Sascha Wilhelm wins his second WSOP bracelet at WSOPE 2025

Sascha Wilhelm won the €1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Max tournament at the World Series of Poker Europe 2025 and claimed his second WSOP bracelet.

As part of the World Series of Poker Europe 2025 at the luxurious King’s Resort (Rozvadov, Czech Republic), Event #3: €1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Max has concluded. The winner was Germany’s Sascha Wilhelm , who claimed his second WSOP bracelet and the top prize of €148,600 . The tournament attracted 811 entries, with a total prize pool reaching €850,000 . In this article, we’ll break down the course of the event, key hands, and discuss what PPPoker club players can learn from it. Context: WSOPE series, tournament format, and participants The World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) is the European edition of the world-famous poker series, held annually at King’s Resort, Rozvadov. The Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Max tournament is a poker variant where each player receives four cards, and the maximum bet is limited to the size of the pot. A maximum of eight players compete at each table. The buy-in was €1,000, making the tournament accessible to a wide audience. The tournament featured 811 players, creating a prize pool of €850,000. There were four starting flights, after which 123 players advanced to Day 2, and only the top 16 made it to the final day. Among the finalists were well-known pros and WSOP bracelet holders: Rifat Palevic and Tobias Peters , as well as renowned Omaha specialist Salih Atac and Italian Filippo Ragone , who ultimately finished third. Final day action: key hands and the outcome On the final day, Sascha Wilhelm started with the second-largest stack, seated to the left of chip leader Salih Atac . Thanks to his advantageous position, Wilhelm began actively accumulating chips, winning small pots and closing the gap with the leader. Within the first minutes of the day, he eliminated Georgios Koliofotis , hitting a set of kings on the river and sending his opponent out in 15th place. Within two hours, the field was down to a final table of nine. Alexander Hepting became the final table “bubble boy” when he failed to improve on the river against Filippo Ragone ’s straight. By the start of the final table, Wilhelm already had nearly twice as many chips as his closest competitor. However, the start of the final table was not easy: in the very first hand, Wilhelm doubled up Tobias Peters , who made a flush on the flop. The first to bust was Pablo Heredia (9th place), whose short stack was claimed by Javier Francort with a nut straight on the flop. Francort continued to build his stack, knocking out Salih Atac in eighth place. But soon his tournament took a dramatic turn. In a hand against Wilhelm, with both players leading in chips, a key “cooler” occurred: Francort defended his big blind, called two streets, then led out on the river and instantly called Wilhelm’s all-in. Francort had kings full of sevens, but Wilhelm revealed quads, made on the flop. This hand gave Wilhelm half the chips in play, and Francort was eliminated in seventh place. Soon after, Wilhelm knocked out Rifat Palevic (6th place), catching a set on the blinds against his opponent’s aces. He then extended his lead, making a straight on the river against Tobias Peters ’ aces, increasing his stack to three times that of his nearest rival. After the second break, Wilhelm’s “sun run” faded a bit: Daniel Bang-Ortmann doubled through him with a pair of aces, and Vitaliy Kryza , who had been short-stacked for a long time, also won several pots. Filippo Ragone soon managed to outplay Wilhelm, making both a straight and a flush against his double aces, but despite these setbacks, Wilhelm kept his composure and continued to apply pressure, taking down pots without showdown. Bang-Ortmann doubled again, making two higher pairs, and caught up with Wilhelm—both had about 10 million chips, five times more than Ragone and Kryza. Soon, Kryza exited in fourth place, losing to Bang-Ortmann, who made a nut straight. Ragone followed in third, losing to Wilhelm, who made a higher flush on the river. The heads-up between Wilhelm and Bang-Ortmann began with Wilhelm holding a slight lead of eight big blinds. He immediately took the initiative, extending his lead to a 2:1 ratio without going to showdown. Nevertheless, Bang-Ortmann managed to turn the tide, winning a series of hands, including two where he made full houses on the river and got paid by Wilhelm. For the first time in a long while, Wilhelm’s stack dropped below 10 million, but everything changed after the biggest hand of the tournament. Wilhelm check-called on a low flop, called again on the turn (jack), then shoved all-in over Bang-Ortmann’s bet. The Dane called, only to see Wilhelm had the better two pair. The river didn’t improve Bang-Ortmann, and Wilhelm took a commanding lead. Bang-Ortmann managed to double up twice, but the third time Wilhelm sealed the deal: his set of queens held against his opponent’s straight draw. Thus, Sascha Wilhelm secured the victory, his second WSOP bracelet, and the top prize of €148,600. Payout table and final results Below are the final table results for WSOPE 2025 Event #3: €1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Max : Place Player Country Prize (€) 1 Sascha Wilhelm Germany 148,600 2 Daniel Bang-Ortmann Denmark 91,800 3 Filippo Ragone Italy 68,100 4 Vitaliy Kryza Ukraine 51,000 5 Tobias Peters Netherlands 38,900 6 Rifat Palevic Sweden 30,100 7 Javier Francort Spain 23,600 8 Salih Atac Turkey 18,800 9 Pablo Heredia Spain 15,200 Winner’s comments and key moments This was the second career bracelet for Sascha Wilhelm. After his victory, he admitted he was feeling great: “It’s always nice to win, especially after a long time. The money is less than last time, of course, but just winning the bracelet is very satisfying.” Wilhelm himself considers the key moment of the tournament to be the hand against Javier Francort, when his quads beat his opponent’s full house: “From that moment, I felt the tournament was mine.” Even when his opponent started taking big pots during heads-up, Wilhelm kept his composure: “It was tough losing big pots, but I tried to stay calm and focus on each next hand.” As for his future plans, Wilhelm said he’s not sure if he’ll play out the whole series: “I planned to stay until the end, but now I might leave earlier. We’ll see.” He planned to celebrate modestly: “Maybe I’ll have a couple of drinks with friends. There’s not much to do here, but we’ll see.” Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Max format explained for beginners Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) is a poker variant where each player is dealt four cards, and exactly two must be used in combination with three community cards on the board. Unlike No-Limit Hold’em, the maximum bet at any time cannot exceed the current size of the pot. This makes the game more dynamic and often leads to big pots and “coolers”—situations where strong hands clash, as in the quads versus full house hand. The 8-Max format means a maximum of eight players per table, which encourages a more aggressive and open style of play compared to full-ring tables with nine or ten players. The €1,000 buy-in is relatively affordable for European series, attracting both professionals and amateurs. As seen in the table, the final table payouts are quite substantial, even for those finishing outside the top three. What this means for PPPoker club players For PPPoker club members, this news is a great example of how solid strategy and composure can lead to success even in the toughest tournaments. Wilhelm not only used positional advantage and aggression but also managed to keep his cool when luck turned against him. This highlights the importance of psychological resilience and the ability to adapt to changing game dynamics. It’s also worth noting the Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Max format: it’s becoming increasingly popular on online platforms, including PPPoker. PLO tournaments require players to pay more attention to hand construction and pot size calculations. Regular practice in this format will help you stay one step ahead of your opponents. Finally, Wilhelm’s story is a reminder: even if you can’t win every pot, it’s important to keep playing your game, look for profitable spots, and not let emotions take over. Using your strengths and maintaining focus is the key to success in both live and online PPPoker club tournaments.