The 2023 World Series of Poker Europle (WSOPE) is underway at King’s Resort, Rozvadov and the first batch of gold bracelets of the series have been awarded.
Fabio Peluso picked up the first piece of WSOP hardware of the festival after taking down the opening event. Next on the winner’s list was Germany’s Helmut Phung, after he was the last player standing in the €550 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Max. Ilija Savevski captured the Mini Main Event title while Anson Tsang collected his third WSOP bracelet after finding success in the €2,000 PLO tournament.
Peluso Grabs First Bracelet of 2022 WSOPE
The kick off event of the 2022 WSOPE was Event #1: €350 The Opener, and the tournament registered 2,454 entries, passing the 1,789 threshold from last year’s series. The event had four starting flights and after late registration closed on Day 1d it was confirmed that the prize pool stood at €734,359, smashing the €500,000 guarantee.
Day 2 saw the top 369 finishers lock up €515 min-cash, with action closing when the last 24 players remained.
The elimination of Markus Weiss, set up the nine-handed final table. Dennis Wilke secured the first final table knockout after his pocket threes won a flip against Gabriel Baleeiro. Simone Andrian, who won a bracelet at last year’s WSOPE, was also sent to the wrong side of the rail by Wilke. Andrian jammed with pocket sixes but walked into the pocket aces held by the German.
Carlo Savinelli then brought the tournament to its final six players after his ace-queen got their against Miroslav Navratil’s pair of tens. Gennaro Proscia moved in his short stack with pocket aces and found a call from Peluso who had ace-king. The eventual winner rivered trip kings after pairing up on the flop to get his first final table casualty.
Wilke, who was once chip leader, had seen his stack reduce and decided to rip it in with queen-jack. Savinelli called with ace-ten and paired up to bust Wilke. Peluso then found better luck with the queen-jack, after calling the jam from Kevin Fluegel who had ace-king. Peluso turned a full house to lock up the hand and sent Fluegel out in fourth place.
Congratulations to Italy’s Fabio Peluso, winner of WSOP Europe Event #1: €350 No-Limit Hold’em ‘The Opener’ for €95… https://t.co/roOerYK1km
Savinelli went on to secure another elimination, as his ace-nine remained best against Stefan Vogt’s queen-ten. On the final hand of the event, Peluso and Savinelli were all-in preflop and the former’s pocket fives held against his compatriot’s ace-seven.
Event #1: €350 The Opener Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (in EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fabio Peluso | Italy | $95,670* |
| 2 | Carlo Savinelli | Italy | $59,032* |
| 3 | Stefan Vogt | Germany | $43,813* |
| 4 | Kevin Fluegel | Germany | $32,801* |
| 5 | Dennis Wilke | Germany | $24,773* |
| 6 | Gennaro Proscia | United States | $18,875* |
| 7 | Miroslav Navratil | Czech Republic | $14,509 |
| 8 | Simon Andrian | Italy | $11,254 |
| 9 | Gabriel Jansen Falcao Baleeiro | Brazil | $8,809 |
*indicates €10,350 WSOPE Main Event Seat winner
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Phung Dominates €550 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Max Final Table
Germany’s Helmut Phung topped the 566-entry field in Event #2: €550 Pot-Limit Omaha and took home the lion’s share of the €268,850 prize pool.
Phung started the final table as chip leader and quickly despatched two-time WSOP bracelet winner Martin Kabrhel in ninth place. Pascal Foged then flopped Braodway against Misel Bosancic, who had flopped a flush draw. The duo got their stacks in the middle with Foged holding to bust his opponent.
Andreas Zampas ousted Bartlomiej Staszczak following a battle of the blinds. Zampas then found himself out of the door after his 
could not leapfrog the 
held by Jakob Madsen.
Phung would then go on to assert his dominance when play was five-handed, eliminating Gregory Sellam after he rivered two pair against the shorter stack. Foged then felted Madsen after his flopped two pair remained good against his opponent’s pair and flush draw combo.
Congratulations to Germany’s Helmut Phung for topping a field of 566 entries in WSOP Europe Event #2: €550 Pot-Limi… https://t.co/B0IrblBOlV
Runner-up Martin Almaas secured his spot for heads-up play after busting Foged.
