Four bracelets have been awarded through Day 5 of WSOP Europe 2026 in Prague, with record fields across every completed event and the €10M guaranteed Main Event tracking well ahead of the ~2,000 entries needed to cover.

The festival at King’s Casino inside the Hilton Prague has produced drama to match the numbers. Shaun Deeb, two-time WSOP Player of the Year, lost two heads-up bracelet matches in the same week, both times to opponent quads.

Phil Hellmuth, who had committed to playing the full schedule, withdrew for personal reasons before the festival started.

Meanwhile, Annette Obrestad returned to WSOP competition for the first time in years, delivering the ceremonial shuffle-up-and-deal on Main Event Day 1A before bagging 189,000 chips for Day 2. The Main Event itself has already drawn 1,456 entries across two flights with Day 1C and late registration still to come.

Bracelet Results at a Glance

Four first-time bracelet winners from four different countries. Combined entries across the four completed events exceed 6,190, confirming that Prague’s debut as a WSOP Europe host city is drawing fields Rozvadov never managed.

Deeb’s Quad-Cursed Week in Prague

Shaun Deeb came to Prague chasing bracelet number nine. He holds eight bracelets, has won WSOP Player of the Year twice (2018, 2025), and has earned over $10.6M in live tournament cashes. Instead, he ran into the same four-of-a-kind wall twice in five days.

Event #2: Quad Fours Sink Deeb’s Ninth Bracelet Bid

The first blow came in the €3,300 Mixed PLO/PLO8/Big O. Deeb reached heads-up against Germany’s Frank Koopmann and got his chips in with a strong hand on a board of :10s: :4s: :2s: :4d: :kc:.

Deeb held :ks: :qs: :ad: :3d: for a flopped king-high flush. Koopmann held :as: :4c: :4h: :3h: for quad fours, having turned them on the :4d:. There was no escape. Koopmann took the bracelet and €123,879 while Deeb collected €81,784 for second.

Event #3: Quad Sixes Strike Again

Two days later, Deeb ground through the €565 Colossus and its 2,662-entry field all the way back to heads-up. His opponent was France’s Gilles Silbernagel, playing for his first bracelet.

The final board ran out :qc: :10s: :6h: :6c: :6s:. Deeb held :qh: :3s: for sixes full of queens. Silbernagel held :qd: :6d: for quad sixes. Another heads-up, another set of quads, another runner-up finish.

“I am going to lose another bracelet to quads, aren’t I?” – Shaun Deeb, during the Colossus final table

Deeb earned €110,000 for second in the Colossus. Across the two events, he took home roughly €192,000 but will remember Prague for the two bracelets that got away. The Colossus loss brings his career WSOP runner-up count to approximately eight, the most of any active player in the modern era.

Theuma Takes the Opener, Glaser Falls Short of Bracelet #9

Malta’s Corel Theuma won the €1,100 Mystery Bounty Opener for €150,000 plus bounties, beating Maksim Paniak heads-up by rivering a straight with :kc: :9s: against :ah: :8d:. The event drew 2,195 entries across four starting flights.

The Opener’s most notable near-miss belonged to England’s Benny Glaser, who entered the final day as chip leader with 13,495,000. Glaser was chasing his ninth bracelet but fell in fifth when his :as: :7s: couldn’t hold against Janis Kulikauskis’s :jc: :10s:.

Theuma, a US-based Maltese player, had roughly $814,000 in tracked live earnings on Hendon Mob before Prague. The Opener bracelet is comfortably the biggest result of his career.

Ayoub Wins the PLOSSUS for First Bracelet

Germany’s Jules Ayoub took down the €565 PLOSSUS (Event #4) for €50,780, defeating Austria’s Daniel Rezaei heads-up. The event drew 1,120 entries across two flights, generating a €532,000 total prize pool split between regular payouts and bounties.

Ayoub had $169,000 in live earnings on Hendon Mob entering the event. Like Theuma, this was his first WSOP bracelet.

