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Another stage of the race to the 2026 World Series of Poker Europe €5,300 Main Event NLH European Championship Event bracelet has come to a close at King’s Casino in Hilton Prague, with 85 of the returning 356 players bagging and tagging stacks at the end of Day 3.
Rokas Asipauskas climbed steadily during the day and ended Day 3 on top with 6,000,000 in chips. He has over $1,000,000 in live earnings and one bracelet from a WSOP Super Circuit Online event.
When he realized he is chip leader, he asked the players around his table, “Do you like that?” and then smiled, “Three more days of chip leading and we are good, right?” Big hands helped a lot, like when he had aces against Lulei Hu’s nines and stayed alive in the tournament.
Giovanni Zanette is in second with 5,715,000 and seems happy: “I can't complain! I'm quite happy, let's see how is tomorrow, there is still a long way to go.” Close behind, Werner Lootsma bagged 5,300,000, and Jack Loraine ended Day 3 in fourth with 5,290,000. Loraine also got help from aces when he eliminated Day 2 chip leader Daniel Rezaei. About his day he said, “I ran good, every bluff got through. I had aces three times but no expectations, the tournament is still far too long.”
Two women are still in the mix: two-time WSOP $1,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold'em Championship bracelet winner Shiina Okamoto with 3,130,000, and Annette Obrestad with 1,025,000. Obrestad will need to fight from the bottom of the pack to make any final table hopes real.
Other notable stacks are Chris Hunichen (4,050,000), Triple-Crown winner Roberto Romanello (3,830,000), Josh Arieh (2,350,000), and Thomas Eychenne (1,640,000).
2026 WSOPE Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rokas Asipauskas | Lithuania | 6,000,000 | 150 |
| 2 | Giovanni Zanette | South Africa | 5,715,000 | 143 |
| 3 | Werner Lootsma | Netherlands | 5,300,000 | 133 |
| 4 | Jack Loraine | United Kingdom | 5,290,000 | 132 |
| 5 | Johan Espholm | Denmark | 4,315,000 | 108 |
| 6 | Chris Hunichen | United States | 4,050,000 | 101 |
| 7 | Sondre Stormyr | Norway | 4,020,000 | 101 |
| 8 | Roberto Romanello | United Kingdom | 3,830,000 | 96 |
| 9 | Safwane Bahri | France | 3,720,000 | 93 |
| 10 | Sonny Franco | France | 3,680,000 | 92 |
The day started relaxed because the bubble already burst on Day 2, and players were already in the money. But relaxed doesn’t mean quiet—Martin Kabrhel kept the room entertained from the start. He lost a big part of his stack quickly and was left with 2.2 big blinds and 18 time bank cards. One hand alone with those 18 cards took ten minutes to play out. He doubled up two times, but then lost eights against ace-ten and busted.
Many players were lucky with aces, but Alex Keating wasn’t. He got his aces in preflop against Vasileios Panagiotidis’ ace-jack, but the board came four hearts, and Panagiotidis’ ace of hearts completed the flush, taking a big part of Keating’s stack. He couldn’t recover and busted later.
Markus Bonus didn’t need aces to make a big move; he eliminated two players with kings in one hand and got a big boost into the upper third of the chip counts for Day 4.
Even with big hands like aces and kings, reading your opponent is important. Carl Shaw showed that against Alexandre Bermon. Shaw flopped a set of jacks, but the board left room to make a straight. On the river, he let go of his hand after Bermon raised a big bet. “Ace-King?” Shaw asked, and Bermon showed ace-king while taking the sizable pot.
Some famous faces fell before the end of play, like Simone Andrian, Alexandre Reard, Shaun Deeb, Dimitar Danchev, and Espen Jorstad.
Plan for Day 4
Everyone still in the field has at least €18,000 locked up, with the next pay jump (€20,200) coming when 79 players remain. Day 4 starts at 12 p.m. local time on Wednesday, April 9. Six levels are planned, with a 60-minute dinner break after Level 26. Play will start at Level 23 with blinds of 20,000/40,000 and a 40,000 big blind ante.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | € 2,000,000 | 12–15 | € 75,000 |
| 2 | € 1,200,000 | 16–23 | € 60,000 |
| 3 | € 800,000 | 24–31 | € 50,000 |
| 4 | € 575,000 | 32–39 | € 40,000 |
| 5 | € 425,000 | 40–47 | € 35,000 |
| 6 | € 320,000 | 48–55 | € 30,000 |
| 7 | € 245,000 | 56–63 | € 25,000 |
| 8 | € 185,000 | 64–71 | € 22,500 |
| 9 | € 140,000 | 72–79 | € 20,200 |
| 10–11 | € 100,000 | 80–85 | € 18,000 |
Stay tuned to PokerNews for all the updates from the 2026 WSOPE.
