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Bibov, Eychenne, Guimaraens, Hunichen, Konishi, Kudzmanas, Nyholm, Sheils, Zhu. In a couple of hours, one of these names will be added to the prestigious list of WSOPE Main Event champions and will become the first ever to be crowned at King’s Casino in Hilton Prague after successfully qualifying for the final table of the 2026 €5,300 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event.
From a record-breaking field of 2,617 entries, with only 27 players returning for Day 5, just nine remain. This Friday, they will battle for the gold bracelet and the €2,000,000 top prize, the largest share of the €13,085,000 prize pool.
At the start of the day, all eyes were on chip leader Hengtao Zhu and his 16,000,000 stack. Would he maintain his lead? He did, and more than that, growing it to 36,300,000.
“I’m very happy and very grateful to be at the final table. I’ve been very lucky." Zhu told PokerNews. "I picked up strong value hands, and I know there are a lot of players better than me, but I try not to put too much pressure on myself for tomorrow.”
Among the fortunate hands he mentioned, he rivered a straight to eliminate Michael McNicholas (19th - €60,000) during the first levels, and later picked up ace-king against the ace-jack of Maksym Mamon (16th - €60,000) to score another elimination.
A runner-runner flush against Rokas Asipauskas eventually propelled the GG qualifier past the 30 million mark and secured him the chip lead.
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2026 WSOP Europe Main Event final table
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thomas Eychenne | France | 25,825,000 | 65 |
| 2 | Joona Nyholm | Finland | 3,275,000 | 8 |
| 3 | Chris Hunichen | United States | 19,300,000 | 48 |
| 4 | Hengtao Zhu | Finland | 36,300,000 | 91 |
| 5 | Nikolay Bibov | Bulgaria | 13,200,000 | 33 |
| 6 | Antonio Guimaraens | Spain | 5,700,000 | 14 |
| 7 | Akihiro Konishi | Japan | 14,400,000 | 36 |
| 8 | Marius Kudzmanas | Lithuania | 18,050,000 | 45 |
| 9 | Brandon Sheils | United Kingdom | 20,850,000 | 52 |
While it was expected to see Zhu maintain his stack, it came as more of a surprise to find Thomas Eychenne second in chips with 25,825,000. For most of the day, the 2025 EPT Barcelona champion was down to ten big blinds or fewer.
An unusual double-up with queen-four first kept him alive, followed by a heater that included aces, ace-seven prevailing over ace-king and king-ten besting ace-queen. He eliminated Rokas Asipauskas (11th - €100,000) and found ace-queen when Thomas Hall (10th - €100,000) had ace-jack to reach the final table. In other words, Eychenne was immortal on Day 5.
“I ran so good!” Eychenne admitted. “Of course, I’m very happy, but it’s funny because you’re never really satisfied. Since EPT Barcelona, I’ve only been losing, so it’s been tough to deal with. So when you run good like today and win all your all-ins, you almost feel like you don’t deserve it, which makes it hard to really enjoy it.”
Even though he’ll need "a top-three finish" to make up for the downswing, Eychenne is also grateful that “it’s [his] turn again.” With those words, he referred to his EPT title and his PSPC Main Event final table in 2023, while also thinking of his fellow Frenchmen Sonny Franco (22nd - €60,000) and Benjamin Chalot (18th - €60,000), who were both eliminated today.
“I felt bad for Benjamin [Chalot],” Eychenne said after hsi compatriot turned a straight but saw Brandon Sheils hit a full house on the river to eliminate him.
“I don’t really know the other players," Eychenne concluded. "I’ll review some hand histories tonight to see if I can pick up anything, but otherwise it’s like online: I’ve never been very good at exploits, I’ve always just played my game. And that’s what I’m going to do tomorrow.
Behind Eychenne sits Chalot’s nemesis Brandon Sheils with 20,850,000. Second in chips at the start of the day, he said he was first "flying" but later allowed several short stacks to double through him. He doubled up himself with aces and even scored a double elimination to rebuild his stack.
“I try to keep my emotions from getting too volatile. You don’t want your feelings to affect how you play, so I try to stay balanced,” he said before taking the final table photos.
But even with that calm demeanor, only one thing is on his mind: a WSOP bracelet. He came close last summer with a fifth-place finish in the WSOP $5,000 6-Max event and still considers the piece of WSOP hardware his ultimate goal.
“That one last summer was actually annoying. Bracelets are the thing I want more than anything else in the world. I’ve probably played more WSOP events over the last few years than anyone in this room. It’s the ultimate token. The money would change my life for sure, but if you told me ‘take twice the money and finish second,’ I’d still choose first and the bracelet.”
Chris Hunichen (19,300,000) and Marius Kudzmanas (18,050,000) are the only two players who already have WSOP bracelets at home.
Kudzmanas has two, both won online, and he could add a third to his collection after a day where he cracked Yuhan Wang's kings with queens and sent Giovanni Zanette to the rail in 17th place for €60,000.
During the dinner break, Hunichen walked by the WSOPE Main Event bracelet. He stopped to take a closer look and wouldn’t mind adding it next to his 2024 WSOP $100,000 High Roller bracelet, a memorable victory backed by one of the biggest rails of recent WSOP editions. He may not have as many supporters in Prague as he did in Las Vegas, but with 50 big blinds at the restart, he remains a strong contender for the title.
In a completely different style, Akihiro Konishi (14,400,000) and Nikolay Bibov (13,200,000) sit below the average stack as they chase what could be a life-changing win. Antonio Guimaraens (5,700,000) found himself in a similar position after spending most of the day short-stacked. He doubled up several times and bagged 5,700,000, good for 14 big blinds.
Finally, at the bottom of the chip counts is the second Finnish player at the table, Joona Nyholm. Pots played against Eychenne in particular hurt his stack, and he will return for the final day with just 3,275,000.
The nine finalists will be back at the table this Friday, April 9, at noon local time to play for the title. At the restart, the blinds will remain at 200,000/400,000 with a 400,000 big blind ante for 56 minutes before moving to 90-minute levels.
They have all already locked up a minimum cash prize of €140,000, but only one of them will claim the €2,000,000 top prize and a bracelet. Who will it be? The answer will be revealed by watching the WSOP live stream and following PokerNews coverage.
Final Table Payouts
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | €2,000,000 |
| 2 | €1,200,000 |
| 3 | €800,000 |
| 4 | €575,000 |
| 5 | €425,000 |
| 6 | €320,000 |
| 7 | €245,000 |
| 8 | €185,000 |
| 9 | €140,000 |
As always, stay tuned to PokerNews for full coverage from the 2026 WSOP Europe Main Event final day!
