The WSOPE festival yesterday brought the final day of the fifth bracelet event, the Mini Main Event with a buy-in of €1,350. From a field of 1,293 players, the final 23 took their seats, led by Czech player Vlastimil Pustina. While each had secured at least €7,250, there was plenty more on the line—the winner would walk away with €226,850.
The seven-hour conclusion was streamed live, and you can watch the replay here:
Home fans were focused on Vlastimil Pustina, who entered the final day as chipleader. Unfortunately, he converted this advantage only to a 13th place finish, when his preflop A h Q c ran into Stamatitis' A d K c. Another K s on the board sealed the fate of the Czech player, who at least took home a reward of €10,879.
It didn't take long for us to determine the final table lineup after Alkiviadis Stamatitis's elimination at 10th place. Entering the final table as chipleader was experienced Slovak player Stanislav Koleno, ranked second in Slovakia's all-time money list according to Hendon Mob. Trailing him were Gal Naim from Israel and Swiss player Salih Atac.
The finale kicked off with a bang—Roman Isaienko paid the price against Naim's aces, sparking a series of rapid eliminations. Salih Atac and Dan Sfarlea fell in critical flips, with Besnik Aruqi eventually busting with suited queen-jack against Vincent's ace-four. Francesco Zappala soon exited when his nines couldn't survive a flip against Naim's ace-king. Wang eventually ousted Naim in third place, setting the stage for the heads-up duel.
Koleno entered the heads-up with about a 2.5:1 chip lead, but Wang patiently clawed back the deficit. He soon seized the initiative and never let go of the chip lead. The final hand saw a preflop all-in/call, with Koleno's A c 6 c meeting Wang's A d 8 h. A blank board left Wang lifting his first career title—the coveted bracelet.
The Chinese player survived the challenges of the 1,293-strong field, overturned a disadvantage in heads-up, and secured his first gold bracelet along with a check for €226,850 (including a €10,350 Main Event ticket). After a remarkable performance, Slovak player Stanislav Koleno takes home silver from this tournament (€154,650), surpassing $2 million in live tournament winnings. Congratulations!
| # | Name | Country | Prize |
| 1 | Yuhan Wang | China | €226,850 |
| 2 | Stanislav Koleno | Slovakia | €154,650 |
| 3 | Christophe Vincent | France | €112,450 |
| 4 | Gal Naim | Israel | €83,650 |
| 5 | Francesco Zappala | Switzerland | €63,650 |
| 6 | Besnik Aruqi | Kosovo | €49,750 |
| 7 | Dan Sfarlea | Romania | €39,900 |
| 8 | Salih Atac | Switzerland | €32,850 |
| 9 | Roman Isaienko | Ukraine | €27,750 |
Sources – Kings-resort, YouTube, PokerNews, Photo Tomas Stacha
