The World Series of Poker Europe underwent several huge changes in 2026. After nearly a decade of being held each fall at King’s Resort Rozvadov, the festival moved to the Hilton Hotel Prague in the spring. In addition to the new venue and slot on the calendar, this year’s WSOPE also saw the no-limit hold’em main event cut the buy-in for the first time, dropping from the €10,000 price point to €5,000.
Those decisions seem to have paid off, in spades.
The 2026 running was the largest in the tournament’s history by several metrics, including the biggest prize pool ($15,311,740), the largest field (2,617 entries), and the most valuable top prize ($2,300,000). Marius Kudzmanas topped the record-setting affair in the end, securing his third career gold bracelet and the multi-million-dollar payout.
This year’s big dance in Prague represented an 84.5 percent increase over the previous largest prize pool of $8,300,148 from the 2023 running in Rozvadov. That year, Germany’s Max Neugebauer defeated a then-record turnout of 817 to walk away with just shy of $1.6 million. Below is a look at how all 17 WSOPE main events stack up, by the numbers.
The Largest WSOP Europe Main Events (By Prize Pool)
| Year | Entries | Prize Pool | Champion | Top Prize | Venue |
| 2026 | 2,617 | $15,311,740 | Marius Kudzmanas | $2,300,000 | Hilton Hotel (Prague, Czechia) |
| 2023 | 817 | $8,300,148 | Max Neugebauer | $1,590,000 | King’s Resort Rozvadov (Rozvadov, Czechia) |
| 2024 | 768 | $8,013,312 | Simone Andrian | $1,443,000 | King’s Resort Rozvadov (Rozvadov, Czechia) |
| 2011 | 593 | $7,860,618 | Elio Fox | $1,870,208 | Majestic Barrière (Cannes, France) |
| 2021 | 688 | $7,365,418 | Josef Gulas | $1,429,917 | King’s Resort Rozvadov (Rozvadov, Czechia) |
| 2022 | 763 | $7,248,500 | Omar Eljach | $1,380,129 | King’s Resort Rozvadov (Rozvadov, Czechia) |
| 2025 | 659 | $7,182,144 | Daniel Pidun | $1,333,800 | King’s Resort Rozvadov (Rozvadov, Czechia) |
| 2007 | 362 | $7,167,600 | Annette Obrestad | $2,000,000 | Casino at the Empire (London, England) |
| 2008 | 362 | $6,433,279 | John Juanda | $1,544,575 | Casino at the Empire (London, England) |
| 2017 | 529 | $5,827,143 | Marti Roca de Torres | $1,301,815 | King’s Resort Rozvadov (Rozvadov, Czechia) |
| 2018 | 534 | $5,785,812 | Jack Sinclair | $1,290,575 | King’s Resort Rozvadov (Rozvadov, Czechia) |
| 2019 | 541 | $5,710,087 | Alexandros Kolonias | $1,258,383 | King’s Resort Rozvadov (Rozvadov, Czechia) |
| 2009 | 334 | $5,506,372 | Barry Shulman | $1,321,534 | Casino at the Empire (London, England) |
| 2010 | 346 | $5,470,592 | James Bord | $1,313,611 | Casino at the Empire (London, England) |
| 2012 | 420 | $5,249,261 | Phil Hellmuth | $1,333,841 | Majestic Barrière (Cannes, France) |
| 2013 | 375 | $4,961,520 | Adrian Mateos | $1,379,300 | Casino Barrière Enghien les Bains (Paris, France) |
| 2015 | 313 | $3,379,508 | Kevin MacPhee | $972,845 | Spielbank Berlin (Berlin, Germany) |
Looking Back At WSOPE Main Event History
This tournament debuted in 2007, marking a four-year stint in London. Annette Obrestad, who finished 34th this year, won the inaugural running for $2,000,000. The Norwegian online poker star secured that historic victory at the age of 18, setting a record that still stands as the youngest player ever to win a bracelet.
The early 2010s saw the festival make a few short-lived moves to other venues before taking both 2014 and 2016 off while alternating with the now-defunct WSOP Asia Pacific series. In 2017, the WSOPE kicked off its longest stretch in one location with the move to Rozvadov. From then through 2025, the small town near the Czech and German border hosted the international poker tournament world each fall, except in 2020 when the COVID pandemic shut down the live circuit for most of the year.
Six of the top ten WSOPE main events, by prize pool, took place in Rozvadov. In addition to Prague, London had two top-ten showings, while the Majestic Barrière Cannes popped up once, thanks to the 593-entry turnout in 2011.
Several legends of the game have won this event over the years, including all-time bracelet leader Phil Hellmuth in 2012 and his fellow Poker Hall of Fame member John Juanda, who took down the second-ever WSOPE main event in 2008. Two-time Card Player Player of the Year award winner Adrian Mateos also triumphed in this event back in 2013. The Spanish high-stakes star was just 19 when he came out on top.
Another notable winner is former Card Player Publisher Barry Shulman. He defeated Daniel Negreanu heads-up in 2009 to secure the second of his two bracelets.
