Shaun Deeb Lost Two Heads-Up Matches for WSOP Europe Bracelets

Shaun Deeb came to WSOP Europe to defend his title as WSOP Player of the Year 2025

So far, Shaun Deeb is doing well toward that goal: he has already reached two heads-up matches. However, with another goal — winning more bracelets than Phil Hellmuth (who has 17 bracelets, Deeb has 8 bracelets) — things are not going as well. The heads-up matches just aren’t working out.

€3,300 Mixed PLO / PLO8 / Big O: Shaun Deeb lost heads-up to Frank Koopmann

In this tournament, the winner was Frank Koopmann, a player who describes himself as an amateur with over 20 years of experience. Deeb recapped the final hand on X (Twitter). He made a flush on the flop, but Koopmann made quads. At showdown, Deeb didn’t notice it:

The payout for first place was €123,879, while second place received €81,784.

€565 COLOSSUS NLHE: Shaun Deeb lost heads-up to Gilles Silbernagel

Deeb is equally strong in Omaha and Hold’em. It doesn’t matter whether the tournament has 181 entries or 2,662 entries. So far, one thing remains consistent: in heads-up play, the opponent shows quads at showdown. This moment can be seen in a video on X (Twitter):

The payout for first place was €165,000, while second place received €110K.

Fun fact: Deeb has lost five (!) bracelet heads-up matches over the past year.

History repeats itself, except instead of 3rd place Deeb finishes 2nd

In 2022, Shaun Deeb came to Rozvadov for WSOP Europe and finished third three times during the series. When he returned home, his wife Ashley Deeb teased him by greeting him in a “safety third” T-shirt. It looks like this time it’s time to order a T-shirt about second place.

In any case, Shaun Deeb has immediately moved into the lead of the WSOP POY 2026 yearly rankings.

Corel Theuma won his first bracelet in the €1,100 Opener Mystery Bounty

In heads-up play, he defeated Maksim Paniak. The payout for first place was €150K; second place received €95K.

The top bounty of €250K was claimed by Egor Sukhov.

Theuma has been playing live tournaments since 2019. His WSOP Europe victory earned him his best cash and his first bracelet. He has also won the $1.6K MSPT Venetian ($114K) and the €1,100 PLO8 EPT Barcelona 2025 (€33K).

Corel Theuma was born in Malta, but at age 17 he moved to the United States with his parents. There, he founded the digital studio NMBL, which worked with Nespresso, Canon, and Vital Proteins.

He entered the industry by chance. One day, he was standing in line at a pharmacy when a woman in front of him dropped her bag — business cards spilled across the floor, one of which featured the logo of Grey New York, a world-renowned advertising agency.

Theuma helped the woman and asked about an internship at Grey. He was accepted. Theuma worked on an E*TRADE advertising campaign that was later broadcast during the Super Bowl. After that, he dropped out of university to fully focus on work.

€5,500 WSOP Europe Main Event sets a new record

The tournament recorded 803 entries in the first flight — just 14 fewer than the record Main Event in 2023. Day 1B is currently underway and has already attracted 559 entries. Day 1C is still ahead.

The entire Main Event will be streamed live. The broadcast is available on the WSOP YouTube channel.