button in Safari
French Streamer "Chotec" Wins First-Ever Estoril Poker Fest Main Event (€100,000)
“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 first-ever 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 enjoy 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 where he battled 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 highlights 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 added timidly after his victory. “It was very tense at five or six left, with close stacks and very good players.”
He especially 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 had started the final day as chipleader alongside Soares.
To get through them, he revealed he “three-bet bluffed twice at the beginning of the final table,” before shifting into a more conservative approach. “After that, I focused on making the best possible decisions and staying pragmatic.”
This momentum comes after several downs recently, starting with this tournament where I fired a total of eight bullets, the maximum possible. “But I played each one of them as best I could,” he specified.
Another setback was more personal over the "past few years", but he has been streaming again for the past few months and now sees this title more as a stepping stone than an end in itself. “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 player. Maybe the "Big One" will be the next step in an already long résumé that includes numerous online wins 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.
This Main Event and the winner’s party that follows conclude this first edition of the Estoril Poker Fest. Organizers have not yet announced whether another edition will take place next year, but for most of the players and especially Chotec, there is only one thing on their mind now: the upcoming World Series of Poker.
Until then, check out our live coverage hub for all the latest from events across the world!