Lithuania’s Rokas Asipauskas leads 85 players into the business end of the WSOP Europe €5,300 Main Event after bagging 6,000,000 chips at the end of Day 3 at King’s Casino inside the Hilton Prague.
The record-breaking field of 2,617 entries generated a €13,085,000 prize pool, and the race for the €2,000,000 first prize is now well underway.
Day 4 is already live at the Hilton Prague, and the drama started early: seven-time bracelet winner Josh Arieh has had his aces cracked in a brutal pot. But before today’s action reshapes the leaderboard, here is everything that happened on a Day 3 that delivered more drama than this festival’s opening bracelet events.
The €13,085,000 prize pool shattered the previous European record of €11,125,900 set at the 2022 EPT Barcelona Main Event. The move from Rozvadov to Prague, combined with a halved buy-in (€5,300 down from the traditional €10,350), drew players from 71 countries and nearly tripled the previous WSOPE entry record of 817.
Day 3 Chip Counts: Asipauskas on Top After Steady Climb
Asipauskas entered Day 3 fifth in chips with 1,350,000 and climbed steadily throughout. A critical pot saw his pocket aces (A♠ A♥) hold against Lulei Hu’s pocket nines (9♠ 9♥), and the Lithuanian never looked back.
When told he had finished the day on top, Asipauskas asked his tablemates:
“Do you like that? Three more days of chip leading and we are good, right?” – Rokas Asipauskas
| Rank | Player | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rokas Asipauskas | Lithuania | 6,000,000 |
| 2 | Giovanni Zanette | South Africa | 5,715,000 |
| 3 | Werner Lootsma | Netherlands | 5,300,000 |
| 4 | Jack Loraine | United Kingdom | 5,290,000 |
| 5 | Johan Espholm | Denmark | 4,315,000 |
| 6 | Chris Hunichen | United States | 4,050,000 |
| 7 | Sondre Stormyr | Norway | 4,020,000 |
| 8 | Roberto Romanello | United Kingdom | 3,830,000 |
| 9 | Safwane Bahri | France | 3,720,000 |
| 10 | Sonny Franco | France | 3,680,000 |
Further back, two-time WSOP Ladies champion Shiina Okamoto sits strong with 3,130,000. Multiple bracelet winner Josh Arieh held 2,350,000 heading into Day 4.
Second-place Giovanni Zanette seemed relaxed about his position: “I can’t complain! I’m quite happy. Let’s see how tomorrow goes, there is still a long way to go.”
Thomas Eychenne, the 2025 EPT Barcelona champion who led after Day 2 with 2,010,000, slipped to 1,640,000 but remains within striking distance. 2007 WSOPE champion Annette Obrestad bagged 1,025,000, roughly 26 big blinds at the Day 4 restart.
The average stack among the 85 survivors sits at approximately 1,847,000 (about 46 big blinds), meaning even a middle-of-the-pack player has room to manoeuvre.
Aces, Bad Beats and Kabrhel’s 10-Minute Last Stand
Pocket aces dominated the Day 3 narrative. Jack Loraine used aces to eliminate Day 1c chip leader Daniel Rezaei, then kept his expectations in check.
“I ran good, every bluff got through. I had aces three times but no expectations: the tournament is still far too long,” Loraine said after bagging 5,290,000 for fourth overall.
Alex Keating’s aces told a grimmer story. He got all in preflop against Vasileios Panagiotidis’s A♣ J♥. The board rolled out four hearts, and Panagiotidis’s A♥ completed a runner-runner flush. Keating never recovered and busted shortly after, having entered Day 3 near the top with 1,150,000.
Local fan favourite Martin Kabrhel provided the day’s best entertainment. Reduced to just 2.2 big blinds, the Czech vlogger spent all 18 of his time bank cards on a single hand: a 10-minute ordeal that had the rail buzzing. He doubled up twice from the brink before his 8♠ 8♥ finally fell to A♣ 10♠.
Carl Shaw produced one of the day’s most disciplined plays. He flopped a set of jacks but let his hand go after Alexandre Bermon raised big on the river. “Ace-King?” Shaw asked. Bermon showed the straight and nodded.
