Sascha Wilhelm Captures Second WSOP Bracelet in €1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha

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Sep 24, 2025 4 min read

The first Pot-Limit Omaha bracelet of the 2025 World Series of Poker Europe has been awarded, and it is Germany’s Sascha Wilhelm who captured the title in Event #3: €1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Max at King’s Resort, Rozvadov. Wilhelm secured his second career WSOP bracelet and the €148,600 top prize after overcoming a field of 811 entries.

The tournament generated a prize pool of €850,000 across four opening flights, with 123 players making it through to Day 2 and just 16 advancing to the final day. All eyes were on the title, and it was Wilhelm who emerged victorious after defeating Denmark’s Daniel Bang-Ortmann heads-up in less than an hour of play.

Wilhelm began the final day second in chips and navigated a challenging final table that included bracelet winners Rifat Palevic, and Tobias Peters. Italy’s Filippo Ragone, who finished third for €68,100, also made an appearance along with long-time Pot-Limit Omaha specialist Salih Atac.

Final Table Results

Winner's Reaction

For Wilhelm, capturing his second WSOP bracelet was another special milestone in his career. “It feels great, obviously. Always a good feeling to win, especially after so long,” he said after the victory. “It is a lot less money than last time, but it still feels good to get another one.”

A key moment came in a massive cooler against Javier Francort, where Wilhelm’s quads beat Francort's kings full. “Yeah completely,” he admitted when asked if he felt the tournament was his to lose after that hand. “From that point, I thought it was mine.”

Even when momentum shifted heads up, Wilhelm kept his composure. “It did not feel good losing some big pots, but I stayed calm and just tried to focus on the next hand.”

As for what comes next, Wilhelm suggested he may not play out the full series. “I was planning to stay the whole time but now maybe I will leave. Let’s see.” When it came to celebrations, he kept it simple. “Maybe a few drinks with some friends here. There are not too many places to go around, but we will see.”

Wilhelm's Final Day

When cards hit the felt, Wilhelm was seated directly to the left of chip leader Atac. He immediately put that positional advantage to work, collecting a few small pots to close the gap on his neighbor. Not long into the first level, Wilhelm secured his first knockout of the day when he rivered a set of kings to eliminate Georgios Koliofotis in 15th place.

Within two hours, the field had been trimmed to the final nine, with Alexander Hepting being branded as the final table bubble boy when he failed to connect on the river against Ragone’s turned straight. Wilhelm entered the final table with a commanding chip lead, holding nearly double the stack of his nearest rival.

The finale began with an early setback for Wilhelm when he doubled up Peters, who flopped a flush. It took some time before the first elimination came, with Pablo Heredia departing in ninth after his short stack was picked off by Francort, who flopped the nut straight.

Francort's momentum continued to build as he dispatched Atac in eighth. However, his run came to an abrupt, unexpected halt. With Wilhelm and Francort occupying the top spots in the chip counts, Francort defended his big blind and check-called Wilhelm over two streets. Francort led out on the river, then snap-called when Wilhelm moved all in. Francort showed kings full of sevens, but was beaten by the flopped quads of Wilhelm. Francort was out in seventh, while Wilhelm had half the chips in play.

From there, Wilhelm cracked the aces of Rifat Palevic in a blind-on-blind clash to send the Swede out in sixth. An orbit later, he rivered a straight to beat Peters’ aces and extend his advantage to more than three times that of his closest competitor.

After the second break, Wilhelm’s sunrun slowed. Bang-Ortmann doubled through him with pocket aces, and he also lost chips to Vitaliy Kryza, who had been nursing a short stack throughout the final table. Ragone then joined in on the action, outflopping Wilhelm’s double-suited aces with a straight and improving to a flush on the river to stay alive.

Despite the losses, Wilhelm remained composed, applying pressure to pick up several uncontested pots. Bang-Ortmann, however, found another huge double when he turned a higher two pair, leaving both himself and Wilhelm on around ten million in chips, five times more than Kryza and Ragone.

Kryza was the next to go, falling just short of the podium when Bang-Ortmann turned the nut straight. Ragone followed in third place soon after, eliminated by Wilhelm, who rivered a superior flush. Heads-up play began with Wilhelm holding a slight advantage of just eight big blinds.

The Heads-Up Battle

Wilhelm’s aggressive approach served him well early in heads-up play, as he extended his lead to 2:1 without going to showdown. Bang-Ortmann battled back, though, regaining the chip lead by winning a series of pots, including two where he rivered full houses and was paid off by Wilhelm.

For the first time in hours, Wilhelm’s stack dipped below eight figures. That changed quickly when he won the biggest pot of the tournament, check-calling on a low flop before jamming over Bang-Ortmann’s turn barrel on a jack. Bang-Ortmann eventually called, only to see that Wilhelm had improved to a better two pair. A blank river gave Wilhelm a commanding lead and left his opponent on the ropes.

Bang-Ortmann doubled twice to keep his hopes alive, but the third time was the charm for Wilhelm. His set of queens held against Bang-Ortmann’s straight draw to seal the victory, secure his second WSOP bracelet, and earn the €148,600 top prize.

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