Pedro Cavalieri won the BSOP Winter Grand High Roller on July 27, 2026, defeating a stacked 166-entry field to capture the title and a top prize of R$500,000. The Brazilian pro closed out the tournament in dramatic fashion, sending home France’s Julien Pieffet in a heads-up battle that turned on a single, decisive hand.
Cavalieri Claims the BSOP Winter Grand High Roller Title
The Grand High Roller is one of the marquee events on the BSOP Winter schedule, and this year’s edition delivered a champion with plenty of local support in the room. Cavalieri navigated a demanding field of 166 entries across multiple days of play before arriving at the final table as one of the contenders to beat.
By the time heads-up play began, Cavalieri held a workable chip advantage over Pieffet, but nothing was decided yet. High rollers of this caliber tend to be won and lost in a handful of key spots, and this final was no exception.
Buy-in, Field, and Prize Pool
The Grand High Roller carried a R$15,000 buy-in, a price point that attracted 166 entries and produced a substantial prize pool for the top finishers. According to SuperPoker, which reported on the event, Cavalieri’s victory earned him R$500,000, along with a special, exclusive card protector tied to the BSOP Winter series, a keepsake reserved for champions of the festival.
For a field of this size and buy-in level, the turnout reflects the strength of the BSOP Winter series in drawing serious grinders and recreational high rollers alike, all competing for one of the largest paydays of the stop.
Runner-Up and Final Table Payouts
Julien Pieffet of France finished as the runner-up, banking R$325,000 for his deep run. Pieffet fought hard throughout the final stages and pushed the heads-up match to its final hand before falling just short of the title.
Rounding out the podium, Brazil’s Rodrigo Castro Solha took third place for R$215,000. Two Brazilians and one French player in the top three underscores how competitive and international the Grand High Roller field had become by the time the money bubble burst.
The Hand That Sealed the Title: Straight Beats Top Pair
The tournament came down to one pivotal confrontation. With his stack down to roughly seven big blinds, Pieffet moved all in holding Q♣8♦. Cavalieri, sitting with 6♣5♦, made the call to put his opponent’s tournament life on the line.
The board ran out 2♣3♣9♥9♠4♦. Pieffet’s queen gave him top pair on the board, a hand that holds up against plenty of calls in this spot, but Cavalieri’s connected 6-5 had already found the pieces it needed. The 2, 3, and 4 on the board combined with his hole cards to complete a straight, and the two nines on the board did nothing to change the outcome. It was a classic reminder of why poker hand rankings matter so much in all-in situations, a made straight simply outranks top pair no matter how strong that pair looks on the surface.
With the board complete, Cavalieri’s straight was best, and the tournament, along with the title of Grand High Roller champion, belonged to him.
Family, Emotion, and Life on the Road
For Cavalieri, the win carried significance well beyond the money. Speaking after the final hand, he made clear how different it felt to win with loved ones by his side. “Winning live is different. My son here, my wife. Ah incredible, so many friends too. I love BSOP,” he said, capturing the emotion of a title earned in front of family rather than behind a screen.
Asked about his approach to the heads-up match against Pieffet, Cavalieri credited a more patient, controlled style. “I tried to play small ball more, play more post-flop, but you also need luck,” he said, acknowledging that even a disciplined game plan needs a bit of fortune to close out a tournament of this size.
That combination, a measured strategy paired with the right cards at the right time, is often what separates deep runs from outright titles in high-stakes poker.
Injury Forces Cavalieri to Skip Next BSOP Stop
The celebration came with a bittersweet note. Cavalieri also revealed that he will not be competing in the next stage of the BSOP series, as he is dealing with a knee injury that requires surgery.
For a player who just spoke so warmly about the community and atmosphere around the tour, sitting out the following stop will be a tough adjustment. Still, with a Grand High Roller title, a R$500,000 score, and a keepsake card protector to show for this stop, Cavalieri leaves the BSOP Winter series on a high note as he turns his attention to recovery.
His run through the Grand High Roller, culminating in that straight over top pair to close out Pieffet, will stand as one of the highlights of this year’s BSOP Winter series, a reminder that in poker, the biggest moments often come down to a single, well-timed hand.
