Brazil came up just one spot short of another deep Latin American score this week, as Guilherme Ramalho reached the final table of the WSOP Circuit Rosario Main Event in Argentina before being eliminated in sixth place for $20,300. The $1,700 buy-in event drew 401 entries and built a prize pool of $603,505, with the four-day tournament reaching its conclusion on Wednesday when Russia’s Roman Narulin outlasted a mostly Argentine-heavy final table to claim the ring and the top prize of $126,000.
A Strong Run That Fell Just Short
Ramalho arrived at the unofficial final table with real momentum, sitting on the third-largest stack among the nine remaining players. His plan, by all appearances, was to use that cushion to apply pressure on the shorter stacks around him and work his way toward the top of the counts. For a stretch, the Brazilian pro looked like exactly the kind of threat that final table needed to watch, carrying enough chips to dictate the pace against a field dominated by local Argentine talent.
The tournament, however, turned in Narulin’s favor relatively early in the unofficial final table. The Russian pro surged into the chip lead and never really let go of it, grinding down his opponents one by one while Ramalho struggled to find the pots he needed to keep pace. A long seven-handed stretch of play ended with the elimination of Marcelo Gasparini, and by the time the table got to six players, Ramalho’s stack had shrunk to just six big blinds, a precarious spot in any Main Event final table.
The Hand That Ended Brazil’s Run
Looking for a double-up to get back into contention, Ramalho shoved his short stack in with pocket queens, about as strong a hand as a player in his position could hope to find. China’s Tian Mengshi made the call from a deeper stack holding king-four suited, a clear speculative call against what looked like a dominant overpair. The flop, though, flipped the hand entirely: king-king-four gave Mengshi trip kings and left Ramalho needing running help just to survive. The turn brought an ace, and the river brought a second ace, numbers that did nothing to change the result. Ramalho’s queens never improved, and his run in Rosario ended in sixth place.
It is the kind of cooler that fans of the game recognize instantly once they understand basic poker hand rankings: pocket queens are a premium starting hand and a reasonable all-in shove at six big blinds, but a flop that turns an opponent’s suited gapper into trips is simply a result no amount of strategy can prevent. Ramalho played the spot the way most short-stacked professionals would, and still walked away with a min-cash relative to the final table rather than the title shot he was chasing.
Narulin Denies the Home Crowd
With the final table weighted heavily toward Argentine players, including runner-up Gaston Martinez, third-place finisher Ricardo Saldias, fifth-place finisher Pablo Dominguez, and the eliminated Gasparini and Sergio Di Pego, there was a clear opportunity for a home-soil champion to be crowned in Rosario. Narulin had other plans. The Russian pro methodically worked through the table and eventually got the better of Martinez to secure both the WSOP Circuit ring and the largest piece of the $603,505 prize pool.
The full unofficial final table finished as follows: Narulin first for $126,000, Martinez second for $84,000, Saldias third for $57,000, Tian Mengshi fourth for $39,500, Dominguez fifth for $28,100, Ramalho sixth for $20,300, Gasparini seventh for $15,000, Leandro Bianchini eighth for $11,400, and Di Pego ninth for $8,805.
Why Circuit Stops Like Rosario Matter
WSOP Circuit events have become an increasingly important part of the live tournament calendar for players across South America, offering a more accessible buy-in than the flagship WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas while still awarding a championship ring and valuable points toward the Global Casino Championship. Stops like Rosario give regional grinders, including a growing contingent of traveling Brazilian professionals, a realistic shot at a career-best score without needing to fly to Nevada or pay a five-figure buy-in. Ramalho’s run, even without the title, is the kind of result that keeps building a player’s tournament resume and bankroll at the same time.
For Brazilian poker fans, performances like this one are becoming a regular storyline as more players from the country travel to neighboring Argentina, Uruguay, and beyond to chase these Circuit rings. Even a near-miss at a final table this size, against a field this international, is a meaningful result worth tracking as the WSOP Circuit continues its run through Latin America this season.
Responsible Play on the Road
Travel-heavy tournament stretches like this one are a reminder that live poker, while potentially lucrative, carries real variance even for players who make good decisions under pressure. Anyone following a packed Circuit schedule, in Rosario or anywhere else, should budget bankroll carefully, treat results like Ramalho’s as part of a long-term process rather than a guaranteed payday, and remember that tournament poker remains a game for adults 18 and older who are playing for entertainment rather than counting on it as income.
