Poker News Daily reported that Joao Hayashi won his first World Series of Poker bracelet after surviving a 1,022-entry field spread across four continent-restricted Day 1 flights. The title came in Event #15: $1,000 Rounder Cup Battle of the Continents at the 2026 WSOP Online on GGPoker, and Hayashi collected $164,990 from the event’s $970,900 prize pool.
Along with the cash, PokerNews reported that Hayashi received a $30,000 Super Pass to the 2026 WSOP Paradise Super Main Event — a meaningful addition to what was already a career-defining result. The event’s structure required players to enter through flights designated by region, with Day 1 sessions restricted to competitors from Asia, Eurasia, Europe, and the Americas respectively, before 100 survivors advanced to a combined Day 2. Israel’s Ravid Garbi was the last player eliminated before the final table, finishing ninth for $20,623, per PokerNews.
Hayashi wasted little time returning to the virtual felt. According to PokerNews, he carried 2,988,483 chips into Day 2 of the concurrent Event #16: $500 Deepstack NLH Championship, sitting 12th among the 103 players remaining from an original field of 3,971. Joris Ruijs held the chip lead in that event with 5,482,910, and the tournament’s top prize stood at $194,703 from a prize pool of $1,886,225. Event #16 was scheduled to crown its champion on September 7.
Elsewhere in the series, Event #17 — a $250 Mystery Millions event — was deep into its Day 1 flights on September 7, with five flights still to come. PokerNews reported that 3,414 players from 40,687 entrants had already secured Day 2 spots, though the event carried a $641,990 shortfall against its $10 million guarantee at the time of reporting. Xuanyi “Jokerwang777” Wang led the early Day 2 qualifiers with 2,744,209 chips. Once Day 2 begins, the $5 million mystery bounty pool will be activated, and play will continue until the field is trimmed to the final nine.
PokerNews noted that Brazilian players have accumulated three wins, three runner-up finishes, and four third-place finishes across 15 completed events in the 2026 WSOP Online, underscoring the country’s strong presence throughout the series.
