Josef Gulas Jr Wins the 2021 WSOP Europe Main Event (€1,276,712)
The coveted gold bracelet in Event #14: €10,350 WSOPE Main Event will remain on home soil as Josef Gulas Jr defeated Johan Guilbert in heads-up. In the 2021 edition, a new attendance record for the WSOP Europe Main Event was set as 688 entries created a prize pool of €6,536,000, surpassing the previous record by 95 entries. Only the top 104 spots were paid and Gulas earned the far biggest payday of his career so far and walked away with the top prize of €1,276,712.
He has become the 8th player from the Czech Republic to win a WSOP gold bracelet and more than half of the victories were recorded on home soil. Martin Kabrhel won both of his career bracelets at the King's Resort, which has also become the home casino for Gulas as well.
Final Result 2021 WSOPE Main Event
| Place | Winner | Country | Prize (in EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Josef Gulas Jr | Czech Republic | €1,276,712 |
| 2 | Johan Guilbert | France | €789,031 |
| 3 | Alexander Tkatschew | Germany | €558,505 |
| 4 | Athanasios Kidas | Greece | €401,344 |
| 5 | Stanislav Koleno | Slovakia | €292,862 |
| 6 | Aleksandar Trajkovski | Macedonia | €217,854 |
| 7 | Thomas Denie | Netherlands | €163,434 |
| 8 | Ilija Savevski | Macedonia | €125,052 |
"It's an incredible feeling. I am truly thankful and happy," an overwhelmed Gulas said in the interview after his victory. "It was a perfect tournament with a very nice structure in the best casino in Europe. Just incredible!"
During the entire festival, he only entered the Opener and then spent the days on the cash game tables while waiting for the Main Event to start, for which he had an entry locked up thanks to his third place finish in the €250 IPS Main Event this past June. He would have entered the Main Event via direct buy-in anyways as the many ticket winners at King's Resort promised a big field but instead did so at a bargain.
"It is something incredible, I would wish it to everyone. Everyone should participate and play in such circumstances, to feel the atmosphere and the feel of the final table," the winner said with regards to the special atmosphere on the live-streamed final table.
When asked what he will do with the money, Gulas was pretty certain he was going to build a house and save the remainder of the money. The 24 year old, who was railed by his family, usually sells cars but a career change may be in order. His father who bears the same name, was right there when everything unfolded and came up a few spots short of the money after bowing out on Day 3.
Runner-up Guilbert, also known under his online moniker "YoH ViraL", has become one of the most popular streamers and vloggers in Europe and padded his bankroll with a consolation prize of €789,031. The Frenchman resides in Malta and recently entered the fray in international High Roller competitions where he notched up six-figure cashes. Two years ago, Guilbert was heads-up for the coveted gold bracelet as well and missed out on the maiden victory in Event #36: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout.
Another three of the final eight players joined eventual champion Gulas in the event thanks to winning an entry to the flagship tournament in competitions with buy-ins below €500. Ilija Savevski earned €125,052 in 8th place, Thomas Denie collected €163,434 for his 7th place and Stanislav Koleno scored a payday of €292,862.
The Action of the Final Day
Only seven players returned to the feature table in Europe's biggest poker arena and all had locked up a six-figure prize already. Eventual champion Gulas started with the lead but it wasn't smooth sailing by any means for the Czech player as he dropped to the shortest stack with four contenders remaining.
By then, Thomas Denie was already on the rail after running his queens into the pocket kings of Athanasios Kidas. Aleksandar Trajkovski then missed a flush draw against Johan Guilbert to become the next casualty and Stanislav Koleno followed shortly thereafter.
One of the pivotal hands of the final day was the clash between Gulas and Guilbert when the former held kings and the latter tabled aces to soar into the top spot. Even though Guilbert temporarily conceded the lead to Alexander Tkatschew, the Frenchman then won several pots including a large one with a gutsy move holding king-ten.
Kidas then lost a battle of the short stacks against Gulas and Tkatschew saw his stack reduced before he jammed into the nut flush of Guilbert. Only a few minutes into the heads-up duel, the chips went into the middle when Guilbert jammed it in with king-queen suited only to get dominated by the ace-king of Gulas.
Guilbert wrestled his way back into the lead but ultimately, the run of cards and aggressive playing style of Gulas prevailed against the min-bet strategy of his opponent to keep the WSOP Europe Main Event gold bracelet on home soil.
This wraps up the PokerNews coverage of the 2021 World Series of Poker Europe, as all 15 gold bracelets at the King's Resort have been awarded.