Pedro Faustino Claims First WSOP Bracelet With Monster Stack Win in Prague
Pedro Carvalhas Faustino of Portugal won the €1,650 Monster Stack No-Limit Hold’em at the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe, topping a 902-entry field at King’s Casino / Hilton Prague to claim his first gold bracelet and €221,770.
Jinho Hong of South Korea finished as runner-up, earning €147,440.
A Breakout Win on the Biggest European Stage
Before Prague, Faustino had recorded 19 live tournament cashes totalling approximately $70,000 across his entire career. The €221,770 first-place prize is more than three times that figure in a single result. Faustino arrived in Prague as a relative unknown. He left with a gold bracelet and a career-defining result.
This happened during the 2026 WSOP Europe event — running March 31 to April 12 at King’s Casino and Hilton Prague — which has turned into the largest WSOPE in the series’ history, headlined by a €10,000,000 guarantee in the main event.
Even the side events are operating at a scale the series has rarely seen in Europe, making Faustino’s win the kind of result that holds up well beyond this week.
How the Final Table Unfolded
Faustino entered Day 2 sitting 7th in chips among 136 survivors — solidly placed, but with a long road ahead of him. He built his stack methodically, accounting for more eliminations than any other player at the final table before the night ended.
The nine-handed action opened with Edgaras Kausinis of Lithuania running his pocket eights into Faustino’s pocket queens to exit in ninth place. Faustino then eliminated Valentino Konakchiev of Bulgaria in seventh and Lukas Timko of the Czech Republic in sixth in quick succession, building the chip lead in the process.
Andreas Goeller of Italy fell fourth to Faustino’s hand as well, leaving the Portuguese player heads-up against Hong with a commanding advantage.
Heads-Up Against One of Poker’s Best-Known Faces
Standing between Faustino and the bracelet was Jinho Hong, one of the most recognizable names in Asian poker.
Hong won his first WSOP bracelet in 2022 and holds approximately $2.86 million in live tournament earnings — one of South Korea’s most decorated tournament players. Beyond poker, he is a well-known television personality in Korea and a former professional StarCraft player, where he competed under the alias “YellOw.”
The heads-up match didn’t last long, however. Hong moved all-in on the flop, holding A-K, while Faustino called with a flush draw. The turn completed the flush, and the river was a mere formality.
It was a clean, uncomplicated ending to a final table that Faustino had largely controlled from the moment the last nine players sat down.
Portugal’s Third WSOP Gold
🇵🇹 Pedro Carvalhas Faustino was a runaway train en route to his first WSOP gold bracelet!
— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) April 7, 2026
🏆 He took down the €1,650 Monster Stack for his largest career score of €221,700!!
Congratulations Pedro! pic.twitter.com/X1MzGrTgEc
Faustino becomes only the third Portuguese player to win a WSOP gold bracelet. Francisco Da Costa Santos was the first, claiming a WSOPE title in Cannes in 2012. Diogo Veiga followed in Las Vegas in 2018, winning the $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Championship for over $500,000.
Faustino’s win comes at the highest profile WSOPE ever staged, and does so in a No-Limit Hold’em event — the series’ signature format — making it a meaningful addition to Portugal’s record at the World Series of Poker.
Portugal has produced a small but consistent stream of bracelet-level players over the past decade. Names like Joao Vieira, Pedro Oliveira, and Joao Barbosa have posted significant results on the international circuit, but gold bracelets have remained rare. Faustino’s Prague win adds a new name to this short list.
What’s Next at WSOP Europe 2026
The series runs through April 12, and the biggest prize is still unclaimed. The €5,300 Main Event — already the largest in WSOPE history — reached Day 4 today with 85 players remaining and a €2,000,000 first-place prize on the line.
Lithuanian player Rokas Asipauskas leads the field with 6,000,000 chips, followed closely by Giovanni Zanette of South Africa and Werner Lootsma of the Netherlands.
The €5,300 PLO European Championship is also heading into its final day, with American Michael Moncek at the top of the counts. With two major events still in play and four days remaining on the schedule, Prague has more bracelets to award before WSOP Europe 2026 closes its doors.
Image: Courtesy wsop.com