Following two starting flights and four more days of action, Italy’s Simone Andrian has been crowned the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event Champion. Simone Andrian, who began his live poker career at the King’s Resort in 2021 and won his first WSOP gold bracelet in the 2021 WSOP Europe, has now come full circle by winning the 2024 WSOP Europe Main Event for a career-best € 1.3 million. Simone Andrian has become the 15th player in WSOP Europe history to win the Main Event.
The €10,350 buy-in WSOP Europe Main Event saw an impressive 768 entries, pushing the guaranteed €5,000,000 to €7,219,200. Of the 768 entrants, only the top 116th received a payout. Among those who cashed were several notables, including Fabio Peluso (69th), Jan-Peter Jachtmann (59th), Lukas Pazma (54th), Dietrich Fast (42nd), the six-time bracelet winner Shaun Deeb (34th), and Anson Tsang who elimination on the final table bubble, collecting €74,000 for 10th place finish.
2024 WSOP Europe Main Event Final Table Recap
The final table was formed on Day 4, with Simone Andrian leading the final nine with 211 big blinds. Urmo Velvelt held the second-largest chip stack, while Serbia’s Luka Bojovic was the table short stack.
Germany’s Fabian Gumz was the first to fall at the final table. Gumz ran into the pocket aces of Ilani with Kd-Qd and was eliminated in 9th place, collecting €93,900. Andrian scored his first final table elimination by knocking out Luka Bojovic in 8th place (€122,000). Andrian then sent Robin Berggren to the rail in 7th place (€161,000). The remaining final six players battled it out down to a winner on the final day. Simone Andrian started the day with the massive chip lead (168 big blinds), with Estonia’s Urmo Velvelt starting second in chips (78 big blinds).
Italian player and bracelet winner Enrico Camosci was the first to be eliminated among the remaining six. He was short-stacked and moved all-in with Ad-Jd, and Velvelt called with pocket eights. The flop came Kh-2d-5d, giving Camosci a nut flush draw, but the Ks on the turn and 4c on the river ended Camosci’s run in 6th place. He added €217,000 to his earnings.
Andrian extended his lead even further by eliminating David Hoccheim in 5th place (€297,000). Hoccheim put his last chips in the middle holding Ad-4c, and Andrian called with pocket queens. The queens held, sending Hoccheim to the rail.
Next, Marius Golinski shoved with Ah-Js, and Andrian called with Ac-Qd. Andrian spiked a Qs on the flop and caught an Ad on the river to kick off the three-handed battle. Golinski banked €415,000 for his 4th-place finish.
Ran Ilani’s run came to an end in 3rd place. In a blind versus blind battle, Velvelt four-bet Ilani, and Ilani jammed with Ad-Ks. Velvelt showed pocket queens, and the board ran out Jh-4d-4s-10c-3h. Velvelt’s queens held, sending Ilani to the rail in 3rd place, pocketing €590,000.
Heading into heads-up play, Urmo Velvelt (40,000,000) held a slight chip lead over Andrian (36,000,000). The heads-up battle lasted for over three hours, with both players fighting to take the lead. Although Velvelt extended his lead at one point, Andrian regained ground and evened the stacks.
On the final hand, Urmo Velvelt called Andrian’s all-in with Ah-10s. Andrian showed pocket tens. The board ran out 6d-2s-9s-7c-Kh, and Simone Andrian clinched the Main Event title, earning his third WSOP bracelet and a staggering seven-figure prize of €1,300,000. Velvelt had to settle for €854,000 as the runner-up.
2024 WSOP Europe Main Event Final Table Standings
| Rank | Player | Prize (EUR) |
| 1st | Simone Andrian | €1,300,000 |
| 2nd | Urmo Velvelt | €854,000 |
| 3rd | Ran Ilani | €590,000 |
| 4th | Mariusz Golinski | €415,000 |
| 5th | David Hochheim | €297,000 |
| 6th | Enrico Camosci | €217,000 |
| 7th | Robin Berggren | €161,000 |
| 8th | Luka Bojovic | €122,000 |
| 9th | Fabian Gumez | $93,900 |
A Look Back At WSOP Europe Champions Over The Years
The WSOP Europe main event has seen several notables winners over the past years, including poker legend Phil Hellmuth and Spanish super star Adrian Mateos. Here is a quick look at the champions crowned over the years:
WSOPE 2007
After purchasing the rights to the WSOP in 2004, Harrah’s Casino announced that it would be partnering with Betfair to bring the World Series of Poker to the region of Europe. This marked the very first expansion of the WSOP brand. Consequently, the 2007 WSOPE took place at Empire Casino in London.
