Dzmitry Urbanovich Wins World Series Of Poker $10k 8-Game

Dzmitry Urbanovich took down the 2016 European Poker Tour Dublin main event at the age of 20. Before that marquee victory, he had a handful of massive scores around Europe, including a runner-up finish in the €100,000 high roller at the EPT Grand Final for over $1.6 million.

The Polish poker pro was not even legally able to participate in the World Series of Poker, and already had a major live tournament title and multiple millions in earnings to his name.

Later that same year, he made his WSOP debut and recorded a few cashes without making a major splash. In the decade that followed, Urbanovich has gone on to make the money over 70 times in bracelet events, with eight final-table appearances along the way, including two runner-up showings. On his latest deep run, the 31-year-old Warsaw resident finally broke through at the series to earn his first bracelet.

“I always wanted to win. I expected to win by this time way more. But it’s not easy,” Urbanovich told PokerNews live reporters after closing out the victory.

Urbanovich outlasted 199 entries in the $10,000 eight-game mixed championship, earning $431,260 and the hardware. This win increased his lifetime tournament haul to nearly $8.9 million.

Urbanovich also earned 840 Card Player Player of the Year points and 431 PokerGO Tour points with this triumph.

Setting The (Stacked) Final Table

The 199-entry turnout for this event created a prize pool of $1,850,700, with the top 30 finishers earning a share. Plenty of big names made the money, only to hit the rail later on day 2. Among them were Paul Volpe (27th), Jerry Wong (24th), Marco Johnson (20th),  Matthew Schreiber (18th), Rob Hollink (17th), Andjelko Andrejevic (16th), John Racener (15th), and Todd Brunson (13th).

The final day began with a dozen players remaining and Brian Rast in the lead. Urbanovich was in fourth chip position when the cards got in the air.

Several more highly-accomplished mixed-game stars fell during playdown to the official final table, including four-time bracelet winner David ‘ODB’ Baker (12th – $27,080), Nicholas Marchington (11th – $32,710), recent $1,500 stud eight-or-better event winner Taylor Atchison (10th – $32,710), poker’s all-time money leader Bryn Kenney (9th – $40,780), and two-time bracelet winner Ryan Miller (8th – $40,780).

Bracelet winner Maksim Pisarenko bowed out in seventh place ($52,430) when his split pair of queens were run down by the buried pocket fives of Derek Hanauer, who made nines full of fives on seventh street to narrow the field to six.

Falling Stars

Bracelet winner Matt Vengrin was the next to fall. He got the last of his short stack in after a 7♦6♦6♣ flop with A♠J♠J♣7♣ in Omaha eight-or-better and was trailing the K♠6♠3♣2♣ of Alex Foxen. The 5♥ turn and 9♣ river gave Foxen the scoop with trips and the only qualifying low.

Foxen had been at or near the top of the leaderboard for most of day 3, but began to slide during short-handed play. He doubled up a then-short Urbanovich twice in a stud eight-or-better hand to continue the downward trend. Foxen managed to double himself in deuce-to-seven triple draw, only to run into 7-6-4-3-2 for Urbanovich soon after in the same game to fall into the danger zone. Foxen made his final stand soon after that, and his 9-5-4-3-2 was bested by 8-7-4-3-2 for Urbanovich to see him fall in fifth place ($94,730).

This was the 12th final-table finish of 2026 for Foxen, with five titles won on the year, including his fourth career bracelet earlier this summer in a $10,000 super turbo bounty event. With 7,109 total POY points, he is the current leader in the POY race standings presented by CoinPoker. He is also among the top contenders in the PGT points race, where he currently sits in fourth position.

Foxen now boasts over $60.9 million in career earnings after this latest deep run.

Rast soon joined Foxen on the sidelines. The seven-time bracelet winner’s slide concluded during the stud round, with his jacks and threes running into a six-high straight for Richard Bai. Rast earned $132,880 as the fourth-place finisher, growing his lifetime haul to nearly $29.5 million. This was the 23rd final-table finish at the WSOP for the Poker Hall of Famer, and his first of this summer.

Three, Two, One

Bai took the lead into three-handed play, but was soon supplanted by Derek Hanauer. Then, Urbanovich picked off a big bluff in pot-limit Omaha to move in front, leaving Hanauer at the bottom of the pile in the process.

Hanauer ultimately finished in third place ($191,570), with his 9-8-7-5-3 bested by Bai’s 9-6-5-3-2 in razz. The $191,570 payout was the largest yet for Hanauer, topping the $181,950 he earned with a runner-up finish in the WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Hammond main event in 2019.

Heads-up play began with a just better than 3:1 advantage for Urbanovich over Bai. The Polish pro soon crossed over 10 million in chips when he showed down trip kings in stud, leaving Bai with just shy of 1.5 million as a result.

The final hand of the tournament came in PLO. Urbanovich limped the button with A♣7♥6♣2♦ and Bai raised to 180,000 on the big blind with K♣10♦9♣6♠. The flop came down Q♣7♣5♠ and Bai bet the pot. Urbanovich moved all-in and Bai called. The 3♥ turn and J♦ river kept Urbanovich’s hand best, ending Bai’s run in second place ($283,660). This career-best score pushed his tournament earnings to nearly $2.6 million.

Final Table Results

Photo credits: WSOP / Travis Ball, Miguel Cortes.