Belarmino Souza conquered this Thursday (18) in the Bahamas the second largest prize in Brazilian live poker history. In the WSOP Paradise, the player reached the podium of the US$ 25,000 Super Main Event, finishing one position shy of the national record, and two positions shy of the coveted title.
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Among 2,891 entries, Belarmino Souza finished in third place, earning an incredible US$ 4 million. At the start of the final table, still on Wednesday (17), he was down to just 4 big blinds, but he turned things around to secure more than valuable pay jumps.
In the decisive stage, Belarmino Souza entered with the fourth largest stack, in the middle of the chip count. Between good and bad moments, he managed to hold on until the 3-handed stage, but ended up falling to the Frenchman Jean-Noel Thorel. In a cooler, the Brazilian saw his rival show four of a kind on the river and left the competition.
How was Belarmino Souza’s elimination?
The game was at blinds 5,000,000/10,000,000 with a 10,000,000 ante. Souza checked his big blind after Thorel limped from the small blind, and the flop showed T54 rainbow. The Frenchman check-called both the Brazilian’s bet of 15,000,000 on the flop and the same amount on the turn, which brought a second 4 to the board.
The river brought a third 4, and Thorel again started with a check. This time, Belarmino Souza bet 90,000,000, and the Frenchman’s response was an all-in, with more chips. The Brazilian quickly called and showed T6o for a full house of 4s with Ts, but to his misfortune, Thorel revealed 84o, making four of a kind with 4s.
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In the end, Austria won
Shortly after eliminating Belarmino Souza, Thorel reached heads-up against the Austrian Bernhard Binder, who had dominated the FT actions until then and had a chip advantage. Although Binder ended up as the champion, the one-on-one was not easy.
With a payjump of “only” US$ 4 million at stake, Binder and Thorel dueled for about three hours. The Frenchman even stole the lead at some points, but the Austrian never let the situation get out of hand. It all ended in a pre-flop all-in, where Thorel tried to double up with just under 20 bbs holding KQo. He saw Binder open A8s, and the 96238 board confirmed the end of the tournament.
Lightning struck twice in the same place
With this performance, Belarmino Souza registered the second largest prize in Brazil in live poker. The US$ 4 million is only surpassed by the payout of Marcelo Aziz, of US$ 4.6 million, which came precisely in this same competition, in 2024. Exactly one year ago, on December 19, 2024, Aziz finished in second place in the WSOP Paradise Super Main Event and achieved the record figure.
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Check the final standings of the Super Main Event:
- Bernhard Binder (Austria) – US$ 10,000,000
- Jean-Noel Thorel (France) – US$ 6,000,000
- Belarmino Souza (Brazil) – US$ 4,000,000
- Terrance Reid (USA) – US$ 3,000,000
- Eric Wasserson (USA) – US$ 2,350,000
- Natasha Mercier (Lebanon) – US$ 1,800,000
- Peter Chien (Canada) – US$ 1,400,000
- Franco Spitale (Argentina) – US$ 1,100,000
- Leonard Maue (Germany) – US$ 850,000
