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Henrik Veldhoen Eyes Second Shard Trophy as Final Table of 2026 PokerStars Open Namur Main Event Awaits
It is unfortunately the end of a fantastic festival of poker at Circus Casino Resort, as the 2026 PokerStars Open Namur Main Event moves to a conclusion on its last day, with a high-quality final table set to return at noon local time to do battle for the famous shard trophy, and huge €220,800 first-place prize.
The final nine are the last players standing from a 1,572-runner field, which created a €1,491,828 prize pool, and are led by GRND on Tour ambassador Henrik Veldhoen (9,315,000).
When the field was reduced to two tables in Day 4, Veldhoen caught heat on stream, including winning a huge blind confrontation with Nicolas Burtin, making a set against Manuel Schnur, and claiming the last knockout of the day with rockets, to surge into the lead.
Veldhoen's biggest career score is for $35,000 for victory in the UKIPT/EPT Mystery Bounty Cup in 2022 at EPT London, and he is close to exceeding that milestone already, with all players guaranteed a €21,558 payday.
It will certainly not be easy for Veldhoen to get his hands on the trophy. He is pursued by a raft of top-notch players, with a narrow gap to the chasing pack, led by the Netherlands' Stan van Dijk (8,440,000) and Burtin (8,395,000), who held a significant lead in the latter stages before the collision with Veldhoen.
Koen De Visscher (6,170,000) is the final home hope, and the resumption of his contest with the aggressive Sebastien Guinand of France (2,660,000) should be an interesting subplot.
Two British players, Andrew Hulme (4,000,000), the 2024 EPT Barcelona runner-up and David Docherty (4,145,000), the former Irish Open champion, are firmly in the mix.
Italian pair Dario Quattrucci (2,850,000) and relative short-stack Lulei Hu (1,165,000) complete the line-up, making for a truly international final table.
All of the players have six-figure live resumes or better, with Hulme's recorded career of $4,500,000 in results undoubtedly the most impressive, and an intriguing contest seems certain to be on the menu (all figures courtesy of The Hendon Mob).
Start of Day 5 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Henrik Veldhoen | Austria | 9,315,000 | 116 |
| 2 | Stan van Dijk | Netherlands | 8,440,000 | 105 |
| 3 | Nicolas Burtin | France | 8,395,000 | 104 |
| 4 | Koen De Visscher | Belgium | 6,170,000 | 77 |
| 5 | David Docherty | United Kingdom | 4,145,000 | 51 |
| 6 | Andrew Hulme | United Kingdom | 4,000,000 | 50 |
| 7 | Dario Quattrucci | Italy | 2,850,000 | 35 |
| 8 | Sebastien Guinand | France | 2,660,000 | 33 |
| 9 | Lulei Hu | Italy | 1,165,000 | 14 |
The remaining payouts up for grabs are below.
2026 PokerStars Open Namur Main Event Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | €220,800 |
| 2 | €138,500 |
| 3 | €100,300 |
| 4 | €78,000 |
| 5 | €60,000 |
| 6 | €46,000 |
| 7 | €36,000 |
| 8 | €28,000 |
| 9 | €21,558 |
The players will return to 23 minutes left at blind level 40,000/80,000, with a 80,000 big blind ante, with 30 hands played per level.
The action will be live streamed on PokerStars France's social media channels on a 20-minute delay, and a link will be available here.
Our coverage will also be delayed to sync with the stream, so be sure to stick with PokerNews for all your coverage of the final day of the 2026 PokerStars Open Namur Main Event.
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