Martin Kabrhel Wins Latest Major Title in Brazilian Comeback

The controversial Czech poker professional Martin Kabrhel won yet another huge score in 2025 as he captured his first Brazilian flag on the Hendon Mob last night. Taking down the $30,000-entry Brazilian Series of Poker (BSOP) for $422,000 after beating Ottomar Ladva heads-up, Kabrhel, surrounded by fans and friends of his at the rail, won to cries of ‘Casino Royale!’ from supporters as he crowned a superb comeback.

Small Field Prompts Big Talk

There were 44 total entries in the Brazilian Series of Poker’s $30,000 High Roller tournament this week, where 23 players survived to the second and final day of action. Sao Paulo is a hotbed of poker talent, especially in 2025 and over recent years, Brazilian players such as Felipe Ramos, Rodrigo Selouan and Pedro Garagnani have starred on a worldwide scale.

After wins for local player and global star Joao Simao and the Moroccan all-time money list leader Mehdi Chaoui at the BSOP, this was a chance for another Brazilian poker hero to make another statement on home soil… but a European would do so instead.

Only six players would make the money in the Brazilian city, and four of them came from the home country. Rafael Moraes was the first of them to leave with profit, cashing for $86,600 in sixth place after clashing with the eventual champion.

All-in with ace-seven of diamonds, Moraes needed some help from the board after Kabrhel called with pocket tens, including one in Moraes’ preferred suit. A flop of 8-6-2 with two diamonds came to reignite hope for the Brazilian rail but after an offsuit six on the turn, the jack of spades on the river proved it would be a case of ‘Not like that!’ for the home hero, Kabrhel taking him out and vaulting up the leaderboard as a result.

Crema the Cropped

Soon, the field was down to four. Another Brazilian, Thiago Crema, shoved with pocket fours and was flipping against the offsuit ace-nine of the Czech player. Kabrhel always looked like getting there and despite a flop of 8-6-5 and another eight landing on the turn, sure enough, an ace popped up on the river to send Crema to the rail and the cash desk to collect $111,860.

With four players left, the Brazilian exodus continued. The former Team PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari busted just outside the podium places for a score of $142,800 when he moved all-in pre-flop with ace-ten offsuit and was called by Ottomar Ladva with king-queen. The Estonian had the best of it on the flop and held through turn and river to reduce the field to three.

With three players left, only one hailed from Brazil and soon that number was zero. Rodrigo Seiji moved all-in pre-flop with king-queen but this time it couldn’t beat ace-high, as Ladva’s ace-eight his the flop of A-T-6 head on. A queen on the turn gave Seiji added outs but another six on the river wasn’t one of them and he left in third with $186,000.

Heads-up, the battle began well for the chip leader Ladva, who had 8.2 million chips to Kabrhel’s 2.9m. The gap between the two men widened almost instantly and such was Ladva’s dominance that after the opening exchanges, build up a massive 14:1 advantage. But everything was about to change, as the king of King’s Casino in Rozvadov mounted the most stunning of comebacks.

Kabrhel Claims Victory

After losing to trips early on in the final duel, Kabrhel fought back. Down to just 725,000 chips, and with Ladva on 10 million, the Czech professional won big with pocket kings before a series of ‘smallball’ pots handed him the lead. Using his new power to its fullest, Kabrhel bullied Ladva into submission, establishing a 5:1 chip lead.

In the final hand, Kabrhel had the made hand, his pocket threes holding to triumph against against Ladva’s queen-seven. A flop of A-T-6 did little to help Ladva, but the Estonian picked up a flush draw with the queen of clubs on the turn. A four of diamonds on the river changed nothing and Kabrhel had the title, to yells of ‘Casino Royale!’ from his passionate fans on the rail.

Kabrhel’s latest win, coming as it did for a top prize of $422,000, vaults his total live tournament winnings to over $16m, with five WSOP bracelet wins among the glory moments of a highlight reel. Winning both the $1,000 Mini Main Event in Las Vegas in June and the €10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Mystery Bounty event in his native Czech Republic in September, Kabrhel also claimed his first-ever cash in Brazil, another box ticked in the life of a poker phenomenon.