Marius Kudzmanas Cracks Kings With 6-7 to Win Historic WSOPE Main Event

A record-breaking area, a brand new residence in Prague, and a milestone second for Marius Kudzmanas outlined the 2026 World Sequence of Poker Europe Major Occasion.

The Lithuanian turned the primary participant from his nation to win the European showpiece, topping a file 2,617-entry area and cracking pocket kings on the ultimate hand to say the €2,000,000 first-place prize.

Kudzmanas instructed PokerNews he entered the ultimate desk with loads of confidence in his personal potential.

“I felt like I am one of the best participant on the desk,” he mentioned. “I simply wanted to not get any large coolers and simply play my recreation as greatest as attainable.”

The event generated a €13,085,000 prize pool, comfortably surpassing the €10 million assure, and marked a profitable new chapter for the competition following its transfer from Rozvadov to King’s On line casino at Hilton Prague, roughly 100 miles from its longtime residence. The relocation proved a success with gamers and bolstered the continued development of the WSOP below the stewardship of GGPoker.

2026 WSOP Europe Major Occasion Closing Desk Outcomes

For the newly topped champion, the victory represented a defining profession milestone. Already a confirmed winner on-line, with two WSOP bracelets earned within the digital enviornment, this triumph delivered the dwell title that had lengthy been lacking.

The €2 million payday stands as the biggest dwell rating of his profession and locations his title alongside previous champions of the occasion, a listing that features Poker Corridor of Famers Phil Hellmuth and John Juanda.

Kudzmanas was additionally joined on stage by fellow Poker Corridor of Famer and reigning WSOP Major Occasion champion Michael Mizrachi, who introduced the bracelet to cap off the brand new period of WSOP Europe.

“The Major Occasion is essentially the most particular event of all of them…it is one of the best feeling ever,”

Kudzmanas’ efficiency additionally propelled him to the highest of the newly revamped WSOP Participant of the 12 months leaderboard, which now includes a $1 million prize pool for the season-long race.

With outcomes now counting throughout WSOP Europe, the Las Vegas summer season collection, and WSOP Paradise, his Major Occasion conquest instantly places him in pole place heading into the remainder of the season.

Kudzmanas admitted the race wasn’t one thing he had deliberate to chase. “I truly by no means thought of it,” he mentioned. “I am not taking part in that a lot dwell poker to chase it, however we’ll see.”

Chip Leaders Bow Out Early

Joona Nyholm entered the ultimate desk because the brief stack and was the primary casualty after dropping a flip to Chris Hunichen.

Brandon Sheils instructed PokerNews {that a} WSOP bracelet was “the last word token,” including that he’d nonetheless select the bracelet and first place slightly than “take twice the cash and end second.” The Brit, who started the finale third in chips, ended up with neither consequence. He first misplaced 9 million chips when he tried to make a transfer on Hunichen’s aces, then four-bet jammed ace-queen into ace-king to develop into the following participant despatched to the rail.

One other of the day’s beginning chip leaders quickly adopted. 2025 EPT Barcelona champion Thomas Eychenne started the ultimate desk second in chips however struggled to achieve any traction. Eychenne had mentioned he wanted “a top-three end” to offset the downswing he’d endured since his breakout victory within the Catalonian capital, the place third place would have paid €800,000. As an alternative, his run resulted in seventh place for €245,000.

Antonio Guimaraens, a whole newbie whose day job is organizing music festivals in Spain, had earlier stored his hopes alive together with his third double-up of the day by means of Eychenne, his kings holding towards ace-queen. However when Eychenne was later all-in and in danger holding the cowboys himself, they could not maintain, cracked by the Kudzmanas’ pocket nines.

With a number of of the stronger stacks eradicated early, Kudzmanas noticed the dynamic on the desk started to shift.

“It was a lot simpler after they [Sheils and Eychenne] had been gone as a result of they’re superb gamers. It is good to be with as many amateurs as attainable left.”

That hand vaulted Kudzmanas into the chip lead and marked the primary time since Day 4 that Hengtao Zhu had been knocked off the highest of the counts. Zhu briefly reclaimed the lead quickly after, earlier than Akihiro Konishi additionally loved a brief spell on the summit. Kudzmanas then surged again in entrance and commenced to drag away from the chasing pack.

Hunichen reduce into that lead with a well timed double by means of Kudzmanas, leaving Konishi, Kudzmanas, and Nikolay Bibov tightly grouped on the high. From there, play settled right into a tense grind. Zhu later discovered himself in danger towards Guimaraens, however the GGQualifier doubled with aces towards ace-king, leaving the Spaniard as soon as once more on the backside of the counts.

However it was Zhu whose run ended subsequent, as Kudzmanas made an excellent hero name on the river to bust the final Finn on the desk. Guimaraens’ fairytale run got here to an finish quickly after, with the pair gathering €320,000 and €425,000 respectively.

What Did They Have for Dinner?

Konishi, Kudzmanas, and Bibov went into the dinner break just about neck and neck, whereas Hunichen returned to the desk because the clear brief stack with simply ten large blinds and little room to manoeuvre. The stress had been constructing all through the session, however what adopted after dinner was a whole distinction to the cagey play that got here earlier than it.

The impasse was lastly damaged when Hunichen discovered an prompt triple-up, rivering a pair of jacks towards the ace-kings held by Bibov and Kudzmanas to all of a sudden vault into the chip lead.

On the very subsequent hand, Kudzmanas and Bibov collided in a 61 million chip pot that despatched the Bulgarian to the rail in fourth place after he was three-outered. Bibov had come again from dinner with the chip lead, however within the area of a single hand, he went from first in chips to out, underlining simply how brutal the swings will be at this stage.

Hunichen’s time on the high did not final lengthy. Konishi doubled in an enormous spot with queens towards sevens, then completed the job a number of arms later to eradicate the 2024 WSOP $100,000 Excessive Curler champion.

That end result set the stage for heads-up play, with Konishi holding the numerical edge at 82 large blinds to Kudzmanas’ 60. On paper, the benefit belonged to the Japanese dealer, however expertise leaned closely towards the poker professional, who entered the ultimate duel because the extra seasoned participant in these high-pressure, big-money moments.

That edge rapidly confirmed as Kudzmanas turned the tide early and constructed a 3:1 chip lead. Konishi doubled as soon as to remain in competition, however Kudzmanas steadily wore him down once more with ruthless aggression

Kudzmanas defined that the larger preflop sizings in heads-up and overbets had been deliberate. “I am attempting to place a variety of stress on my opponent and simply take down each pot I can,” he mentioned.

The ultimate hand noticed the chips pile in on a 7-5-4 flop. Konishi was forward with kings, however Kudzmanas’ seven-six turned journeys and held on by means of the river to shut out the historic event.

“The Major Occasion is essentially the most particular event of all of them,” he mentioned, summing up the profitable second in easy phrases. “Should you run deep in the primary occasion, it is clearly one of the best feeling ever.”

Calum has been part of the PokerNews group since September 2021 after working within the UK vitality sector. He performed his first hand of poker in 2017 and instantly fell in love with the sport.

Calum has written for numerous poker retailers however discovered his residence at PokerNews, the place he has contributed to numerous articles and dwell updates, offering insights and reporting on main poker occasions, together with the World Sequence of Poker (WSOP).

Eliot Thomas is an Editor at PokerNews, specializing in on line casino and poker protection. He has reported on main occasions all over the world, together with the World Sequence of Poker, European Poker Tour, and Triton Tremendous Excessive Curler Sequence.

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