Esfandiari, Hellmuth and Watson triumphant at WSOPE

Posted February 20, 2026 by TitanPokerBonusCodes in News.

The 2026 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event is in the books, and the big winners at what has to be considered a fairly disappointing tournament series in terms of turnout were Antonio Esfandiari, Mike "SirWatts" Watson, and Phil Hellmuth.

Antonio wins third WSOP bracelet

Following up on his historic Big One for One Drop win, Antonio Esfandiari captured his third career WSOP bracelet in Cannes, winning the €1,100 NLHE event at the 2026 WSOPE.

Here is a look at the final table payouts from the tournament:

1. Antonio Esfandiari — €126,207
2. Remi Bollengier — €78,059
3. Salvatore Bonavena — €57,079
4. Antonin Teisserie — €42,356
5. Valentin Detoc — €31,869
6. McLean Karr — €24,309
7. Ashly Butler — €18,798
8. Jamel Haddad — €14,736
9. Florian Ciuro — €11,707

Mike Watson wins €50k High-Roller tournament

Even though it wasn't a bracelet event, the €50k High-Roller tournament at the WSOPE was among the most talked about, and most anticipated of the tournament series. In the end 49 players entered the event and 11 rebuys were used. Watson defeated the all-star field for his first major win since 2026, when he won the WPT Bellagio Cup, collecting his second seven-figure score of his career.

Here is a look at how the players finished at the final table:

1. Mike Watson – €1,000,000
2. John Juanda – €600,000
3. Richard Yong – €400,000
4. Philipp Gruissem – €275,000
5. Tobias Renkemeier – €200,000
6. Jani Sointula – €160,000
7. Steve O'Dwyer – €130,000
8. David Benefield – €115,000

Phil Hellmuth cements his legacy with WSOPE Main Event win

While Antonio and Watson both received some attention at the WSOPE the tournament series, and likely the entire year of 2026 belongs to Phil Hellmuth. Hellmuth became the first player in poker history to win the WSOP and WSOPE Main Events, when he picked-up his second bracelet of 2026, bringing his career total to an unprecedented 13 bracelets.

With all of his other WSOP records it's hard to make a case for anyone other than Hellmuth as the best tournament poker player the game has ever seen –especially considering he won a non-holdem bracelet this year, finished 2^nd in three non-holdem events in 2026, and has now finished second and first in the last two WSOP Player of the Year races.

Here is a look at the final table payouts from the 2026 WSOPE Main Event:

1. Phil Hellmuth – € 1,022,376
2. Sergii Baranov – € 632,592
3. Stephane Albertini – € 423,360
4. Joseph Cheong – € 292,320
5. Christopher Brammer – € 207,648
6. Paul Tedeschi – € 149,184
7. Stephane Girault – € 108,864
8. Jason Mercier – € 84,672

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