Big Huni falls short as Kudzmanas wins €2M in dramatic end to WSOPE Main Event

Brandon Sheils was getting some last words of encouragement from his partner.

Chip leader Hangtao Zhu looked composed. You wouldn’t think he’d never cashed in a live event that cost more than €560 to enter. 

The final table of the 2026 WSOP Europe Main Event.

Joona Nyholm eliminated in 9th: €140,000

There could have been fireworks in more ways than one right from the start. 

There was a small rail, but it quickly became apparent that the big screen was mistakenly showing the players' hole cards in real time.

It could have been a real mess. Sheils raised the first hand with and Zhu three-bet from the small blind with .

Contrary to claims circulating on X, spectators on the rail were not shouting to Sheils to fold, but they could have done. Even without the help of the rail, Sheils found a great fold. 

The WSOP’s Jeff Platt admitted the mistake and said it was "inexcusable and disastrous," but it was rectified straight away. 

We lost the first player after 30 minutes of play. Joona Nyholm came in as the short stack, and he left with one of the best bustout lines we’ve heard.  

Asked about what the money meant to him, he said, “I get to buy some more Pokemon cards.”

If you own a trading card shop in Prague, you may be getting a visit from Joona Nyholm tomorrow.

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Brandon Sheils eliminated in 8th: €185,000

Big laydowns were becoming the norm. Big Huni also found a preflop fold with in a three-bet pot. Zhu folded nines in the same hand. Nikolay Bibov had aces. 

Sheils lost a big chunk of chips when he tangled with Big Huni, who had aces. 

He called a three-bet preflop with eights and then check-raised the flop before folding to a shove. That left him with a stack of 17 big blinds. 15 minutes later, he was out. 

Bibov picked up a run of hands and three-bet three times in a row. He won the first two uncontested. After the third three-bet, Sheils looked down at AQ and decided to go with it this time.

Bibov had it again, and his AK held to eliminate the Brit in eighth place. 

“I feel surprisingly good,” Sheils said after. “It felt too good of a spot. I made a good fold with AQ earlier. Maybe two folds with AQ is one too many.”  

Brandon Sheils talking with the WSOP's Jeff Platt after his elimination in 8th.

Thomas Eychenne eliminated in 7th: €245,000

The pay jumps were starting to escalate. The next player out would get €245,000.

The action was heating up, too.

Big Huni three-bet after Akihiro Konishi had bet with . This was only ever going to end up with all the chips in the middle.  

Huni was looking for an ace or some hearts. He got neither on an all-black board. 

Thomas Eychenne was the next player out. First, he doubled up Antonio Guimaraens with his AQ losing to the Spaniard’s kings. 

His exit hand was brutal, with Kudzmanas getting it in with nines and flopping a set to crack Eychenne’s kings.

He’s been around long enough to deal with the pain, saying, “Yesterday I won all the all-ins. Today it didn’t go my way. That’s okay.”

Thomas Eychenne had his kings cracked by Marius Kuzmanas.

Hangtao Zhu eliminated in 6th: €320,000

Zhu started sliding. He lost a couple of hands to Bibov – one where he was bluffed off the best hand on the river. He then lost a chunk to Huni’s queens with . 

The chip counts had split in two tiers.

Kudzmanas had moved to the top, followed closely by Konishi and Bibov. Zhu, Guimaraens, and Huni were in the bottom half.

When Zhu was eliminated, he went down swinging. He got to the river of a board and moved all-in for his last 11 million over a 1.7 million bet from Kudzmanas.

He had and Kudzmanas had .

Zhu had raised preflop, bet the flop, and checked the turn before his jam on the river. But Kudzmanas had the chips and the nous to suss him out, and he increased his stack to 71 million. 

“I’m pretty disappointed, of course,” Zhu said. “I can live with all my decisions. I’m happy with how I played.”

Hangtao Zhu had the chip lead for the past two days of play but couldn't keep it on the final table.

Antonio Guimaraens eliminated in 5th: €425,000  

Guimaraens had been playing to ladder, and he’d made another €105,000 by playing tight. After Zhu’s exit, he took his last stand with and ran into Konishi’s . 

Nikolay Bibov eliminated in 4th: €575,000

That took us to the dinner break at 8:30pm four-handed, with Huni short and nothing separating the other three. Bibov’s rail was getting excited. 

1. Nikolay Bibov – 49,900,000
2. Marius Kudzmanas – 49,800,000
3. Akihiro Konishi – 45,000,000 
4. Chris Hunichen – 12,200,000

Given the stack sizes, Bibov’s exit in fourth was a shock. 

It started with the biggest hand of the tournament so far. Kudzmanas raised with and Huni shoved with for 18 million. Next to act, Bibov re-jammed with . 

Kudzmanas didn‘t like it but called. 

It looked like they were going to split Huni’s chips until a jack hit the river. 

“Hello!” said Huni, who had just tripled into the chip lead. 

The next hand was even crueler to Bibov, as his was unseated by Kudzmanas’ with a jack on the flop. 

Five minutes ago he was the chip leader. Now he was heading for the rail, shellshocked. He’s going to have nightmares about jacks tonight.   

Or maybe not… “I’m feeling amazing,” he said. “This week was the best seven days of poker of my life. It’s the first big tournament since 2019 for me. I’m very happy.”

Nikolay Bibov had the best rail who celebrated every hand he won.

Chris Hunichen eliminated in 3rd: €800,000

“That was pretty gross,” Huni said. “What the f***. This is what I chose, from all the options out there. I wouldn’t change it for anything, but it’s f*****g sick. Glad to be on the good side of it, but I feel bad for people.”

Huni wasn’t on the good side of it for long. 

After Kudzmanas raised on the button with , Huni called with and when Konishi three-bet with , Huni ripped his stack in and lost a huge pot. He was out in third place three hands later.  

Asked if he was going to party, Huni said, “It’s time to go home now.”

Chris 'Big Huni' Hunichen had to settle for third place and a cash of €800,000.

Akihiro Konishi eliminated in 2nd: €1,200,000

1. Akihiro Konishi – 98,000,000 
2. Marius Kudzmanas – 58,900,000

It looked like it might be over on the very first hand of heads-up when Konishi rivered a straight. Kudzmanas thought about unloading a triple-barrel bluff but decided to check/fold.

Konishi had drawn first blood, but Kudzmanas took an iron grip on the tournament from this point on. 

When we ticked over into Level 39, there were almost exactly 100 big blinds on the table. 

Kudzmanas had close to a 3:1 chip lead, and just before 1am local time, he made it count. 

Konishi found kings, but they proved to be his downfall. Kudzmanas had and picked up a pair of sevens and an open-ended straight draw on the flop. 

All the chips went in, and Kudzmanas turned another seven. Konishi couldn't find one of the two remaining kings in the deck, and Kudzmanas was the champion. 

Akihiro Konishi's best chance of winning heads-up came in the very first hand.

Marius Kudzmanas wins 2026 WSOPE Main Event: €2,000,000

His rail rushed in to celebrate as 2025 WSOP Main Event champion Michael Mizrachi arrived to award him the bracelet.

Speaking to PokerOrg after his win, Kudzmanas admitted it felt amazing to get a live bracelet after winning two online.

Was he going to celebrate with his rail? 

"I'm so tired now I think I'm just going to pass out somewhere in the middle of the corridor."

The party will have to wait.  

^{Images courtesy of WSOP – Miguel Cortes, Lennart Hennig.}