The 2026 World Series of Poker Europe action officially wrapped up over the weekend, and three more players managed to capture their first bracelets before time expired at the first-ever WSOPE held in Prague.
Nikolai Ogoltsov pulled off a tremendous spin-up, parlaying a €1,500 buy-in into more than $500,000. Adam Geyer, who had numerous close calls in major live events over the last 15 years, including earlier in this WSOP Europe festival, finally broke through against a stacked final table in an €1,100 pot-limit Omaha double board bomb pot tournament.
Finally, David Wintersberger took down a €2,750 no-limit hold’em bounty turbo event for his first major title.
It’ll be about seven weeks until another gold bracelet is awarded when the action next picks up at the WSOP in Las Vegas. For now, this is how things played out during the final days of this festival in Czechia.
Ogoltsov Goes Hard In European Circuit Win
While many of the signature events at the 2026 WSOP Europe festival carried larger buy-ins, the European circuit championship offered a massive payday at a much lower price point. Across four starting sessions, 2,628 entrants put up the €1,500 buy-in for this massive no-limit hold’em affair. That pushed the prize pool to over $4.1 million, multiplying the €1.5 million guarantee several times over.
At the close of the four starting flights, 396 players qualified for day 2 and made it into the money. Hossein Ensan (388th), John Wasnock (347th), Davidi Kitai (345th), Leo Margets (264th), Martin Zamani (211th), Ari Engel (197th), Roberto Romanello (76th), and Josh Arieh (43rd) were just a few of the players to run deep but fall short of the final day.
That left 16 players who returned for one last session, each of whom had their sights set on the bracelet and top prize of more than half a million dollars. Daisuke Ogita of Japan had the chip lead but lost a three-way all-in with pocket nines against two players with ace-king to go out 15th.
By the time the field got down to eight players, Ogoltsov was near the bottom of the chip counts, looking for a comeback.
He picked his spots well and remained steady while others fell by the wayside. Marcel Kessler went out in eighth ($60,950), as his shove with 9♥7♥ ran into Michael Sklenicka’s A♦Q♥ and found no relief. Sklenicka then turned around and made a jack-high straight with 9♥7♣ himself, to knock out Stefan Peukert in seventh ($74,750).
The Charge To Victory
Sklenicka made it three straight eliminations by picking off Lampros Vlachos in sixth place ($97,750). Tobias Peters briefly took center stage, knocking out Mikel Calo ($132,250) in fifth with a rivered king-high straight. Ogoltsov picked up a crucial double with A♥Q♣ against Pascal Vos’ pocket jacks, finding an ace on the turn.
Sklenicka then continued his incredible run with his fourth final table elimination. This time, he took out Peters, the two-time WSOP bracelet winner, with pocket sevens dodging Q♣10♦.
With Peters out in fourth ($178,250), Vos and Ogoltsov closed the gap with Sklenicka. A full house, tens full of sevens, pushed Ogoltsov into the chip lead during three-handed action. A bluff gone awry promptly handed the lead back to Sklenicka. Ogoltsov found an incredibly lucky river to double, turning his 10♥3♥ into a ten-high straight to crack Vos’ pocket jacks and leave him with fumes.
Sklenicka picked up his fifth elimination of the final table and the last of Vos’ chips, beating Vos with another ten-high straight for good measure. Despite Ogoltsov not having a final-table elimination prior to heads-up play, he earned the knockout that mattered most: the last one. His pocket jacks managed to hold against Sklenicka’s A♠4♠, and Ogoltsov claimed the bracelet.
The Russian pro claimed a career-best $523,250, along with the hardware. He also earned 1,200 Card Player Player of the Year points, enough to put him just outside the top 100 in the yearlong race presented by CoinPoker.
Final Table Results – €1,500 No-Limit Hold’em European Circuit Championship
| Place | Player | Payout | Points |
| 1 | Nikolai Ogoltsov | $523,250 | 1,200 |
| 2 | Michael Sklenicka | $333,500 | 1,000 |
| 3 | Pascal Vos | $241,500 | 800 |
| 4 | Tobias Peters | $178,250 | 600 |
| 5 | Mikel Calo | $132,250 | 500 |
| 6 | Lampros Vlachos | $97,750 | 400 |
| 7 | Stefan Peukert | $74,750 | 300 |
| 8 | Marcel Kessler | $60,950 | 200 |
| 9 | Mario Colavita | $46,000 | 100 |
Geyer Finally Gets Gold In Double Board Bomb Pot PLO
Adam Geyer has enjoyed tremendous success in live events throughout his career. But even with just shy of $4 million in career earnings, Geyer has fallen tantalizingly short of the trophy on multiple occasions.
He finished third in a pair of WSOP bracelet events, including the €565 PLOSSUS bounty earlier at this WSOP Europe festival. The Austin native was also the runner-up in the 2016 World Poker Tour Bay 101 Shooting Star.
Geyer finally struck gold in the €1,100 PLO double board bomb pot event, outlasting a field of 280 players to earn $69,000 and the bracelet. Despite it being one of the smaller buy-in events on the 2026 WSOP Europe schedule, Geyer had to navigate his way through a final table that featured eight-time bracelet winner Benny Glaser and four-time bracelet winner Ari Engel.
