to fewer than seven big blinds when he shoved with A♦3♠ from the cutoff. Akihiro Konishi called from the button with A♠Q♦ and made trips on a Q♣7♦6♣Q♥J♣ runout to send Guimaraens packing in fifth place ($488,750).

Anonymous recorded his third knockout of the final table when his A♥J♣ came from behind against the A♣Q♦ of Bibov. The 37-year-old Bulgarian headed to the payout desk to collect $661,250 after the board came down J♠8♠5♣6♠7♠.

Hunichen took a big hit early on in the three-handed play, running pocket sevens into the pocket queens of Konishi. Action kicked off with a button min-raise by Anonymous, who had J♣4♦ on the button. Hunichen flat called the 2,400,000 from the small blind with 7♠7♦ and Konishi three-bet to 8,000,000 from the big blind with Q♠Q♦. Anonymous got out of the way and Hunichen moved all-in. Konishi called for 41,000,000 and held through a J♠J♦8♦5♦4♥ runout to give the 36-year-old Japanese player the chip lead.

Hunichen was left on fumes after that clash. He soon was all-in for around eight big blinds with 8♦7♥ facing the K♦J♣ of Konishi. Neither player connected with the 10♥3♦3♣2♦A♥ board, which meant that Hunichen was eliminated in third place. The 41-year-old American pro earned $920,000 for this podium showing.

The 2024 WSOP $100,000 high roller event champion now has more than $21.5 million in career cashes to his name.

🇺🇸 Chris “Big Huni” Hunichen’s WSOP Europe Main Event journey ends in 3rd place for €800,000.

One of the most beloved players in the game – and already a $17M+ live‑earnings crusher – he put on a show for the fans all week 💥 pic.twitter.com/W8wqQc64ge

— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) April 10, 2026

With 2,180 POY points, Hunichen is now ranked 15th in the 2026 standings. This was his fourth final-table finish of the year, with the previous three all coming during the PokerGO Cup in early March.

Anonymous Cracks Kings To Close It Out

With that, Konishi took roughly a 5:3 chip lead into heads-up play with Anonymous. After expanding that advantage early, Konishi lost a few key pots that allowed Anonymous back within striking distance. The two soon played a sizable pot that turned the tide. Anonymous narrowly outkicked his opponent to overtake the lead, with J♦8♦ besting Konishi’s J♠7♣ on K♥K♠2♦J♥4♣.

Anonymous expanded his lead when he picked off a bluff from Konishi, besting a missed flush draw (6♥2♥) with J♣8♥ on a 7♥3♥3♦8♣10♠ board. Konishi fired three barrels, but wasn’t able to shake his opponent.

Konishi managed a double up with K-Q beating 8-7 suited after falling even further behind, and nearly evened things up before Anonymous made his final surge across the proverbial finish line. 

Anonymous held nearly a 3:1 chip lead when the final hand of the tournament arrived. With blinds of 800,000-1,600,000 and a big blind ante of 1,600,000, Konishi raised to 3,600,000 from the button with K♦K♣. Anonymous came along with 7♦6♣ and the flop came out 7♠5♦4♥ to give him top pair and an open-ended straight draw. He checked and Konishi bet 3,000,000. Anonymous check-raised to 9,500,000 and called when Konishi jammed for 39,000,000 with his overpair to the board. The turn brought the 7♥ to improve Anonymousto trips. That left Konishi in need of a king on the river in order to keep his hopes of winning this event alive. The J♦ appeared on the end instead, locking up the title for Anonymous.

Konishi was awarded $1,380,000 as the runner-up, the first seven-figure score on the circuit by the Tokyo resident. He also secured 2,000 POY points for this performance. With 2,140 total points, he’s moved into 17th place on the POY leaderboard.

Final Table Results

Photo credits: WSOP.