Main Event Tracking Towards Record

The €5,300 Main Event is on pace to smash its €10M guarantee. Two of three Day 1 flights are complete, with Day 1C running today (April 5) alongside late registration that extends through Level 12 of Day 2.

The guarantee needs roughly 2,000 entries to cover (€5,300 buy-in x ~2,000 = €10.6M). With 1,456 already in after two flights and Day 1C plus late registration to come, the target looks well within reach. For context, the 2025 WSOP Europe Main Event in Rozvadov attracted just 659 entries at double the buy-in (€10,350).

Day 1B chip leader Roberto Romanello has history in Prague. The Welsh pro won the EPT Prague Main Event in 2010 for €640,000, and his 451,000 stack gives him a strong platform heading into Day 2.

Players who qualified through GGPoker’s WSOP Express satellite system are well represented in the field. The satellite pathway starts at just $0.50 and builds through four steps to a $10,000 Bracelet Pass covering the Main Event entry, 10 nights at the Hilton Prague, and Player’s Lounge access.

Full details on the satellite structure and buy-in levels are in WSOP Europe Prague schedule and satellite guide.

Hellmuth Withdraws, Obrestad Returns

Hellmuth’s No-Show

Phil Hellmuth will not be playing WSOP Europe Prague despite signalling his intention to compete in a February interview. According to reporting from the festival, Hellmuth withdrew for personal reasons. No further details have been made public.

Hellmuth’s absence removes the festival’s biggest name draw. Phil Hellmuth’s record 17-bracelet WSOP career includes a WSOPE Main Event title from 2012, and his participation had been expected to boost both field sizes and the unified $1,000,000 Player of the Year race.

Obrestad’s Ceremonial Return

The feel-good story of WSOP Europe’s opening day belonged to Annette Obrestad. The Norwegian, who won the inaugural WSOP Europe Main Event in London in 2007 for £1,000,000 at age 18, delivered the ceremonial shuffle-up-and-deal on Day 1A.

Her speech struck a grateful tone. She thanked the WSOP for the invitation and said she was thrilled to be back at the felt after stepping away from competitive poker for roughly eight years. Obrestad returned to tournament play in January 2026 with a small cash in Las Vegas.

More importantly, Annette Obrestad, youngest WSOP bracelet winner, didn’t just turn up for the ceremony. She sat down, played, and bagged 189,000 chips at the end of Day 1A to advance to Day 2.

Side Stories From Prague

Ladies Championship Makes European History

The €1,000 Ladies Championship (Event #6) drew 197 entries on Day 1, making it the first women-only bracelet event held on European soil. A ring event was held at the 2011 WSOPE, but no bracelet had been at stake for women in Europe until now.

Notable entrants included Leo Margets, Vanessa Kade, Kitty Kuo, and UFC champion Mackenzie Dern. Back-to-back defending Ladies champion Shiina Okamoto was eliminated before the money. Thirty players advanced to Day 2.

Kabrhel’s Five-Card PLO and Mizrachi’s Quiet Start

Czech local Martin Kabrhel made headlines for the wrong reasons when he was accidentally dealt five cards in a PLO hand. The floor initially ruled his hand dead, then adjusted to a chip penalty after Kabrhel protested. He busted Day 1 but re-entered and advanced with 974,000 chips.

Michael Mizrachi, the reigning WSOP Main Event champion ($10M, 8th bracelet), is active in Prague. He cashed in the Opener (103rd) and the Mixed PLO (24th) but hasn’t found his way to a final table yet this festival.

What’s Next at WSOP Europe Prague

The festival runs through April 12 with several marquee events still on the schedule, including the €20,800 High Roller and the Main Event final table. Day 1C of the Main Event runs today, with Day 2 combining all surviving players tomorrow.

For players looking to qualify for the WSOP Las Vegas summer series starting May 26, GGPoker’s WSOP Express satellites are running daily with paths to $10,000 Bracelet Passes starting from $0.50. Sign up through GGPoker’s exclusive bonus code and welcome package to lock in up to 80% rakeback alongside your satellite grind.

Follow all results as the Prague festival continues on our latest WSOP results and coverage page.