Every twelve years or so, it's like Daniel Pidun from Germany returns to the scene, only this time with a result that
changes his life.
He shocked the poker world in 2013 when he won the European Poker Tour Main Event in Berlin and
earned just over $1.1 million. At the time, it was only the fourth win of his career.
In the following 12 years, he won only a handful of times. Towards the end of the decade, he had some memorable results in high-stakes tournaments. After these seemingly unexpected events, Pidun beat 659 players to win the โฌ10,350 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event at WSOP Europe 2025.
He won his first WSOP bracelet and took home โฌ1,140,000, which equates to approximately
$1,333,800.
“I only play once a year. I don't have time. I seem to be doing something right,” he joked to the live
reporters after his victory.
With this result, he reached more than 3 million dollars in his career. Pidun was also the winner of the
bracelet, joining his brother Thomer. They are now the only brothers in WSOP history to achieve this feat.
Event dynamics and seat change
the 2025 WSOPE was held at the King's Resort in Rozvadov, on the Czech-German border, from 3 October 2025
to 8 October 2025 . In 2026, the series will move to Prague, and Rozvadov will host the last event.
The event attracted 659 players and paid out more than
โฌ6.1 million to the top 99 winners, equivalent to around $7.2 million. Only eight players remained on the final day, with Brazil's Murilo Garcia having the most chips
Early bustouts and big names
The first player to get eliminated was Matthias Gude, whose AโฆQโฆ faced Garcia KโฆKโฃ. Garcia got
the highest hand on the flop, stopping Gude's play and sending him home with โฌ110,000
, which is approximately $128,700.
Another player who was eliminated was Catalin Pop from Romania, who lost a classic
preflop contest with AโฃKโฃ against a strong opponent's hand. For his efforts, he received 145,000
Euros, which is approximately $169,650.
At the same time, Max Neugebauer, who won the WSOPE title in 2023, almost repeated the feat. He
pushed his last 15 big blinds with Aโฅ3โฃ, and Gerald Karlic responded with 9โฅ9โฃ to dominate him
.
Neugebauer finished the tournament in fifth place, earning โฌ195,000, which is about
$228,150. During his career, he earned a total of โฌ2.6 million. In his career, he has earned $7.6 million in his career and his 2023 win contributed around $1.6 million to that total.
Final Four Showdown
Karlic was the chip leader at the dinner break and Teemu Jaatinen had the smallest stack of chips
. After the break, Jaatinen bet all in with Aโฃ8โฃ, and Pidun called with AโฅJโ .
Both players flopped top pair, but Pidun won the hand thanks to a better kicker.
Jaatinen received โฌ370,000, which is equivalent to approximately $432,900.
Things then got interesting with a series of preflop raises: Pidun made a minimum raise with
Aโฅ9โฅ, Garcia decided to 3bet with Aโฃ3โฃ, and then Karlic made a strong 4bet with 10โฅ10โฃ.
Garcia then moved all in. Karlic quickly called and won with the top nine. Karlic quickly eliminated Garcia, secured third place and won an estimated โฌ525,000 ($614,250), his biggest cash prize to date. Karlic's chip stack increased to 49.85 million.
Karlic had a 3:1 chip lead at the start of heads-up play, but Pidun was able to recover. Pidun
won a big pot with a flush that beat Karlic's four-card hand.
Before the last break, they had identical chip counts. After the break, Karlic doubled his stack, winning the hand with A-5 against Pidun's Q-10.
However, the most important hand happened pre-flop: Pidun raised with AโฅAโฃ from the button, Karlic
made a 3bet bet with Jโ Jโฃ, Pidun made a 4bet big bet, and Karlic opted to make a
5bet allin.
Pidun quickly called. The table was safe for Pidun, with aces against jacks, and Pidun won the title.
Karlic earned โฌ757,000, which equates to approximately $885,690. This increased his total live winnings to $3.3 million.
Final table results
| Location | Player | Country | Winnings (EUR) |
| 1 | Daniel Pidun | Germany | โฌ1,140,000 |
| 2 | Gerald Karlic | Austria | โฌ757,000 |
| 3 | Murilo Garcia | Brazil | โฌ525,000 |
| 4 | Teemu Jaatinen | Finland | โฌ370,000 |
| 5 | Claudio Di Giacomo | Italy | โฌ265,000 |
| 6 | Max Neugebauer | Austria | โฌ195,000 |
| 7 | Catalin Pop | Romania | โฌ145,000 |
| 8 | Matthias Gude | Germany | โฌ110,000 |
