Playing under the alias “Fino y Elegante” and carrying 140 big blinds — the largest stack at the table — Lucas Teixeira Rodrigues entered the final table of Event #2 in the 2026 GGPoker WSOP Online festival with a clear advantage and never relinquished it, according to PokerNews. The Brazilian player went on to win the $300 Gladiators of Poker, banking $579,752 and a $30,000 Super Pass to the 2026 WSOP Paradise Super Main Event.
The field that Rodrigues navigated was a substantial one. PokerNews reported that Event #2 drew 17,077 entrants, with 1,307 surviving Day 1, and a total prize pool of $4,764,483 — of which $2,287,090 remained to be distributed at the final table. Vladislav Saprykin of Russia and Rafael Santanna Barcia of Brazil started that final table second and third in chips with 77 and 52 big blinds respectively; Saprykin ultimately finished fourth for $265,561, while Barcia took third for $344,383. No deal was struck between the last two players, per PokerNews, and the runner-up added $446,602 to their GGPoker account.
The result extended what PokerNews described as a perfect start to the festival for Brazil. Raphael Caixeta had already claimed Event #1, the $700 7th Annual WSOP Kick-Off, for $207,167 earlier in the week, making Brazilian players two for two across the opening two bracelet events, according to PokerNews.
Attention in the festival has since shifted to Event #3, the $2,500 Bounty NLH Championship, where PokerNews reported that 20 players remained in contention when the article was published on August 19. Arsenii Karmatckii held the chip lead with 4,754,718 chips and had accumulated $19,640 in bounties across a field of 781 entrants, with a first-place prize of $127,888 available — and play in that event was scheduled to resume at 7:00 p.m. BST on August 19.
