The field at the 2026 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event has been whittled down from its original 2,167 entries to the final 25 contestants. Leading the way are a couple of unknown entities in the poker world, but known entities such as Chris Hunichen and Day Two chip leader Thomas Eyechenne are still in the pack, looking to attack. Alas, the news isn’t as good for the ladies, as both two-time Women’s Champion Shiina Okamoto and inaugural WSOP-E champion Annette Obrestad would fall during Wednesday’s action.
The Ladies Fall…
Both Okamoto and Obrestad would make tremendous runs in the 2026 WSOP-E Main Event, but it wasn’t to be for either of them.
Okamoto would be the first to go, and it would take a monster to take down the two-time WSOP Women’s Champion. Up against Vasileios Panagiotidis with a board showing 8-J-J-J-7 and three hearts, Okamoto bet out on the river a sizeable chunk of chips, 2.3 million. Panagiotidis moved all-in over the top of that bet, forcing Okamoto to a decision. She eventually made the call and unveiled pocket Aces, but Panagiotidis tossed a J-10 on the table for quad Jacks, sending Okamoto out of the tournament in 37th place.
Obrestad didn’t last much longer. She would get her chips to the center with pocket deuces, only to be called down by Sondre Stormyr’s K-J offsuit, and the board would not cooperate with ‘Annette_15.’ A Jack fell on the flop, leaving Obrestad drawing to the remaining two deuces in the deck. That magical card would not come, as a seven fell on the turn and a ten on the river would send Obrestad out of the tournament in 34th place.
While Zhu and Shells Climb
Hengtao Zhu was hotter than a mail-order pistol on Wednesday, building his stack from the start with massive wins. He would make a four-flush against Johan Espholm’s pocket tens that scored a set on the flop. If that weren’t enough, Zhu would cooler Roberto Romanello in a Kings versus Queens battle to send the poker Triple Crown winner to the rail in 42nd place.
Zhu was joined on the march to the top of the leaderboard by Brandon Sheils, who made a big move late in the evening to seize the #2 slot on the ladder. With the board showing 8-10-4-3-4, Benjamin Chalot checked his option over to Sheils, only to see the Brit hit him with an all-in move that would take his remaining stack. After deliberating over a few time bank chips, Chalot decided to let his hand go to the muck and the 2.3 million chip pot slip to Sheils, solidifying his position at #2 at the end of the night.
As the remaining 25 men head to Day Five, here’s how the Top Ten line up:
1. Hengtao Zhu (Finland), 16.395 million
2. Brandon Sheils (United Kingdom), 15.935 million
3. Rokas Asipauskas (Lithuania), 12.1 million
4. Akihiro Konishi (Japan), 9.49 million
5. Vasileios Panagiotidis (Greece), 9.275 million
6. Peter Koevesdi (Germany), 8.085 million
7. Marius Kudzmanas (Lithuania), 6.595 million
8. Joona Nyholm (Finland), 6.405 million
9. Chris Hunichen (USA), 6.31 million
10. Steven Jones (USA), 5.98 million
Hunichen has been hovering in the Top Ten throughout the run of the 2026 WSOP-E Main Event, and he has to be considered a significant threat for making the final table. After that, can ‘Big Huni’ actually bring his skills to take down this major title? Another name on down the leaderboard is Day Two chip leader Thomas Eychenne, who has only 2.34 million chips, but is only a double up from pushing his way closer to the Top Ten.
The plan for the action in Prague on Thursday is to play six ninety-minute levels, or down to the final table if they do so before the scheduled levels are played. Friday will be the day that the championship is determined, when the 2026 WSOP-E Main Event champion will be crowned, and the two million Euros spoils are handed to the victor.
