Poker Writer
Austrian poker player Max Neugebauer was in contention to become the WSOP Europe’s first two-time Main Event champion, but came up short at the final table yesterday. He bowed out in sixth place on the final day of the tournament, which will also be the last run of the event in Rozvadov, its long-time home. Despite entering the final table of eight players as the second-largest stack, his day did not go smoothly, though he still took home a healthy €195,000 for sixth.
Neugebauer was looking to make history by becoming the first WSOPE Main Event winner to repeat the feat. In 2023, he bested over 800 opponents for a €1.5 million grand prize. That win accounts for more than half of his lifetime career earnings, which are a little over €2.5 million according to the Card Player database. Yesterday’s result is now his second-largest cash, despite an early exit from the day.
Registration numbers this year in Rozvadov have been the smallest the Main Event has seen since the pandemic. Still, the 659 who did enter were vying for a prestigious WSOP bracelet and seven-figure top prize of €1.4 million. Six different countries were represented among the final table of eight players on the final day, including three Germans and two Austrians.
Neugebauer was the main storyline of the final table, which played out over the course of an 8-hour live stream on YouTube. After his elimination in sixth, his countryman Gerald Karlic and Daniel Pidun of Germany became the main threats to win the Main Event title.
Pidun Wins After Long Heads Up
The way the final table played out was that the first six eliminations went quickly, but the ultimate heads-up battle was a drawn-out affair. There was considerable back-and-forth between Karlic and Pidun, but it was Pidun who eventually came out on top. It was a breakout moment for the German, being his first result since 2022 and only his 11th overall. His other results have been spread out over a number of years, with the earliest dating all the way back to 2009. However, they include a win in the 2013 EPT Berlin Main Event, so this isn’t his first time in the limelight.
This will be the final WSOPE final table in Rozvadov for the foreseeable future. The WSOP pre-empted this final table earlier in the day with news that the next WSOPE will move to Prague. Neugebauer will only have to wait another six months to try again, as the move also comes with a scheduling change to April. WSOPE in spring will be a first, as the fall timeslot has been the norm for the series since its inception.
