The swanky King’s Casino in Rozvadov, Czech Republic hosted the 2023 World Series of Poker Europe. There were 15 bracelet events at stake this year. Max Neugebauer – a former pro basketball player from Austria – won the WSOP Europe Main Event and secured his first bracelet.
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Eight Countries Represented at the Final Table
The 2023 WSOP Europe Main Event had a buy-in of $11,350. A total of 817 players took a shot at a first-place prize worth $1.6 million. The top 123 places earned a cut of the prize pool which topped $8.4 million.
Several well-known pros cashed in the WSOP Europe Main Event but missed out on advancing to the final table. Among those who cashed included 2013 champion Adrian Mateos from Spain, Dario Sammartino (Italy), Davidi Kitai (Belgium), Maria Lampropulos (Argentina), Alex Keating (USA), Stephen Chidwick (UK), Manig Loeser (Germany), Daniel Dvoress (Canada), and Tobias Peters (Netherlands).
The Main Event final table featured players from eight different countries. Eric Tsai from Taiwan held the chip lead heading into the final day with a big stack worth 23.6M. The final table also included Alf Martinsson (Sweden), Ruslan Volkov (Ukraine), Nils Pudel (Germany), Michael Rocco (USA), Michele Tocci (Italy), Kasparas Klezys (Lithuania), and Neugebauer.
Rocco, the lone American at the final table, finished in fifth place, which paid out $372,000.
Neugebauer Sniffs Out a Bluff
Tsai and Neugebauer were the final two players. Tsai is a poker pro from Taiwan and a popular poker vlogger on YouTube. Neugebauer is a former pro basketball player from Austria, who had his hoops career cut short due to a knee injury.
Tsai found himself trailing Neugebauer 54.1M to 17.4M when heads up began. Tsai chipped away at the lead, but he couldn’t launch a successful comeback.
On the final hand, the board was Qd-8d-7h-As-4s. Tsai flopped a gutshot straight flush draw with the Jack-nine of diamonds, but he missed all his draws on the turn and river. Tsai bluffed the river with nothing but Jack-high. Tsai moved all-in and forced Neugebauer to make a difficult decision with marginal holdings.
Neugebauer caught a bit of the flop with the Jack of spades and eight of diamonds. He flopped a pair of eights, but did not improve on the turn or river. Neugebauer only held a bluff catcher, but if he was wrong, then Tsai would double up and seize the chip lead with nearly 50M in chips.
After a lengthy deliberation, Neugebauer called and sniffed out the bluff with only a pair of eights. The Austrian made a heck of a call to win the pot and the tournament.
Tsai was knocked out in second place and earned $972,000 for a runner-up performance. Neugebauer snagged his first bracelet and won the WSOP Europe Main Event, which paid out approximately $1.6 million.
Europe Claims Another WSOP Europe Champion
Annette Obrestad won the first WSOP Europe Main Event in 2007 at the Empire Casino in London, England. Obrestad, an online poker phenom from Norway known as “Annette15”, claimed her first bracelet with a victory in the inaugural WSOP Europe.
Between 2008 and 2015, American residents claimed five out of seven WSOP Europe Main Event victories including John Juanda (2008), Barry Shulman (2008), Elio Fox (2011), Phil Hellmuth (2012), and Kevin MacPhee (2015).
A non-American won the last six WSOP Europe Main Event titles with six different countries claiming victories including Spain, the United Kingdom, Greece, Czech Republic, Sweden, and Austria.
Since 2011, the WSOP Europe has been paid out in Euros. France hosted the WSOP Europe three times (2011, 2012, 2013) and Germany was the host once (2015) before it moved to the Czech Republic. The King’s Casino in Rozvadov has been the home of the WSOP Europe since 2017.
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