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The 2026 U.S. Poker Open Event #8 champion Joao Simao put on a dominant final-day performance to capture the title, closing out the tournament with authority after defeating Zach Bruch heads-up. From the moment action resumed on Day 2, Simao controlled the tempo and never allowed his opponents to gain much traction, ultimately sealing the victory in convincing fashion.
The $15,000 No-Limit Hold’em event, held inside the PokerGO Studio, attracted 61 entries, with six players returning for the final day to battle for the title and a $292,800 top prize.
By the time heads-up play began, Simao held a commanding advantage and wasted little time finishing the job against Bruch, capping off a wire-to-wire style run and adding his fourth PokerGO Tour victory to his growing list of accomplishments.
Event #8 $15,000 No Limit Hold’em Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joao Simao | $292,800 |
| 2 | Zach Bruch | $183,000 |
| 3 | Justin Zaki | $128,100 |
| 4 | Dylan Linde | $91,500 |
| 5 | Aram Zobian | $68,625 |
| 6 | Shannon Shorr | $50,325 |
| 7 | Paul Roy | $36,600 |
Not as Easy as it Looked
After the victory, Joao Simao revealed that his path to the title was far from straightforward, despite how dominant the final day appeared on paper.
When asked about how he was feeling after his victory, Simao responded with “It feels great, of course,” before adding that “my journey was a very tough Day 1. Never more than three stacks, always a very short stack.”
That early grind made his eventual takeover even more impressive. According to Simao, the turning point came late in the tournament when momentum finally shifted in his favor. “Eventually the night came and I tried to win a lot of pots… preflop, postflop,” he explained, noting that once he built a stack, everything began to flow. “Very smooth final table as well.”
A key storyline throughout the event was his battle with runner-up Zach Bruch, whom Simao jokingly dubbed “Zach Attack” for his aggressive style. “He’s a very tough guy to play against,” Simao said. “He always put us in hard spots with very high variance, big pots.”
One of the most pivotal moments came late on Day 1 when Simao faced a massive decision holding ace-high, ultimately using nearly all of his time extensions-13 of them- before making a fold. “My strategy was to reduce the variance since I had a lot of chips,” he said. “I was trying to make sure I don’t make any mistake that could cost me a lot.”
Despite his instincts telling him to call, Simao went against his gut but ended folding his ace-ten high, only to be shown a worse ace high. “Everything was saying, ‘call, call, call… he’s bluffing,’ but I was scared,” he admitted. “In the end, I decided to just fold my hand—and he definitely made a good play.”
From there, Simao rebounded and carried the biggest stack into the final day of 2026 U.S. Poker Open Event #8 and never looked back. “The chip distribution was very convenient to me,” he said. “I just did what I was ready to do,” using his stack to apply pressure and control the pace in route to victory.
Final Day Action
The final day of 2026 U.S. Poker Open Event #8 got off to a fast start, with the short stack coming into the day, Shannon Shorr eliminated in the opening hands by Bruch to bring the field down to five.
Bruch continued to surge shortly after, delivering one of the most brutal hands of the tournament to send Aram Zobian to the rail in fifth place. Holding pocket nines, Bruch found a rivered straight to crack Zobian’s pocket queens in a massive pot, swinging the momentum firmly in his favor.
Despite Bruch’s early charge, Simao began to assert control as the table shortened. Dylan Linde, who entered as the clear short stack four-handed, managed to stay alive by doubling through Simao twice. However, the third attempt proved one too many, as Linde was unable to spin it up again and ultimately exited in fourth place.
With three players remaining, Simao shifted into another gear, applying relentless pressure and raising nearly every hand. His aggression quickly wore down both opponents, with their stacks slipping below the million mark. Although Bruch managed to find a crucial double to stay in contention when he was down to 260,000.
The end came quickly after that for Justin Zaki, as Simao finished him off in third place to take a commanding lead into heads-up play against Bruch.
No Drama for Simao
Heads-up play began with Simao holding a commanding chip advantage of roughly 10-to-1 over Bruch, setting up a classic David-versus-Goliath battle.
Bruch, an entrepreneur and CEO of MyPrize, was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2021 and entered the event with just five career tournament cashes and no recorded victories. Across the felt stood Simao, one of the most accomplished players in the field, boasting more than $17 million in live tournament earnings and a resume filled with high-stakes success.
Bruch found a quick double early in heads-up play when his pocket tens held against Simao’s pocket fives, briefly giving himself some breathing room. However, the momentum was short-lived. On the very next hand, Bruch found himself dominated and unable to recover, as Simao closed it out to secure the title.
That ends our coverage of Event #8 at the U.S. Poker Open but be sure to follow PokerNews for continued coverage and live updates until the series comes to a close.