button in SafariPoker Streamer Wins First-Ever Estoril Poker Fest Main Event
Table Of Contents
“Like Bencb once said: ‘Winning a tournament is like being pregnant. Everybody congratulates you, but nobody knows how many times you got f***** before.’” Those were the first words of Hugues Mazerolle after lifting the trophy in the inaugural Estoril Poker Fest Main Event at Casino Estoril.
The quote may sound crude, but it perfectly captures who “Chotec” is and why so many people tune into the French player’s live streams: someone with very few filters who always stays true to himself. That fearless attitude may also have been the key to victory, especially at a final table stacked with some of Portugal’s toughest players.
Among them were runner-up Jose Quintas, who earned €74,000, third-place finisher Joao Pedro Ferreira (€52,000), and Hugo Soares, whose king-high hero call became one of the standout moments of the tournament. Soares eventually bowed out in fifth place for €28,000.
2026 Estoril Poker Fest Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hugues Mazerolle | France | €100,000 |
| 2 | Jose Quintas | Portugal | €74,000 |
| 3 | Joao Pedro Ferreira | Portugal | €52,000 |
| 4 | Dylan Lauret | France | €38,000 |
| 5 | Hugo Soares | Portugal | €28,000 |
| 6 | Ivo Almeida | Portugal | €21,390 |
| 7 | Leo Philippe | France | €16,000 |
Winner's Reaction
“Not bad, I couldn’t dream of anything better,” Chotec said after the victory. “It was very tense at five or six left, with close stacks and very good players.”
He specifically pointed to “Seat 1, 2 and 3” — Hugo Soares, Ivo Almeida, and Jose Quintas — friends, founders, and coaches of the poker group “Nitrology.”
“They play Expressos, so they are fearless,” explained Mazerolle, who started the final day near the top of the counts alongside Soares. To navigate through that lineup, Mazerolle revealed he “three-bet bluffed twice at the beginning of the final table” before shifting gears.
“After that, I focused on making the best possible decisions and staying pragmatic.”
The win comes after a difficult stretch, starting with this very tournament, where he fired the maximum eight bullets before finally finding a bag.
“But I played each one of them as best I could,” he added.
After returning to streaming over the past few months, Mazerolle now sees this title as a launching pad rather than a finish line.
“I want to play higher buy-ins on stream, more big tournaments, and I’ll play my first WSOP Main Event this summer,” said the 32-year-old.
Maybe the “Big One” will be the next chapter in a résumé that already includes numerous online victories and a WSOP Circuit ring won in Marrakech in 2019.
Final Day Action
Day 3 of the Estoril Poker Fest Main Event started with 20 remaining players, with Soares and Mazerolle as the chip leaders. From this field, it took just 20 minutes to lose Ricardo Abreu and Ilan Symchowicz, narrowing the action down to the final three tables, where Chotec eliminated Day 1c chip leader Bastien Riviere (17th - €5,400), Dennis Bijen (16th - €5,400), and Quentin Le Dissez (14th - €6,700) to narrow the field even further.
Now down to the last two tables, Quintas won a flip and secured an important double-up, leaving Christophe D’Angelo on fumes. The Frenchman was eliminated moments later (11th - €9,000). Anthony Guilloud suffered a similar fate (10th - €9,000), while Winamax ambassador Moundir Zoughari was managing to double up several times.
The former Koh Lanta candidate eventually saw his tournament come to an end in ninth place against Quintas, followed by Laurent Amri (8th - €11,500), who bubbled the final table.
Soares started this final table the best way possible by hero-calling with king high on the river to double through Leo Philippe. This cost most of Philippe’s stack, and he was eliminated not long later (7th - €16,000).
After a first break, Ferreira was lucky enough to hit a two-outer on the river to double through Quintas, but Almeida wasn’t as fortunate against his friend and ran into queens to take sixth place (€21,390).
Now in the lead, Quintas applied pressure, perhaps a bit too much for Ferreira who caught him bluffing, bringing all stacks back level by the dinner break.
At the restart, Dylan Lauret doubled up twice. Soares also doubled up once, but was eliminated on his second attempt after running into Chotec’s jacks.
Lauret became another victim of Mazerolle not long after, allowing Chotec to hold 75% of the chips in play. This advantage became a 3:1 lead after Quintas eliminated Ferreira in third place. Chotec needed just one last hand to take the trophy home, and it arrived quickly on a board where he flopped two pair. Quintas, holding second pair, jammed on the river, and the title went to Mazerolle.
