Adrian Mateos had a three-bet of 5,000 in front of him before Vittorio Maugini four-bet to 14,000 under the gun.
Mateos called and the flop came 6♥Q♠5♠. Maugini led out for another 8,500 and Mateos called once again.
Both players checked the 3♣ turn. The river was the 9♣ and Maugini moved all in for around 58,000. Mateos considered the decision for only around 30 seconds before mucking his cards.
Three-handed on a board of 7♥J♦10♠A♣, Symeon Alexandridis bet 20,500 from the small blind and Vladimir Olesnan called in early position. Zlatin Penev then moved all in for around 45,000 in middle position.
Alexandridis gave it some thought before mucking, but Olesnan snap-called. Penev turned over A♠A♦ for top set, but Olesnan showed him the bad news as he had K♦Q♥ for the nut straight.
The K♠ completed the board and Penev was sent to the rail. "I had ace-jack," Alexandridis admitted after the hand.
With two players seeing a final board of 6♥Q♦6♣3♠6♦ and roughly 35,000 already in the middle, Xhavit Berisha bet 30,000 and was quickly called by Michail Petsanis.
Petsanis tabled K♦K♥ but Berisha showed down A♠A♦ to take down a sizable pot.
Four players went to the flop of Q♣7♦4♦ and Dino Volkholz bet 2,400 from the hijack and was called by Jessica Teusl in the cutoff.
Luca Quarto raised to 5,200 from the big blind which got folds from Alexander Kolonias in middle position and Volkholz. Teusl however repopped to 20,000. Quarto took a minute before making the call.
The 3♥ landed on the turn and Teusl went big with a bet of 40,500. Quarto went deep into the tank and asked Teusl to show her hand. Quarto mucked K♦Q♦ face-up and Teusl showed 4♣4♥ for a flopped set as she dragged in a huge pot.
Marius Gicovanu was already all in for approximately 62,000 from the cutoff against Erik Gloeckler, who was in the big blind, on a completed board of K♥A♦J♠Q♥7♦
Gicovanu held A♥A♠ for top set, which was best against the A♣K♦ of Gloeckler for two pair — scoring Gicovanu the double up.
Alexandros Kolonias raised to 1,000 in early position before Dino Volkholz three-bet to 3,300 in middle position. Kolonias came back with a four-bet to 9,000 and Volkholz called.
The flop came 10♣6♣6♠ and Kolonias continued for 6,000. Volkholz called and the 9♥ fell on the turn.
Kolonias then led out for another 10,000 and Volkholtz took his time before calling again. Kolonias slowed down and checked the 8♥ river, and Volkholz checked back.
Kolonias turned over 8♦5♦ while Volkholz had Q♦Q♣ to take the pot off the 2019 champion.
Volkholz's old nemesis Oender Yildirim is still at this table, along with Jessica Teusl and Adrian State. Axel Hallay and Jan-Peter Jachtmann, a Main Event finalist this summer, also recently took their seats in the tournament.
Arturo Paduano and Dennis Magro had already got into a preflop-raising war, with Paduano having a raise to 30,000 in front of him from the cutoff. Magro called from the small blind.
Magro check-called an 18,000 bet from Paduano on the Q♣K♥7♦ flop and checked once more on the 6♥ turn. Paduano announced he was all in for his remaining 50,800 — sending Magro deep into the tank.
Magro then folded what he declared to be ace-king and Paduano graciously tabled Q♠Q♦ for a set of queens as he collected the pot.
Around 8,000 was already in the middle as Dino Volkholz and Oender Yildirim went heads-up to a flop of 9♥10♥4♠.
Volkholz then bet 5,000 from the button before Yildirim raised to 10,000 in middle position. Volkholz tossed in another yellow 5,000 chip to call.
The turn came the 9♦ and Yildirim went into his blue 25,000 chips to bet 30,000. Volkholz again stuck around to see the K♦ river.
Yildirim spent a minute shuffling his chips before flinging in 35,000 so aggressively the chips went into the middle of the table along with the pot and had to be retrieved by the dealer. Volkholz then went into the tank for several minutes before tapping the felt and mucking A♦A♥.
"Yes," Yildirim yelled out, turning over 8♠7♥ for a missed straight draw as he took down the massive early pot.
A tradition that began more than 15 years ago continues today when the €10,350 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event begins at noon local time.
Every 12 months, the best players from around the world descend on King’s Resort in Rozvadov to chase the title that can either pad the resume of an established pro or elevate someone new into the pantheon of the game’s greats. It was the event that catapulted 18-year-old Norwegian teenager Annette Obrestad into poker superstardom when she won the inaugural version in 2007, still the youngest to win a WSOP bracelet. Adrian Mateos was just 19 when he won a decade ago, kicking off a career that has since seen him amass nearly $40 million in live winnings. Marti Roca turned a €220 satellite ticket into €1,115,207 when he won in 2017, while Omar Eljach’s run as one of the hottest poker players on the planet began a year ago when he took down the title.
Past WSOPE Main Event Champions
Year
Champion
Entries
Prize
Runner-Up
2007
Annette Obrestad
362
£1,000,000
John Tabatabai
2008
John Juanda
362
£868,800
Stanislav Alekhin
2009
Barry Shulman
334
£801,603
Daniel Negreanu
2010
James Bord
346
£830,401
Fabrizio Baldassari
2011
Elio Fox
593
€1,400,000
Chris Moorman
2012
Phil Hellmuth
420
€1,022,376
Sergii Baranov
2013
Adrian Mateos
375
€1,000,000
Fabrice Soulier
2015
Kevin MacPhee
313
€883,000
David Lopez
2017
Marti Roca
529
€1,115,207
Gianluca Speranza
2018
Jack Sinclair
534
€1,122,239
Laszlo Bujtas
2019
Alexandros Kolonias
541
€1,133,678
Claas Segebrecht
2021
Josef Gulas
688
€1,276,712
Johan Guilbert
2022
Omar Eljach
763
€1,380,129
Jonathan Pastore
At the other end of the spectrum, Phil Hellmuth captured his 13th WSOP bracelet in this event in 2012. John Juanda, another Poker Hall of Famer, emerged from one of the longest heads-up duels in WSOP history to capture his fourth bracelet in 2008. Poker industry veteran Barry Shulman waged a memorable battle with Daniel Negreanu in 2009 that finally saw the CardPlayer Magazine publisher end up with the title. Jack Sinclair, a year after making the Main Event final table in Las Vegas, did it again in 2018 but finished on top this time.
Defending champion Omar Eljach
Another player will join this illustrious list of champions in six days’ time. The journey begins with Day 1a, where players begin with 100,000 and will play seven 90-minute levels. There is a break after every level and a 90-minute dinner break at the end of Level 4 around 7 p.m. Players are allowed a single reentry, with late registration remaining open until the start of Level 13 on Day 2.
Event Schedule
Date
Day
Start Time
Nov. 10
Day 1a
12 p.m.
Nov. 11
Day 1b
12 p.m.
Nov. 12
Day 2
12 p.m.
Nov. 13
Day 3
12 p.m.
Nov. 14
Day 4
12 p.m.
Nov. 15
Day 5
12 p.m.
A packed house is expected over the next two days. More than 350 qualifiers are anticipated on Day 1a alone, with more to follow in the coming days. Last year’s event shattered the all-time record with 763 entries, and this year has a strong chance of being even bigger.
The wait is finally over. One of the most prestigious events on the poker calendar kicks off today, and PokerNews is tagging along for the entire journey until one player makes their mark on the WSOP record books.
