WSOPE Main Event Becomes Biggest European Major in Poker History
The 2026 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) Main Event in Prague has officially broken the record for the largest major tournament in European poker history. A final field of 2,617 entries generated a prize pool of €13,085,000 — surpassing a benchmark that had stood since 2022.
How Prague Shattered a Four-Year Record
The World Series of Poker Europe has been held annually since 2007, when Annette Obrestad won the inaugural Main Event in London. The series has grown steadily over the years, with King’s Casino, located inside the Hilton Prague, establishing itself as the event’s new flagship venue for 2026.
The previous record for a European major belonged to the 2022 European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona Main Event, which drew 2,294 entries and generated an €11,125,900 prize pool. That event saw Giuliano Bendinelli win the first-place prize of €1,491,133 after a heads-up deal.
The 2026 WSOPE Main Event has now cleared that mark by a substantial margin — adding more than 300 entries and nearly €2 million to the prize pool. The WSOP marked the occasion by showcasing the 2026 Main Event bracelet that these players are competing for.
A record-breaking field… but only ONE can take this home.
— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) April 6, 2026
The one they all came for.
The WSOPE Main Event bracelet. pic.twitter.com/XiwSuTEnQ8
How the 2026 WSOPE Main Event Unfolded
Day 1 of the €5,300 buy-in event drew a strong early field, with Day 2 beginning with 980 players still in contention. Late registration remained open for two additional 90-minute levels, and entries continued to climb throughout the morning.
By the time late registration closed at the start of Level 13, the field had reached 2,617 entries — shattering the €10,000,000 guarantee and producing a confirmed prize pool of €13,085,000. Payout details are expected to be published shortly by the WSOP.
Day 2 now operates as a freezeout — players who bust are eliminated with no option to re-enter. Six levels of play are scheduled, with the champion set to be crowned at King’s Casino inside the Hilton Prague before the festival concludes on April 12.
Big Names Still In Contention
The field heading into Day 2 includes a compelling mix of elite professionals and strong contenders. Austria’s Daniel Rezaei leads the pack with 639,000 chips, the only player across all three starting flights to surpass the 600,000 mark.
Reigning World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion Michael Mizrachi is well-placed in 24th overall with 344,000 chips. A win here would make Mizrachi only the second player in history to claim both the WSOP Main Event and the WSOPE Main Event — a double achieved once before, by Phil Hellmuth in 1989 and 2012.
Perhaps no storyline is more compelling than Annette Obrestad’s. The Norwegian won the inaugural WSOPE Main Event in London in 2007, then stepped away from competitive poker for nearly a decade before returning to the felt in early 2026.
Obrestad delivered the “Shuffle Up and Deal” to open this very tournament, then went on to bag chips for Day 2 — putting herself in contention to win the event she started nearly 19 years ago.
Why Prague Has Become Poker’s New European Capital
A prize pool of €13,085,000 puts the 2026 WSOPE Main Event firmly in conversation with the biggest tournaments anywhere in the world. For recreational players, it means a €5,300 buy-in event is producing top-end payouts that rival the most prestigious stops on any global circuit.
Prague and King’s Casino have emerged as central fixtures of the European poker calendar, and this result is expected to reinforce that position. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the WSOPE announce an increased guarantee for next year’s edition on the back of this result.
The broader picture is equally telling. European players and operators have consistently grown fields at premium buy-in events over the past several years. The 2026 WSOPE result suggests that momentum shows no signs of slowing.
A Champion Crowned by Saturday
With six levels on the Day 2 schedule, the field will thin rapidly as the freezeout format takes hold. Expect the field to condense significantly before the end of play today, with a final table likely taking shape over the coming days.
The action is being streamed live on the WSOP’s official YouTube channel with a 30-minute delay. Fans can follow chip counts and eliminations as they happen throughout the day.
The champion will be crowned before the festival wraps on April 12 at King’s Casino inside the Hilton Prague. When they are, they will claim not just a WSOP bracelet, but a piece of European poker history — as the winner of the biggest major the continent has ever produced.
Before that, the festival still has plenty to offer, with the €20,800 Super High Roller and the €1,500 European Circuit Championship still to come.
Image: Courtesy of wsop.com