Italian poker pro Giuliano Bendinelli has won his first WSOP bracelet in Event #4: €2,000 No-Limit Hold’em Monsterstack at the 2025 World Series of Poker Europe at King’s Resort. Bendinelli overcame a field of 419 entries that built an €870,000 prize pool, outlasting Czech bracelet winner Zdenek Zizka in a marathon heads-up battle packed with dramatic doubles and improbable runouts. This win bolsters his reputation as poker’s “comeback kid” after his miraculous one-big-blind comeback in the 2022 EPT Barcelona Main Event, putting him one WPT Championship title away from the Triple Crown.
Final Table Results and Payouts
Every player in the top ten secured a €10,350 WSOPE Main Event seat.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (EUR)* |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Giuliano Bendinelli | Italy | €169,850 |
| 2 | Zdenek Zizka | Czechia | €115,650 |
| 3 | Oleh Okhotskyi | Ukraine | €81,450 |
| 4 | Silviu Baltateanu | Romania | €59,450 |
| 5 | Jose Gaona | Mexico | €45,000 |
| 6 | Daniel Knuth | Germany | €35,400 |
| 7 | Ioannis Chorianopoulos | Greece | €28,900 |
| 8 | Yehonatan Behor | Israel | €24,400 |
| 9 | Ratmir Kesidis | Greece | €21,300 |
- The top ten also earned a €10,350 WSOPE Main Event seat (included in payout amount).
Bendinelli Reflects on Emotional Win and Strategy
An emotional Bendinelli could hardly believe what he had achieved after finally joining poker’s club of bracelet winners.
“It was my dream from the beginning, winning an EPT and winning a WSOP bracelet,” he said shortly after posing for winner’s photos. “Now I have both. Barcelona was the biggest one, but this is also really special.”
The Italian explained how he adapted his strategy throughout the marathon final day. “I didn’t have the stack to command the final table, so I just paid attention and played ICM. Then from about 3-4 players left I started to play for the win. I won some showdowns, even a miracle runner-runner at one point, and that helped me survive.”
Giuliano Bendinelli highlighted the intensity of the heads-up with Zizka. “That was crazy,” he said with a smile. “I woke up really early yesterday and now I’ve basically been up for 24 hours. I’m so happy but also so tired. I can’t even understand what just happened.”
Known as poker’s comeback kid after his miraculous EPT Barcelona triumph, Bendinelli reflected on his ability to fight back against the odds. “I feel grateful for everything that is happening to me. I’m proud of my game, but of course poker has a lot of variance too. Since 2022 I’ve been running really good, and I’m thankful for it.”
With this victory, Bendinelli secures his place in WSOP history and adds another highlight to what is already one of the most memorable poker careers in recent years.
Key Moments on the Path to Victory
Bendinelli started the final day as chip leader but fell to fifth by the three-table redraw. He did his part in thinning down the field as he sent Alessio La Francesca to the rail in 11th when his king-queen spiked a queen against the ace-king of La Francesca.
Without getting too heavily involved, Bendinelli was hovering around the ten big blind stack throughout the final table and had managed to ladder up to fifth as Ratmir Kesidis, Yehonatan Behor, Ioannis Chorianopoulos, and Daniel Knuth all headed to the payout desk.
A huge double-up that went the eventual champion’s way as he shoved around twelve big blinds with ace-king and was snapped off by Silviu Baltateanu, who had ace-jack. A king on the flop was enough to send Bendinelli’s stack soaring near the top of the counts.
A key hand arose with five players left, involving Bendinelli, Zizka, and Oleh Okhotskyi. Both Bendinelli and Zizka held nine-eight suited, while Okhotskyi held pocket eights. Both flopped top pair with their nine but Zizka picked up a flush draw on the turn and made a small value bet, which eventually got Bendinelli to fold the same hand after he burned through five time banks.
Zizka went on to eliminate both Baltateanu and Okhotskyi in fourth and third place, respectively, before he brought a four-to-one chip lead into heads-up play.
Intense Heads-Up Swings Lead to Bracelet Win
It could have been over in the very first hand as Bendinelli got it in with pocket sixes against the ace-ten suited of Zizka. Instead, a flopped full house kept him alive and gave him momentum. Moments later, he was at risk again with ace-deuce dominated by ace-jack, only for the board to run out a chop and grant him yet another lifeline.
Zizka piled on the pressure and ground his opponent down to fewer than ten big blinds, but Bendinelli wasn’t done with the drama. Holding ace-eight against ten-eight, he looked safe to double until the flop landed ace-ten-ten. Just when it seemed over, an ace on the turn gave him a full house and proved he had no intention of busting quietly.
The swings continued as Zizka shoved ace-jack into Bendinelli’s king-eight suited, with the ace-high flop looking good for Zizka. But running diamonds delivered a backdoor flush and somehow turned the Italian into the chip leader.
Zizka managed to claw one back with ace-nine against king-queen to briefly retake the advantage, but the swings had to end somewhere. In the final hand of the night, Bendinelli’s pocket jacks held against ace-ten to close out one of the craziest heads-up battles in recent memory.