Phung, with a commanding chip lead, would make short work of Almaas after collecting several pots in succession. Phung then won his first WSOP bracelet after both players got their stacks in on the all heart flop. Phung and Almaas both flopped a flush, however Phung had the superior hand and was confirmed the winner once the board ran out.
WSOPE Event #2: €550 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Max Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (in EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Helmut Phung | Germany | €55,132 |
| 2 | Martin Almaas | Norway | €34,051 |
| 3 | Pascal Foged | Germany | €23,848 |
| 4 | Jakob Madsen | Denmark | €16,987 |
| 5 | Gregory Sellam | France | €12,310 |
| 6 | Andreas Zampas | Greece | €9,078 |
| 7 | Bartlomiej Staszczak | Poland | €6,815 |
| 8 | Misel Bosancic | Bosnia & Herzegovina | €5,210 |
| 9 | Martin Kabrhel | Czech Republic | €4,057 |
Savevski Becomes a Bracelet Winner in Mini Main Event
The third event of the 2022 WSOPE was Event #3: €1,350 Mini Main Event, which had a €1,631,340 prize pool thanks to the 1,431 entries.
Ilija Savevski, who finished in eighth place in the 2021 WSOPE Main Event, triumphed this time around to win his first bracelet and notched career high cash of €245,319.
Twelve players returned for the final day of Mini Main Event action, knowing they had locked up at least €13,353 and a WSOPE Main Event ticket. French tournament crusher Dorian Melchers, Patrik Zidek and the aforementioned Madsen bowed out to set up the final table of nine.
The final table was quickly reduced to four-handed play and then Savevski eliminated Dennis Magro and Peter Kamaras. Magri and Kamaras were all-in preflop with ace-four and pocket tens respectively but Savevski’s king-queen rivered top pair to bring the tournament to its final two players.
Savevski claimed the title and the winner’s spoils after flopping two pair against Stefan Schoss, who had made top pair. All the chips went into the middle with Savevski as the big stack and a clean runout confirmed his tournament win.
Event #3 €1,350 Mini Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (in EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ilija Savevski | Macedonia | €245,319 |
| 2 | Stefan Schoss | Germany | €151,554 |
| 3 | Dennis Magro | Germany | €110,686 |
| 4 | Peter Kamaras | Hungary | €81,716 |
| 5 | Jochen Kaiser | Germany | €60,990 |
| 6 | Yunho Choi | South Korea | €46,027 |
| 7 | Braz Borges Fagundes Junior | Portugal | €35,124 |
| 8 | Emanuele De Lemmi | Italy | €27,109 |
| 9 | Clement Cure | France | €21,162 |
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Super Tsang Snags Third WSOP Bracelet
The most notable names among the early bracelet winners was Anson Tsang, who reigned supreme in Event #4: €2,000 Pot-Limit Omaha. Coincidentally, Tsang won his maiden WSOP bracelet in the same event in 2018, before bagging his second bracelet at the 2020 Online WSOP.
Did it again! Captured my 3rd bracelet in 2K PLO event### @WSOP @PokerroomKings
Tsang pocketed the €95,461 first-place prize after overcoming a final table that included the likes of Tomasz Gluszko, Shawn Stroke and 888poker ambassador Vivian Saliba.
The event saw 221 entries, which generated a €388,407 prize pool.
WSOPE Event #4: €2,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (in EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anson Tsang | Hong Kong | €95,461 |
| 2 | Tomasz Gluszko | Poland | €58,988 |
| 3 | Shawn Stroke | United States | €40,232 |
| 4 | Dario Alioto | Italy | €28,162 |
| 5 | Oswin Ziegelbecker | Austria | €20,245 |
| 6 | Vivian Saliba | Brazil | €14,959 |
| 7 | Farid Jattin | Colombia | €11,368 |
| 8 | Pavel Izotov | Belarus | €8,893 |
| 9 | Jorryt van Hoof | Netherlands | €7,168 |
*Imagery courtesy of Tomas Sascha
Editor & Live Reporter
Calum has been a part of the PokerNews team since September 2021 after working in the UK energy sector. He played his first hand of poker in 2017 and immediately fell in love with the game. Calum’s proudest poker achievement is winning the only tournament he has ever played in Las Vegas, the prestigious $60 Flamingo evening event.