Gabriel Nóbrega added another trophy to an already crowded shelf on November 14, topping a stacked 64-entry field to win the 25K High Roller, the opening event of the Super High Rollers Series at BSOP Millions 2026 in São Paulo. The one-day event carried a R$25,000 buy-in, and after more than 14 hours of play, Nóbrega outlasted the field to collect R$380,000 and the first title of BSOP Millions’ marquee high-stakes lineup.
A marathon final table at the WTC Sheraton
The 25K High Roller is the kind of event that tends to separate the field quickly: a single starting flight, a R$25,000 price of entry, and a fast structure built for players who already know what they are doing. Sixty-four entries meant roughly R$1.6 million moving across the table before a single payout was locked up, and by the time the final table convened at the WTC Sheraton in São Paulo, the remaining names read like a who’s who of Brazil’s live tournament scene.
Nóbrega had to work for it. The final table stretched well into the night before it came down to heads-up play against Felipe Zhou Wu, with both players having already banked a significant payday no matter how the last hand fell. Nóbrega described adjusting his approach once the two were isolated, saying he leaned into a more aggressive gear to put pressure on his opponent in specific spots rather than letting the heads-up match drift.
Payouts across a loaded final nine
The final table payouts reflected just how big an event the 25K High Roller had become for a one-day structure. Nóbrega’s R$380,000 topped a final nine that paid every player a six-figure-adjacent return for their buy-in:
- 1st: Gabriel Nóbrega, R$380,000
- 2nd: Felipe Zhou Wu, R$255,000
- 3rd: José Carlos Barbosa, R$198,000
- 4th: Pedro Góis Neves, R$153,500
- 5th: Leonardo Mendonça Rizzo, R$119,000
- 6th: Rafael Moraes, R$92,500
- 7th: Carlos Augusto Serrano, R$72,000
- 8th: Paulo Joanello, R$55,780
- 9th: Jeferson Pinow Zaminhan, R$43,500
For a 64-entry field, those numbers translate into a prize pool well clear of R$1.5 million once staff costs and the series’ overall structure are factored in, underscoring why the Super High Rollers Series has become one of the most closely watched stretches on the BSOP calendar.
BSOP is home turf for Nóbrega
This was not Nóbrega’s first big result on a BSOP stage, and he was quick to point that out after the win. He had already claimed the Main Event title during the BSOP Winter leg of the tour, along with another tournament win on the opening day of that same series, giving him a pattern of showing up for BSOP’s signature stops and leaving with hardware.
“O BSOP é praticamente minha casa, é o torneio que eu mais gosto de jogar live,” Nóbrega said after the win, calling BSOP practically his home and the live tour he most enjoys playing. Asked about the possibility of adding a second Main Event title to his resume, he joked that a repeat, or even a third, was not out of the question: “Logo dobrada, pode ser o tri também, ganhar os três.”
That kind of comfort on BSOP felts matters in a format like the 25K High Roller, where fields are smaller, flights are compressed into a single day, and players who have already built familiarity with the tour’s dealers, structures, and rhythms tend to have an edge over newcomers parachuting in just for the high-stakes events.
Opening shot in a packed Super High Rollers Series
The 25K High Roller was always going to draw attention as the first tournament in the Super High Rollers Series, the short, buy-in-heavy run of events nested inside the much larger BSOP Millions festival. BSOP Millions itself kicked off on November 13 at the WTC Sheraton and is scheduled to run 16 days through November 28, spreading 105 numbered tournaments across the calendar.
The festival’s headline guarantees give a sense of scale: the BSOP Championship carries a R$15 million guarantee, the Main Event is backed by R$10 million, and the debuting Millionaire Maker format is guaranteed at R$5 million. Organizers have also leaned into accessibility alongside the high-stakes slate, adding an extra R$2 million in prizes across the festival along with 400 qualifying seats to BSOP Summer 2027, and expanding PokerStars satellite offerings with a new Wednesday qualifier after demand outpaced the existing schedule.
Against that backdrop, a 64-entry, R$25,000 event completing in a single day and paying its winner R$380,000 is a strong early signal for how the high-stakes side of BSOP Millions is shaping up. More Super High Rollers Series events are still to come over the rest of the festival, and Nóbrega’s win gives him a head start in whatever unofficial standings players in São Paulo are keeping among themselves this November.
What it means for the rest of the festival
With more than two weeks of BSOP Millions still to play out, Nóbrega’s title is as much a statement as it is a payday. Final tables like this one, loaded with recognizable Brazilian grinders such as Barbosa, Góis Neves, and Mendonça Rizzo, tend to set the tone for how seriously the rest of the high-stakes schedule will be contested. Readers who want a refresher on how hands play out at a high roller final table, including common showdown situations that decided the places at this one, can brush up with Poker Pro Academy’s guide to poker hand rankings before the next big BSOP Millions result drops.
Poker involves risk, and results like Nóbrega’s are the exception rather than the rule for the vast majority of entries in any high roller field. Players should always treat tournament buy-ins as entertainment spending they can afford to lose, and anyone concerned about their play is encouraged to use available responsible gaming resources. BSOP events are restricted to players 18 and older.