A total of 42 players finished in the money, including Esther Taylor (32nd) and Quan Zhou (19th).
A Dominant Path To Victory
Geyer held the chip lead with eight players remaining, just ahead of Hayato Kitajima. WSOP Europe main event 10th-place finisher Tom Hall fell in eighth ($6,670), followed by Engel in seventh ($8,625). Geyer then knocked out Sondre Stormyr in sixth ($11,500) before he teamed up with Kitajima to eliminate Jorge Pardo (5th -$15,640), with each of them making a full house on separate boards. Geyer then picked off Kitajima in fourth ($21,620), making a full house, threes full of fives. Somehow, a lowly pair of threes was enough on the other board to get the job done.
With a massive chip lead, Geyer pulled off one of the rarest feats in WSOP history, ending the tournament on a double elimination. The chips went in on the turn, with the boards reading Q♠5♥2♠5♠ and 10♦9♠4♣A♦. All three hands were turned up.
Geyer: A♠J♥6♥4♠ Glaser: Q♣9♣7♦3♠ Mehmet Siginc: 10♠9♥3♦2♣
Geyer’s ace-high flush led the top pair, while his two pair, aces and fours, were in front on the second board. The 2♥ on the top board kept Geyer’s flush best, and the A♥ on the bottom gave him a full house to finish off the tournament in style.
This win came with 456 POY points for Geyer. This was his fourth qualifying result of 2026 thus far. That placed him 135th place in the standings at the close of WSOP Europe.
Final Table Results – €1,100 Pot-Limit Omaha Double Board Bomb Pot
| Place | Player | Payout | Points |
| 1 | Adam Geyer | $69,000 | 456 |
| 2 | Mehmet Siginc | $44,850 | 380 |
| 3 | Benny Glaser | $30,705 | 304 |
| 4 | Hayato Kitajima | $21,620 | 228 |
| 5 | Jorge Ufano Pardo | $15,640 | 190 |
| 6 | Sondre Stormyr | $11,500 | 152 |
| 7 | Ari Engel | $8,625 | 114 |
| 8 | Tom Hall | $6,670 | 76 |
| 9 | Tomasz Kokoszka | $5,290 | 38 |
Wintersberger Wins Big To Close Out WSOP Europe
As has become an unofficial tradition at most WSOP festivals in recent years, a last-chance turbo event offered players one final opportunity to leave as a major winner.
Germany’s David Wintersberger took full advantage, taking down the €2,750 no-limit hold’em turbo bounty event for $161,000, plus his bounty prizes. He earned 1,080 POY points as the champion, moving to 70th place in the standings in the process.
466 entrants took their final shot at glory at the Hilton Prague. The money bubble burst late on day 1, with Espen Jorstad (71st), David ‘ODB’ Baker (67th), Michael Moncek (57th), Ren Lin (53rd), and Jonathan Little (31st) each falling before the close of action.
Just 24 players returned on the final day to battle for the bracelet, the $161,000, and as many bounties as they could manage. Recent winner Mike Leah (24th), Michael Mizrachi (19th), and Manig Loeser (12th) each finished just shy of the final table.
Winds Shift Wintersberger’s Way
Wintersberger sat right in the middle of the pack when the final nine combined onto a single table, well behind chip leader Jon Vallinas. Wintersberger’s surge began immediately, though, as his pocket kings earned him a double knockout against Franz Holzner (8th – $14,375) and Fabio Giamberardini (9th – $14,375), holding off A♣Q♣ and A♠9♥.
Wintersberger rode that momentum all the way to a heads-up match with Russian Arsenii Karmatckii. Vallinas ultimately earned $69,000 and 720 points for his third-place showing. This was the fourth final-table finish of the year for the Spanish player, including two massive runner-up showings during the recent Triton festivals in Jeju that totalled $2.2 million. With 4,180 POY points, Vallinas has climbed to second in the POY standings.
The two stacks were close at the start of the match, but on the most critical hand of the bout, Wintersberger found an ideal spot. He got all in with A♣J♥ against Karmatckii’s A♥9♥. A nine-high flop threatened to bring Wintersberger’s tournament crashing down, but a jack on the river flipped the script and gave Wintersberger nearly all of the chips in play.
On the final hand, Wintersberger flopped a set with his pocket threes and never looked back on his way to securing his first career bracelet. Karmatckii settled for $103,500 as the runner-up.
Final Table Results – €2,750 No-Limit Hold’em Bounty Turbo
| Place | Player | Payout | Points |
| 1 | David Wintersberger | $161,000 | 1,080 |
| 2 | Arsenii Karmatckii | $103,500 | 900 |
| 3 | Jon Ander Vallinas | $69,000 | 720 |
| 4 | Darko Percic | $48,300 | 540 |
| 5 | Antonio Galiana | $34,500 | 450 |
| 6 | Tibor Nyuli | $25,300 | 360 |
| 7 | Amir Padan | $18,400 | 270 |
| 8 | Franz Holzner | $14,375 | 180 |
| 9 | Fabio Giamberardini | $10,925 | 90 |
Photo credits: WSOP.
