The 2021 World Series of Poker Europe wrapped up at King’s Resort and Casino, Rozvadov, the Czech Republic, on December 8. Bringing down the curtain on the series was Event #14: €10,350 WSOPE Main Event. The event logged in 688 entries across two starting flights, setting a new attendance record for the WSOPE Main Event and surpassing 593 set in 2011. With the massive turnout, the tournament created a prize pool of €6,536,000 that was shared by the top 104 players. The championship bracelet and the largest share of the prize money ultimately went to Josef Gulas Jr. The 24-year-old Czech player earned a career-best €1,276,712 and his first bracelet for the win.
“It’s an incredible feeling. I am truly thankful and happy. It was a perfect tournament with a very nice structure in the best casino in Europe. Just incredible!” Gulas Jr. told after securing the victory.
The event began with the first of two starting flights on December 3. By the end of play on December 7, the record field narrowed down to seven players. Gulas Jr. held the chip lead, with Germany’s Alexander Tkatschew being second in chips and high-stakes pro Johan Guilbert holding the next big stack.
Thomas Denie was the first player to fall on the final day, with his pocket queens running into the pocket kings of Athanasios Kidas. Following him were Aleksandar Trajkovski and Stanislav Koleno.
After the elimination of Athanasios Kidas (4th) and Alexander Tkatschew (3rd), it came down to the heads-up between Johan Guilbert (50,300,000) and Gulas Jr (18,500,000), with the former holding the massive lead. However, Gulas won a massive pot to snatch the lead and extend it even further by the final hand arose. On the final hand, Gulas Jr open-shoved with Ad 8s, and Guilbert called for his last 7,200,000 with 2c 2h. The board ran out Jd Kc 3h 7d 8h where Gulas rivered a pair of eights to lock up the pot and the title. France’s Guilbert had to settle for €789,031 as the runner-up finisher.
Final Table Payouts (EURO)
- Josef Gulas Jr – €1,276,712
- Johan Guilbert – €789,031
- Alexander Tkatschew – €558,505
- Athanasios Kidas – €401,344
- Stanislav Koleno – €292,862
- Aleksandar Trajkovski – €217,854
- Thomas Denie – €163,434
- Ilija Savevski – €125,052