U.S. Poker Open 2026: Joao Simao Wins First $15K Event

From Short Stack to Champion

The eighth event of the series was the first tournament with a $15,100 buy-in. It attracted 61 entries, creating a prize pool of $915,000. Although Simao clearly dominated the final day, his journey to the title was far from easy.

The winner himself admitted that he struggled as a shortstack for most of the first day. The tide turned in the later stages when he managed to jump into the lead and carried the chipleader position into the final six.

The final day was packed with dramatic moments, largely thanks to entrepreneur and recreational player Zach Bruch. Simao dubbed him 'Zach Attack' for his aggressive style. Bruch delivered one of the day's most brutal eliminations, hitting a straight on the river with his pair of nines to knock out Aram Zobian’s Q-Q.

However, Simao left nothing to chance, methodically eliminating Dylan Linde and Justin Zaki, entering heads-up against Bruch with a massive 10:1 chip lead.

Although Bruch managed to double up once, his final hand with J s T c couldn’t beat Simao’s K d J h. Simao claimed $292,800 for the win and moved to fifth place in the series' overall champion standings.

Final Table Results for Event #8: $15,100 NLH

You can watch Joao Simao's impressive victory in the replay on PokerGO's YouTube channel:

The U.S. Poker Open 2026 is nearing its conclusion, with one more $15K event and a final $25,200 buy-in tournament remaining.

Sources: PGT, X, YouTube