Local hero rides comeback to victory at BSOP Championship

The massive BSOP Millions series lived up to its billing this weekend, putting an exclamation mark on the festival with the largest-ever Brazilian prize pool in the $6,000 BSOP Championship.

The flagship tournament drew 714 entries and handed $638,000 to local Alen Fillipi, who took the top prize after being down to just a few big blinds in early final table play. He fought back to a final-three deal before he finished the deal against Matheus Grazziotin in heads-up play. Fillipi doubled his lifetime winnings with the new high score, adding to a fantastic year that already featured a run to 83rd in the WSOP Main Event. 

With an appearance from Martin Kabhrel

The final table of nine also featured Martin Kabhrel, the only non-Brazilian at the final table, who started the final day with the short stack. The Czech native got it all in quickly and was the first elimination of the day, but it was a world class series for Kabrhel. His ninth place finish puts a bow on the trip to Brazil, which netted a memorable comeback win in the $30,000 buy-in of the Super High Roller Series before another deep (and controversial) run in the $100,000 Main Event. Kabrhel was one again accused of marking cards, this time by Renan Bruschi in a clash that continued all the way through Kabrhel's fourth-place elimination at Bruschi's hands. 

Martin Kabrhel made a brief appearance at the BSOP Championship final table.

Kabrhel's elimination kicked off the livestreamed finale, which started with Fillipi in the middle of the pack and Diones Lopes at the top. Lopes would end up finishing third after a three-handed deal turned the endgame into a mad dash for the trophy. Filliipi suffered an early setback after Kabrhel's elimination, falling down to just three big blinds, but he bounced back with a double and crawled his way back into contention for the final three. 

Grazziotin, Fillipi, and Lopes cut the deal before Lopes hit the rail, leaving Fillipi to finish the deal for the win. Pedro Padilha finished fourth, followed by Ramiro Araujo, Gregory Fabiao, Giorgio Tonin, and Bernardo Soares in eighth. 

Elsewhere at BSOP Millions, players filled the WTC Sheraton throughout the largest-ever Latin American poker series, highlighted by the Super High Roller Series. Kabrhel drew the controversy, and stole the spotlight, but the rest of the series featured some of Brazil's very best. Joao Simao beat Ivan Luca in the the $10,000 Invitational, Medhi Chaoui won the $20K, and Felipe Boianovsky won the $50,000. Ottomar Ladva, who handed Kabrhel his big comeback, won the $20,000 One Day buy-in before the Super High Roller Series climaxed with the $100,000 Main Event. Zdenek Zizka won that, holding off Bruschi and a loud Kabrhel to win $1.2 million. 

BSOP Millions Super High Roller Series winners

The ambitious series wrapped up the 2025 Brazilian Series of Poker season, setting a new watermark in Latin America for poker tournaments. Next up for the BSOP will be the Summer Millions, set for the final week of January. 

^{Images courtesy of BSOP.}