Czech backgammon pro Zdenek Zizka is just 26 years old, but has already worked his way to the grandmaster level. Now ‘ZZ’ is on the fast track to a similar status in the poker world, having accumulated more than $2.4 million on the tournament circuit across 34 cashes so far this year.
Along the way, Zizka has made eight final tables and won three titles, including defeating Shaun Deeb heads-up at the World Series of Poker to earn his first bracelet in a $1,000 no-limit hold’em event.
The latest triumph was also the largest for Zizka. He beat out a field of 36 entries in the Brazilian Series of Poker Super High Roller Series $100,000 main event to earn a career-best score of $1,200,000. His previous top payday was the $232,498 that came with his victory at the WSOP. Before this year, his biggest score was an 81st-place finish in the 2023 WSOP Europe main event for roughly $20,000.
In addition to the money and the hardware, Zizka also secured 480 Card Player Player of the Year points for his title run in at the Sheraton Sau Paulo WTC Hotel. With 3,680 total points, he now sits just outside of the top 50 in the 2025 POY standings presented by CoinPoker.
Big Bubble Bursts In Brazil
The prize pool swelled to $3,438,000 in this event, with only the top six finishers earning a share. That made for a $238,700 money bubble that burst at the very end of day 2 action.
Fausto Martello was the final player sent to the rail empty-handed, with his K♦10♥ losing a preflop race against the 8♥8♣ of Zizka. Neither player connected with the board and Martello was bounced in seventh place.
That put Zizka well out in front heading into the third and final day of action, with his stack of 94 big blinds being twice as big as the next-largest stack, which belonged to Felipe Boianovsky, who had won the $50,000 event at this series just days earlier.
Martin Kabrhel, who also took down the $30,000 event at this festival, scored the first knockout inside the money. The five-time bracelet winner picked up pocket kings against the pocket queens of Gabriel Tavares and held to narrow the field to five.
Big Names Fall
The next player to fall also had a win at this stop before making a final-table run in the main event. Ottomar Ladva recorded four cashes in total at the series, finishing 10th in the kickoff $10,000 invitational tournament, second to Kabrhel in the $30,000 event, and first in a $20,000 buy-in just a few days before this result. The Estonian bet 450,000 on the end with a K♠8♣3♥K♥4♠ board with J♦J♣, only to have Zizka move all-in. Ladva called off his remaining 355,000, only to be shown 3♦3♣ for threes full of kings. Ladva earned $300,000 as the fifth-place finisher.
Another battle of pocket pairs spelled the end of Kabrhel’s tournament. His 9♥9♣ was trailing the J♠J♣ of Renan Bruschi preflop, but the A♦Q♠9♦ flop turned the tables. The J♥ on fourth street flipped the positions yet again, though, and the 3♠ river saw Kabrhel eliminated in fourth place ($400,000). He now sits in 17th place in the POY race, with nine final tables and four titles on the year. His lifetime earnings grew to almost $16.7 million thanks to this performance.
Three-Way All-In Sets Zizka Up For Victory
Boianovsky began to pull away during three-handed action, but a big multi-way showdown soon shook up the standings. With blinds at 80,000-160,000 and a big blind ante of 160,000 Zizka shoved for 2,800,000 with 7♥7♣ from the button. Boianovsky then moved all-in over the top with 9♠9♣, having both opponents covered. Bruschi called off his 5,400,000 from the big blind with A♣K♣ to set up a massive clash.
The flop came down Q♣5♦3♣ to give Bruschi the nut flush draw in addition to his overcards. Zizka was in rough shape with the worst pair, but the 7♦ turn changed everything. All of a sudden, he was well out in front with a set of sevens. The 5♥ river paired the board, improving him to a full house. With that, Bruschi was eliminated (3rd – $540,00) and Boianovsky lost a big chunk of his stack.
Boianovsky still held the chip lead when heads-up play began, but Zizka soon pulled ahead. Boianovsky battled back, only to have a bluff with a missed flush draw get picked off by top pair for Zizka. Not long after that, the chips went in preflop with Boianovsky holding A♦9♦ against Zizka’s 10♠10♥. The J♦7♥3♠4♠4♥ runout kept the pocket pair best and Boianovsky was knocked out in second place ($760,000). He now has more than $3.6 million in recorded cashes, with more than $1.4 million of that coming from his success at this festival.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points |
| 1 | Zdenek Zizka | $1,200,000 | 480 |
| 2 | Felipe Boianovsky | $760,000 | 400 |
| 3 | Renan Bruschi | $540,000 | 320 |
| 4 | Martin Kabrhel | $400,000 | 240 |
| 5 | Ottomar Ladva | $300,000 | 200 |
| 6 | Gabriel Tavares | $238,700 | 160 |
Photo credit: BSOP / Pokernews.