Because of the legal gambling age in England being 18, for the first time ever players under the age of 21 got a chance to participate in the WSOP. Subsequently, Annette Obrestad became the youngest player to win a WSOP bracelet at age 18 years, 364 days. She won the 2007 WSOPE Main Event for £1,000,000.
WSOPE 2008
The inaugural series awarded three bracelets however, looking at the success, the number of bracelets was increased to four the following year. The tournament was once again hosted by the Empire Casino in London. This time it saw several big names again in attendance. It had Phil Ivey final-tabling the £2,500 H.O.R.S.E while 2000 WSOP Main Event winner Chris Ferguson final-tabled the £5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha.
The coveted 2008 WSOPE Main Event was won by John Juanda, who outlasted a starry final table including Daniel Negreanu, Ivan Demidov and others.
2009 WSOPE
The 2009 WSOPE Main Event was shipped by Barry Shulman for £801,603. He beat Daniel Negreanu in the heads-up, after ‘KidPoker’ recorded back-to-back WSOPE Main Event final tables.
WSOPE 2010
Although WSOPE was being held at the Empire Casino in London, United Kingdom, it took four editions for an English player to headline the WSOPE festival and win a WSOPE bracelet. This feat was accomplished by James Bord who won the 2010 WSOPE Main Event. He walked away with £830,401. Other notable names to win bracelets at the 2010 WSOPE included Phil Laak, Jeff Lisandro and Gus Hansen.
WSOPE 2011
It was a WSOPE 2011, that the series moved to France. It was held at Le Croisette Casino Barrière in Cannes, France. The schedule at this new venue featured seven bracelet events. The 2011 WSOPE Main Event was won by Elio Fox. He beat 593 players to claim the top prize of €1,400,000. Notably, this was also the largest WSOPE Main Event ever.
Michael Mizrachi grabbed his second career bracelet in the €10,400 NLHE Split Format at the series, just a year after shipping the 2010 Poker Player’s Championship for his first.
WSOPE 2012
The WSOPE made a return to Cannes in 2012 and it witnessed the biggest WSOPE winner’s story in history so far. Poker Brat Phil Hellmuth won the 2012 WSOPE Main Event for a paycheque of over €1m to increase his WSOP bracelet tally to 13. With this win, he also became the first player in the history of WSOP to win both the WSOP and WSOPE Main Event.
Apart from the Main Event, Antonio Esfandiari also grabbed his third bracelet. This marked his second bracelet in a span of three months just after he had won the inaugural €1,000,000 Big One for One Drop event at WSOP.
WSOPE 2013
2013 WSOPE now had eight bracelets that were awarded to champions. This time the series was held at Enghien-les-Bains, France located just outside the capital Paris. Roger Hairabedian became the first French WSOPE bracelet winner by shipping one of the tourneys and also became the first player to have won two WSOPE bracelets.
This season was quite an iconic one which saw Daniel Negreanu succeed in the €25,600 High Roller event and grabbed his sixth WSOP bracelet. Besides he also claimed the 2013 WSOP Player of the Year crown in the process.
The 2013 WSOPE Main Event was taken down by 19-year-old Spanish player Adrian Mateos, who went on to beat the home favorite Fabrice Soulier after a heads-up match that lasted for five hours.
WSOPE 2015
After two editions in France, the WSOPE then repositioned to Spielbank Casino, located in the heart of the German capital Berlin. The 2015 series has ten bracelet events on the schedule for the first time. 2010 WSOP Main Event winner Jonathan Duhamel won his third WSOP bracelet in the €25,600 High Roller.
The Main Event of 2015 WSOPE Main Event was claimed by Kevin MacPhee. The event drew only 313 players in the field marking the smallest WSOPE Main Event in history. MacPhee pocketed €883,000 in prize money.
WSOPE 2017
After an outing in Germany, in October 2016 the WSOPE officials announced they had signed a multi-year deal with King’s Casino, Rozvadov. WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart had said, “I have really bought into Leon [Tsoukernik]’s vision for creating a poker-first destination in Central Europe. With King’s backing large guarantees and media coverage, we believe we have found a long term home for WSOPE to replicate the scale we enjoy in Las Vegas.”
2000 WSOP Main Event winner Chris Ferguson was the biggest winner at the 2017 WSOPE. He won a sixth bracelet in the €1,650 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better. In the process, he was also named 2017 WSOP Player of the Year.
In the same season, Niall Farrell turned out to be the eighth player to win poker’s Triple Crown by taking down the €25,000 High Roller. The 2017 WSOPE Main Event was shipped by Marti Roca de Torres for €1,115,207. He beat Gianluca Speranza heads-up to win the title.
