The opening tournament of the WSOP Europe festival saw Polish professional Przemyslaw Szymanski grab the first gold of the event series and a top prize of $128,400 in Rozvadov. The Czech-German border town has been transformed into the home of poker for the following weeks as players from all over the world are at King’s Casino to do battle to win WSOP events and claim a bracelet, the most treasured prize in all of poker.
Opener Sees Huge Field
The seventh World Series of Poker Europe festival began with a small buy-in but a big field and a huge six-figure top prize. Event #1 of the WSOP Europe schedule cost €350 ($389) to play and saw 3,509 entries in total, with 359 players making the money places. When the final day was reached, 20 players were still in seats, but it didn’t take long for their number to reduce to nine and the final table.
Daniel Trunk led the final nine into action with 16,900,000 chips. The Hungarian player Jozsef Dobos was the first player to depart, cashing for $21,610 when his shove with 
was called by Alberto Speranzoni with 
. The Italian’s pocket jacks held through the 
board, as the field was quickly reduced to eight players.
It wasn’t long before eight became seven as Romanian Viorel Gavrila cashed for $24,550. All-in with 
, Gavrila started his final hand behind The Ukrainian Rostyslav Sabishchenko’s 
and the board of 
couldn’t save him. That hand propelled Sabishchenko into third on the leaderboard behind Trunk and Dmitrijj Fadeev from Germany.
Trunk Singing on Broadway
Down to seven, Daniel Trunk was still the chief aggressor. When Italian player Antonio Menga moved all-in with 
, Trunk made the call with 
. While behind pre-flop, the chip leader took the lead on the 
flop, albeit giving Menga the low straight draw, the queen no good with Trunk’s hand covering it with the king. An on the turn looked to have flipped the script in Menga’s favor, but a 
on the river gave Trunk the Broadway straight and sent Menga to the rail with $28,615.
Next to go was Georg Strebel, as the Swiss player became the latest victim of Trunk’s, cashing for $34,125 in sixth place. All-in with the dominated 
, Strebel lost to Trunk’s 
after a board of 
gave Trunk another Broadway straight, further consolidating what was a dominant lead at the time.
Down to five, Fadeev faded away. Correctly calling off his stack with , Fadeev nevertheless lost to Speranzoni’s 
when a board of 
gave the latter a straight on the river and broke the German player’s heart. As he left with a score of $41,810, Speranzoni, short himself, lived to fight another flop.
Symanski Times it Just Right
With four left, the Italian Speranzoni was still very short in chips and cashed for $52,610 when he busted to Trunk. After a period of play where the eventual winner Przemyslaw Szymanski doubled up, Speranzoni called Trunk’s shove, as the at-risk player’s 
was dominating Trunk’s . Poker is a fickle mistress however, and luck turned on her heel away from the Italian, as a cruel board of 
came to four-flush him from the event.
Three-handed play lasted some time but eventually the Ukraine player Rostyslav Sabishchenko called off his chips with and needed to hit against Daniel Trunk’s . That didn’t happen as the board came 
and the Ukrainian left with $67,750.
The chips were almost even going into heads-up but on a board showing 
, the game turned. Trunk was in the lead with 
and more chips when Szymanski shoved holding . Only an ace would save the Polish player’s tournament life on the river and incredibly, it came, as the sent gasps around the rail and instead of ending the event in the dominant Truck’s favor, gave the Polish professional an 8:1 chip lead.
Soon, all the chips sat in front of Szymanski. The Polish player shoved with 
and got there against Trunk’s correct call with when a safe flop of 
for Trunk was followed first by the blank but then by a crushing on the river to give the dumbfounded Przemyslaw Szymanski his first WSOP bracelet and $128,400. Trunk, who took out more players than anyone else at the final table felt, cashed for $89,250 as runner-up.
Speaking after the event, Szymanski, who claimed his biggest-ever result with victory, was delighted and referenced that vital three-outer escape.
“I was very happy when the ace came on the river – very, very happy!”
If this is the drama we can expect at each WSOPE final table, it’s going to be a superb series in Rozvadov. Invest in your PokerStake favorites at the WSOP Europe right here.
| WSOP Europe €350 Event # Final Table Results: | |||
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1st | Przemyslaw Szymanski | Poland | $128,400 |
| 2nd | Daniel Trunk | Germany | $89,250 |
| 3rd | Rostyslav Sabishchenko | Ukraine | $67,750 |
| 4th | Alberto Speranzoni | Italy | $52,610 |
| 5th | Dmitrij Fadeev | Germany | $41,810 |
| 6th | Georg Strebel | Switzerland | $34,125 |
| 7th | Antonio Menga | Italy | $28,615 |
| 8th | Viorel Gavrila | Romania | $24,550 |
| 9th | Jozsef Dobos | Hungary | $21,610 |
Photographs courtesy of Tomas Stacha for PokerNews, the home of live reporting during the 2024 WSOP Europe.
