This is One of the Sickest Tournament Poker Hands So Far in 2026

Some gamers play distinctive poker and have the deck smack them within the face at a closing desk, an unbeatable mixture. Simply ask Jorge Abreu who conquered the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Paris Essential Occasion in dominant vogue, thanks partly to some of the epic arms you will in all probability see in a serious poker event this 12 months.

Abreu, hyperbolically, had all of the chips when Day 6 started within the €5,300 no-limit maintain’em occasion. Solely seven of the 1,474 entrants remained, all nonetheless after that €1,148,600 first-place prize. However there have been solely 295 large blinds in play, and Abreu had 150 of them.

If you happen to have been anticipating a chunk on one of many different six gamers making an epic comeback, or Abreu punting off his stack to bust first on the closing desk, sorry, that is not what you are getting — spoiler alert, he received. As an alternative, we’ll present you a hand that you’re going to probably keep in mind for fairly a while.

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Abreu, a Portugese poker participant with simply $100,000 in prior The Hendon Mob cashes, defeated Germany’s Felix Schneiders heads-up for the title. A payout of €717,350 went to the runner-up.

Earlier than that heads-up match started, with seven gamers left, an important hand befell. This hand seemed to be the pot that was going to show the ultimate desk round and make Abreu, on the very least, face some competitors. However that is not precisely the way it performed out.

Nazar Buhaiov, with the blinds at 100,000/150,000, raised from underneath the gun to 300,000 with J♦10♦. Casimir Seire, not figuring out he was about to make a superb play that might win him a ton of additional cash, three-bet to 750,000 with Q♥Q♣. Abreu, who nonetheless had about half the chips in play, four-bet to 1,400,000 from the cutoff with A♠8♠, a play that led PokerStars commentator James Hartigan to say, “he is doing chip chief issues.”

The elevate, to present you an concept of how huge his stack was, solely accounted for round 5% of Abreu’s stack. Thierry Gogniat, on the button with A♦J♥, determined to place his final 4 large blinds within the pot. That call, and he did not know this earlier than going all in, would find yourself costing him a large pay soar (extra on this in a bit).

Tomas Jozonis awakened with Ok♠Ok♥ within the large blind and moved all in for two,600,000. Buhaiov was in no place to name with such a hand, so he folded. However Seire was in a troublesome spot with queens and a stack-size of 4,950,000 chips. If he have been to name, he risked Abreu coming again excessive and placing him at-risk for his event life.

Seire, a Finnish poker participant, made a disciplined fold that might inevitably repay for him, and never solely as a result of he was up towards pocket kings. The flop got here out 8♦J♠9♠, giving Abreu the nut flush draw, which he hit when the three♠ appeared on the flip. No one cared concerning the river card — it was the 9♥ when you should know — as a result of the eventual champion had already locked up the hand.

Gogniat, since he had the smallest stack within the hand, took seventh place for €179,350. However had he determined to fold ace-jack, he would have moved as much as no less than a €233,200 payout, which Jozonis obtained for sixth place after taking a nasty beat with pocket kings.

Had Seire referred to as, he would have ended up all in along with his queens on the flop towards Abreu, who probably would have shoved with the flush draw. Folding preflop, nevertheless, was a worthwhile play. He would have been eradicated in fifth place for €303,150 — that ended up going to Buhaiov. However he bumped as much as fourth place for €394,150, good for an additional €91,000 all due to a disciplined fold.

Abreu nonetheless would have held an enormous chip lead had he misplaced the three-way — and virtually four-way — pot. However the hand, had it gone one other approach, may have given a few of the different gamers some hope. As an alternative, he ran all around the competitors and was by no means actually challenged, because of some good play and a little bit of luck.

After Enrico Coppola busted in third place (€512,400), Abreu had almost a ten:1 chip lead over Schneiders, who by no means made any form of comeback and was eradicated with queens on a nasty beat.

It was that type of day for Abreu, the most recent European Poker Tour champion.