Markus Bonus catapulted into the upper third of the chip counts with a dramatic double knockout, eliminating two players in a single hand while holding pocket kings (K♠ K♥).
Jorstad, Kolonias and Deeb Among Day 3 Casualties
The list of Day 3 eliminations reads like a poker hall of fame shortlist.
- Espen Jorstad (471,000 entering): the 2022 WSOP Main Event champion with nearly $19.5M in career live earnings.
- Shaun Deeb (689,000 entering): the reigning WSOP Player of the Year and eight-time bracelet winner, who survived a stone-bubble all-in on Day 2 only to fall here.
- Alexandros Kolonias (854,000 entering): the 2019 WSOPE Main Event champion.
- Daniel Rezaei (967,000 entering): Day 1c chip leader, eliminated by Loraine's aces.
- Alexandre Reard (1,017,000 entering): a big stack brought low during the session.
Every remaining player has locked up at least €18,000. The next pay jump to €20,200 arrives when the field thins to 79.
Norwegian Player Disqualified from €5,300 PLO Championship
While the Main Event ground through Day 3, a separate incident made headlines elsewhere in the Hilton Prague. Birger Larsen, a Norwegian player with $725,000 in career live cashes, was disqualified from Event #9: €5,300 PLO European Championship during Day 2 play.
Larsen finished 30th out of 379 entries for €13,000. He stood to win as much as €395,000 and a gold bracelet.
The situation escalated quickly. Larsen was initially given a warning from a floor manager for being loud and aggressive towards staff and opponents. After he slapped the hand of an individual who tried to calm him down and continued to ignore WSOP staff, he was removed from the tournament. His chips were pulled from play.
One player at the table said Larsen appeared to be drunk. The WSOP confirmed the incident but declined to comment further. It is unclear whether Larsen faces a ban from future events.
Obrestad’s Comeback Run Reaches Day 4
Nineteen years after winning the inaugural WSOP Europe Main Event in London, one day before her 19th birthday, Annette Obrestad is deep in the same event and playing her first major tournament in roughly eight years.
The Norwegian built an online bankroll from $0 playing freerolls under the screen name “Annette_15” and once won a 180-player sit-and-go without looking at her cards. She stepped away from competitive poker around 2018, citing burnout and the pressure of being a shy teenager thrust into the spotlight.
During her absence, Obrestad ran a successful YouTube makeup channel and became a top-100 competitive Scrabble player. The WSOP invited her to Prague, and she walked out to Ennio Morricone’s “The Ecstasy of Gold” to deliver the ceremonial shuffle-up-and-deal on Day 1A before sitting down and bagging chips.
Her Day 3 was a survival story. Starting with 581,000, Obrestad was involved in a 622,000-chip pot where she put an opponent all-in on the river. She dipped to around 24 big blinds by dinner but clawed back to bag 1,025,000.
She and Shiina Okamoto are the only two women remaining from 2,617 entries. Obrestad’s roughly $3.9M in career live earnings include her 2007 WSOPE title and a runner-up finish at EPT Dublin the same year.
Day 4 Underway: What to Watch
Day 4 kicked off today at 12:00 p.m. local time (CET) with blinds at 20,000/40,000 and a 40,000 big blind ante (Level 23). Six 90-minute levels are scheduled. The field of 85 is already thinning, and the early reports confirm Arieh has taken a big hit with aces cracked.
The payout jumps create natural pressure points from here: €20,200 at 79 players, €25,000 at 63, €35,000 at 47, and €50,000 at 31. The final table of nine guarantees at least €140,000. The champion is expected to be crowned by April 12.
Several storylines converge heading into the business end. Asipauskas, who won the $5,000 Super COLOSSUS at WSOP Paradise in December 2025 for $504,950, is seeking his second live bracelet.
Roberto Romanello, the Welsh poker legend who holds poker’s Triple Crown (WSOP, WPT and EPT titles) and won EPT Prague at this very venue in 2010, sits 8th with 3,830,000.
Eychenne will look to reverse a downward Day 3 slide. And Obrestad’s run, already the biggest poker comeback story of 2026, has every rail in Prague paying attention.
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