Ivo Donev opened to 800 from under the gun before Martin Zamani three-bet to 2,000 from the hijack. Scott Wilson cold-called from the big blind, with Donev also calling.
"I don't know how I feel about the three-bet," said Zamani, just before the 8♥5♦4♠ flop was dealt.
Wilson, after hearing this, led out for 2,500. Donev folded, putting the action on Zamani. He made it 9,000 and Wilson almost beat him into the pot.
"Didn't even think about, it's a long way to come from Canada," laughed Zamani, which Wilson also enjoyed.
The 9♥ turn came in, and Wilson quickly checked. Zamani fired out 15,000.
"Now I'm thinking about it," said Wilson, just before folding.
Zamani showed 8♦8♠ for a set of eights, and Wilson said out loud that he glad he took some time to think this time around.
Mehdi Rebai opened to 700 from middle position before Roman Stoika made it 2,500 from the next seat over. The button cold-called before the blinds folded. Rebai four-bet to 7,500 and only Stoika called.
Rebai continued for 2,000 on the J♦5♦5♣ flop. Stoika raised to 9,000 and called as the bigger stack when Rebai jammed for around 47,000.
Mehdi Rebai: A♦Q♦
Roman Stoika: 7♥5♥
Stoika was ahead with trips, but Rebai took the lead on the 4♦ turn. However, the 4♠ river double-paired the board, giving Stoika the checkmark for the pot.
Elvir Nuhiu opened to 700 from middle position but Rania Nasreddine in the big blind three-bet to 2,600. Nuhiu called.
Nasreddine continued for 2,600 on the 2♦2♠9♦ flop and was called, then both players checked the 3♥ turn.
The river card was the A♣ and Nasreddine bet 4,000. Nuhiu counted his stack and raised to 19,000. Nasreddine went into the tank and made the call with K♦K♥. Nuhiu only had 9♠7♣.
With 1,456 entries recorded across the first two starting flights, the 2026 €5,300 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event at Hilton Prague has already entered the history books as the largest WSOP Europe Main Event ever. It surpasses the previous record of 817 entries set in 2023 (but with a €10,350 buy-in). However, this year’s total will continue to grow, especially with this Sunday’s Day 1c still to come, which should help push the prize pool beyond the €10,000,000 guarantee.
After Aliaksei Boika led the 336 survivors of Day 1a with 424,500 chips, Roberto Romanello bagged the biggest stack among the 269 remaining players from Day 1b with 451,000 chips, just ten big blinds ahead of Biao Ding who finished with 431,500.
WSOPE Main Event Day 1b Top 10 Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Roberto Romanello
United Kingdom
451,000
226
2
Biao Ding
China
431,500
216
3
Gabriele Guerrini
Italy
362,500
181
4
Bartosz Wesolek
Poland
352,000
176
5
Quirin Heinz
Germany
351,000
176
6
Asko Muratovic
Austria
327,000
164
7
Martin Hellmuth
United Kingdom
322,000
161
8
Martin Kabrhel
Czechia
322,000
161
9
Hugo Delmaire-Sizes
France
314,500
157
10
Rokas Asipauskas
Lithuania
308,500
154
Day 1b saw many notable players bag their chips to enjoy a rest day before Monday’s Day 2. After several attempts, Martin Kabrhel was among them, finishing as one of the chip leaders with 322,000. He was followed by Hugo Delmaire-Sizes (314,500), Tom Middleton (304,500), and Felipe Ketzer (262,500).
Two-time Ladies Event champion Shiina Okamoto (250,000), Josh Arieh (200,000), David “ODB” Baker (191,000), Georgios Sotiropoulos (190,500), Ole Schemion (187,500), Jesse Lonis (171,500), and Benny Glaser (163,000) all advanced to Day 2 via Day 1b, along with this week’s €3,300 Pot-Limit Omaha Mixed and €565 Colossus runner-up Shaun Deeb (105,000).
Another player to keep an eye on is the defending champion Daniel Pidun, still in contention with 138,500 as he looks to go back-to-back. There is still a long way to go, however, with players like the 2018 WSOPE champion Jack Sinclair (59,000) and the 2019 WSOP Main Event winner Hossein Ensan (34,000) also advancing, but with shorter stacks than they began with.
Martin Kabrhel
Day 1c of the WSOPE Main Event starts this Sunday, April 5 at noon at noon local time with blinds beginning at 100/200 with a 200 big blind ante. From a 60,000 chips starting stack, players will have to navigate through ten 60-minute levels with two re-entries allowed per flight. Also, late registration remains open for the first two levels of Day 2.
Main Event Remaining Schedule
Day
Date
Time
Blind Levels
1c
April 5
12 p.m.
60 minutes
2
April 6
12 p.m.
90 minutes
3
April 7
12 p.m.
90 minutes
4
April 8
12 p.m.
90 minutes
5
April 9
12 p.m.
90 minutes
6
April 10
12 p.m.
90 minutes
As always, stay tuned to PokerNews for all the action until a new WSOP Europe champion is crowned!
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