Felipe Boianovsky Wins WCOOP Main Event High in Historic Fashion
Brazil’s Felipe “lipe piv” Boianovsky closed out the 2026 World Championship of Online Poker in spectacular fashion, winning the $10,300 buy-in WCOOP Main Event High for $551,632 and becoming the first player ever to capture both a SCOOP and a WCOOP Main Event in the $10,300 format. The victory, secured on September 30, 2026, capped a WCOOP series in which Brazilian players repeatedly dominated the leaderboards, and it instantly became one of the signature results of the entire PokerStars online championship calendar this year.
Boianovsky’s name was already well known to Brazilian poker fans. Back in June 2023, he won the PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) $10,300 Main Event for $1,036,200, defeating Laszlo “omaha4rollz” Bujtas heads up. That title made him one of the most respected high-stakes online grinders to come out of Brazil’s poker boom. By adding the WCOOP crown in the same buy-in tier more than three years later, Boianovsky achieved something no other player in PokerStars history has managed, a dual Main Event conquest that cements his status among Brazil’s all-time online greats.
A Stacked Final Table With Heavy Brazilian Representation
The WCOOP Main Event High drew 289 entries, well above the tournament’s guarantee, and produced a final table that featured three Brazilian players among its nine survivors, a clear sign of just how deep the country’s high-stakes talent pool has become. Dante “dantegoyaF” Goya arrived at the unofficial final table as the chip leader and was widely expected to make a serious run at the title, while Pablo “pabritz” Brito Silva also carried significant chips into the official nine-handed stage.
Boianovsky, by contrast, did not start the final table among the leaders, but he methodically worked his stack upward as the game progressed. He eliminated Thomas “MarToMchat” Boivin of Costa Rica in seventh place, then sent Pablo Brito Silva to the rail in sixth, continuing to apply pressure as the field thinned. Teun “tinnoemulder” Mulder of Austria fell in fifth, and the elimination that drew the most attention from Brazilian fans came next, when Boianovsky dispatched countryman Dante Goya in fourth place for $231,355, ending the hopes of a potential all-Brazilian final showdown but confirming Boianovsky as the man to beat. Dan “NukeTheFish!” Wilson of the United Kingdom fell in third, setting up a heads-up battle between Boianovsky and Canada’s Santiago “13santoy13” Plante.
The Heads-Up Finish: Pocket Kings Seal the Title
Boianovsky entered the heads-up portion with a commanding five-to-one chip advantage, a cushion built through his string of final table eliminations. Plante fought to stay alive, but the decisive hand arrived quickly. From the big blind, Plante min-raised holding 9-2 offsuit, and Boianovsky called from the limp with pocket kings. The flop fell 9-3-5, giving Plante bottom pair but leaving Boianovsky’s overpair firmly in control. The turn brought another king, erasing any realistic outs for Plante and sealing the title for the Brazilian star. Plante collected $412,914 for his runner-up finish, a career-defining score in its own right, but the night belonged to Boianovsky.
Why This Result Matters for Brazilian Poker
Brazil’s rise as an online poker powerhouse has been one of the defining storylines of the past several WCOOP and SCOOP series, with Brazilian grinders regularly topping the overall standings and claiming bracelet-style trophies across both low and high buy-in brackets. Boianovsky’s win adds a marquee, big-money result to that narrative. Unlike many of the volume-based titles that Brazilian players have collected throughout 2026, this was a single, high buy-in Main Event against a stacked international field, the kind of result that carries outsized prestige within the online poker community.
It also reinforces a trend worth watching, the depth of Brazilian high-stakes talent extends well beyond any single star. With Goya and Brito Silva also reaching the final table, three of the nine finalists in one of WCOOP’s flagship events were Brazilian, a ratio that would have been unthinkable a decade ago when Brazil’s presence in the highest buy-in online tournaments was minimal. For readers looking to understand how modern online tournament structures reward the kind of patient, adaptable strategy Boianovsky displayed, Poker Pro Academy’s how to play poker guide breaks down the fundamentals that underpin deep tournament runs like this one.
A Career Milestone Few Can Match
Winning a SCOOP Main Event and a WCOOP Main Event in the same $10,300 buy-in tier is a feat that had eluded every other player in PokerStars’ history until Boianovsky accomplished it. Both series attract some of the toughest fields in online poker, assembled from grinders and crossover live professionals from every corner of the globe, so sustaining the form needed to win twice at that level, more than three years apart, speaks to a level of consistency that few online specialists ever reach. Combined, his two Main Event titles alone have now earned him more than $1.58 million, without even accounting for his other high buy-in cashes over the years.
As the 2026 WCOOP series wrapped up with this result alongside two other Main Event conclusions in lower buy-in tiers, Boianovsky’s triumph stood out as the headline story for the Brazilian poker community. With Brazil’s online scene continuing to produce bracelet winners, high roller finalists and now a two-time Main Event champion, the question for rivals heading into 2027 is no longer whether Brazilian players can compete at the highest level online, it is simply who will be next to break new ground.
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