Bendinelli Wins €2,000 Monsterstack for First WSOP Bracelet

Giuliano Bendinelli has done it again. Already famous for his one-big-blind miracle comeback in the 2022 EPT Barcelona Main Event, the “comeback kid” lived up to his reputation at King’s Resort by battling through one of the craziest heads-ups of recent memory to win Event #4: €2,000 No-Limit Hold’em Monsterstack at the 2025 World Series of Poker Europe.

From a field of 419 entries that built a €870,000 prize pool, Bendinelli came out on top after an epic duel with Backgammon grandmaster and Czech bracelet winner Zdenek Zizka. The back-and-forth showdown stretched long into the early hours, packed with improbable doubles and miracle runouts, until Bendinelli finally closed it out to capture his first WSOP bracelet. He’s now a WPT Championship win away from becoming a Triple Crown winner.

The Italian pocketed €169,850 for the win, while every player in the top ten also secured a coveted €10,350 WSOPE Main Event seat. For Bendinelli, who started the final day as chip leader but repeatedly found himself fighting back from the danger zone, the victory was another reminder that he thrives when the odds are stacked against him.

Event #4: €2,000 No-Limit Hold’em Monsterstack Final Table Results

* The top ten also earned a €10,350 Main Event seat (included in payout amount)

Emotional Bendinelli Reflects on Crazy Heads-Up

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.”

The heads-up with Zizka was an exhausting back-and-forth battle that stretched long into the morning hours. “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.

Journey to the Bracelet

Bendinelli started the day as chip leader and was sitting fifth by the time the three-table redraw came around. 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.

The first of many battles with Zizka occurred with five left, when both players held nine-eight suited, while Oleh 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 third and fourth place, respectively, before he brought a four-to-one chip lead into heads-up play.

The Rollercoaster Ride

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 fresh 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 madness continued as Zizka shoved ace-jack into Bendinelli’s king-eight suited, with the ace-high flop looking like it would finally bring the curtain down. 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.