Martin Kabrhel is a polarizing force. But it was inevitable that he would be one of the first players on the WSOPE Main Event livestream this evening.
He wasn’t that happy when he heard the news just ahead of the dinner break.
“What if I refuse?” he asked.
“Your chips will be on that table,” the floor replied.
“But if I refuse?” he asked again, seemingly ignoring the answer.
“Your chips will be on that table,” the floor said patiently.
“But if I refuse? I’m not refusing, but if I did?” Kabrhel tried for a third time. He got the same answer and thanked the floor for the information.
![Martin Kabrhel is always smiling. Apart from when he's angry about something.]()
Martin Kabrhel is always smiling. Apart from when he's angry about something.
The Kabrhel show: short but intense
He’s a player who likes to test the floor.
But, despite the above exchange, Kabrhel has got a thing for the cameras. Perhaps his reluctance here came from the fact that he’s got his own crew following him around the WSOPE, chronicling every chaotic moment. They wouldn’t be able to follow him to the TV table.
Or maybe it was foreshadowing.
Because, on one of the very first hands on stream, he played a monster hand with Mustapha Kanit – and he has history with the Italian pro.
Kabrhel three-bet with 
and Kanit called with 
to see a dream 
flop that gave him the nut straight.
Kabrhel bet pot, and Kanit called. “Uh-oh, Houston, we have a problem,” Kabrhel said with a smile on his face. He was right.
Kanit checked the 
turn, and Kabrhel bet another 15.5K. Kanit min-raised to 32K, and Kabrhel called.
Kanit moved all-in on the 
river. Kabrhel said, “It’s been a pleasure playing with you, but we need to make the prize pool bigger.”
He called and Kanit couldn’t resist rubbing it in: “It’s been very nice to play with you. Bye-bye.”
“It was short, but intense,” he added to the table with a huge smile.
Kabrhel added to the prize pool, buying in again and getting a fresh 60K stack – which he dusted off as well. Those were his maximum three bullets for the day, but we’re sure he’ll be back on Day 1B.
Obrestad gets Main Event off to a flyer
Away from the Kabrhel show, the 2026 WSOPE Main Event is putting up wild numbers.
2007 champion Annette Obrestad got things underway with the ‘Shuffle Up and Deal!' and, by the dinner break, there were already more entries than last year’s Main Event got in total (659).
Obrestad was also one of the first players on the TV tables and cut a much quieter figure than Kabrhel did but also played a monster early on.
She was already facing a three-bet when she peeled 
. She four-bet to 16.5K only to see Blake Bohn five-bet all-in with 
.
Obrestad tanked but decided to make a big laydown and dropped down to her starting stack of 60K. You can almost guarantee Kabrhel’s chips would have found their way in the middle there.
Obrestad won't care – she was up to over 160K an hour later.
By the end of the day, the field was up to 803, with two more Day 1 flights and two levels of late reg on Day 2 to come. 336 players advanced to Day 2.
The €5,300 buy-in is half what it was in 2025, but the €10 million guarantee is almost double – and the biggest live guarantee in European history. It’s looking like the WSOP could have gone a lot higher.
One player who will be sorely missed is Phil Hellmuth. He was the biggest of the star names announced for the Prague stop but couldn't attend for personal reasons.
WSOPE Main Event Day 1A notable stacks
- Erick Lindgren (US) – 356.5K (178bb)
- Frankie C (US) – 348K (174bb)
- Jose Barbero (Argentina) – 289.5K (144bb)
- Patrick Leonard (UK) – 247.5K (123bb)
- Niklas Astedt (Sweden) – 237K (118bb)
- Annette Obrestad (Norway) – 189K (94bb)
- Mustapha Kanit (Italy) – 148K (74bb)
- Christopher Hunichen (US) – 133.5K (66bb)
- Leo Margets (Spain) – 116K (58BB)
- Dan 'Jungleman' Cates (US) – 73K (36bb)
Day 1B of the 2026 WSOPE Main Event starts at 12pm on Saturday.
Feature images courtesy of WSOP – Lennart Hennig and Miguel Cortes.