WSOPE 2018
It was initially announced that King’s Casino would host the WSOPE again in 2019. However, in mid-2018, it was announced that the series would return after just one year.
At WSOPE 2018, the schedule once again featured ten bracelet events. Martin Kabrhel won his second bracelet in the €100,000 Super High Roller after winning his first just one year earlier.
The 2018 WSOPE Main Event was taken down by Jack Sinclair. Former WSOP Main Event winner Ryan Riess was also seen making it to the final table, but was busted in fourth place.
WSOPE 2019
The 2019 WSOPE had 15 bracelets to be won, the most number awarded at a WSOPE in history. This time the schedule included a short deck event and a €100,000 High Roller for the very first time.
Australian player Kahle Burns became the first player to ship two WSOPE bracelets at the same festival, living in the footsteps of the eventual WSOP Player of the Year winner Robert Campbell who had achieved the feat at the 2019 WSOP.
Similarly, Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier won his career’s second bracelet in the €550 Colossus event. The 2019 WSOPE Main Event was shipped by Alexandros Kolonias. He outlasted 541 players – the second-largest entrants in WSOPE Main Event in history.
WSOPE 2020
The 2020 WSOPE was cancelled like many live poker festivals that were stalled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
WSOPE 2021
In 2021 the WSOPE retured to King’s Resort, Rozvadov with 15 bracelets scheduled. Held from Nov. 19 to Dec. 8, the series offered nearly €12m guaranteed across the festival with buy-ins ranging from €350 to €50,000.
Andriy Lyubovetskiy, who headlined the €25,000 Platinum High Roller for €518,430, and Romain Le Dantec, who won the €10,000 NLH 6-Max for €207,267 were some notable wins in the season. Josef Gulas Jr emerged as the 2021 WSOPE Main Event champion and received a cool €1,276,712 for his efforts.
WSOPE 2022
The WSOPE 2022 was held at King’s Resort, Rozvadov, between October 26 and November 16, 2022. Like the previous seasons, this turned out to be another huge success. Andriy Lyubovetski won his second bracelet shipping in the last and final event of the series, the €1,000 NLHE Turbo Freezeout.
Paul Phua won the €25,000 Platinum High Roller bracelet and €482,433, while Turkish player Orpen Kisacikoglu denied Sam Grafton a bracelet in the €50,000 Diamond High Roller, banking an impressive €748,106.
The 202 WSOPE Main Event witnessed 73 entrants and a massive €7,248,500 prize pool. Notably, this was, far more than the promoted €5,000,000 guarantee. Sweden’s Omar Eljach came out on top, taking home €1,380,129. His fellow final tablists included Shaun Deeb (3rd – €607,531), Vladas Tamasauskas (4th – €438,978), Barny Boatman (7th – €180,867), Alexandre Reard (8th – €138,702), and Timothy Adams (9th – €108,024).
WSOPE 2023
The WSOPE 2023 was held at King’s Resort, Rozvadov, between October 25 and November 14. Notable player like Daniel Dvoress won his first live bracelet in the €25,000 GGMillion€, while 2022 WSOPE Main Event champion Omar Eljach claimed his second bracelet in the €550 Pot Limit Omaha.
The WSOPE Main Event of 2023 WSOPE was the largest in history. It was won by former pro basketball player Max Neugebauer who conquered a field of 817 players to win €1,500,000.
| Year | Winner | Prize | Entrants |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Annette Obrestad | £1,000,000 | 362 |
| 2008 | John Juanda | £868,800 | 362 |
| 2009 | Barry Shulman | £801,603 | 334 |
| 2010 | James Bord | £830,401 | 346 |
| 2011 | Elio Fox | €1,400,000 | 593 |
| 2012 | Phil Hellmuth | €1,022,376 | 420 |
| 2013 | Adrián Mateos | €1,000,000 | 375 |
| 2015 | Kevin MacPhee | €883,000 | 313 |
| 2017 | Marti Roca de Torres | €1,115,207 | 529 |
| 2018 | Jack Sinclair | €1,122,239 | 534 |
| 2019 | Alexandros Kolonias | €1,133,678 | 541 |
| 2021 | Josef Guláš | €1,276,712 | 688 |
| 2022 | Omar Eljach | €1,380,129 | 763 |
| 2023 | Max Neugebauer | €1,500,000 | 817 |
| 2024 | Simone Andrian | €1,300,000 | 768 |
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Source: WSOP
Image Credit: WSOP
