It took 35 editions, but now there’s finally a €500 + 50 Seniors European Poker Championship. It kicked off yesterday, July 15, as part of the 2026 European Poker Championship at Casino Velden and was very well received. HighKing leads the field ahead of Marcus Bonna into the final.
The tournament began with 50,000 chips and 30-minute levels, conditions that immediately appealed to 133 players. With 32 re-entries, the total of 165 entries created a prize pool of €82,500. Among the participants were many familiar faces—not to mention some older faces. Even Harry Casagrande didn’t want to miss out on playing in the very first seniors event, joined by others such as Antonio Turrisi, Tom Wagermaier, Thomas Hofmann, Istvan Törö, Andreas Knöbel, Uschi Statzinger, Karl-Heinz Metz, Brigitte Hauenstein, Werner Lorenzoni, and many more.
There were no free rides for the older players, and so after twelve levels of play, only 57 players remained. HighKing took the lead with 319,000 chips, ahead of Marcus Bonna with 315,000, with BigW7 close behind at 309,000.
Today, play resumes at the tables with blinds set at 2k/4k/4k and 45-minute levels. The top 23 spots are paid, with €1,250 as the minimum cash prize. The winner can look forward to €18,650.
In addition to the final, the €500 + 50 Showdown at Wörthersee (100k/40′) will kick off, as well as the €200 + 30 PLO (25k/20′) and the €300 + 30 Ladies EM (50k/30′). Action in the cash games picked up last night; games are available starting at €1/3 NLH and €2/2 PLO.
If you have any questions about the Poker EM, feel free to contact Thomas Lamatsch (thomas.lamatsch@casinos.at
/ +43 664 78284910) or the Poker Manager at Casino Velden, Jasmin Michael (jasmin.michael@casinos.at
/ +43 664 8104305). The best place to find all information about the Poker EM is at pokerem.at
.
€500 + 50 Senior European Poker Championship
Entries: 165 (133/32)
Prize Pool: €82,500
Redraw Final
| First Name | Last Name | Country | Chip Count | Table | Seat |
| HighKing | D | 319,000 | 19 | 4 | |
| Marcus | Bonna | D | 315,000 | 30 | 7 |
| BigW7 | A | 309,000 | 32 | 3 | |
| Dieter | Preinerstorfer | A | 297,000 | 30 | 4 |
| Erwin | Fasching | A | 289,000 | 29 | 7 |
| Player | D | 287,000 | 18 | 3 | |
| Hichael | Gehrmann | D | 278,000 | 31 | 2 |
| HattaEimer | D | 252,000 | 31 | 6 | |
| LooserBoy | D | 240,000 | 18 | 2 | |
| Thomas | Maier | A | 232,000 | 18 | 6 |
| That One | D | 225,000 | 32 | 7 | |
| Hubert | Kerschbaumsteiner | A | 220,000 | 19 | 1 |
| Günter | Planeta | A | 214,000 | 29 | 5 |
| Silvia | Peternell | A | 212,000 | 28 | 7 |
| Oliver | Heidel | D | 194,000 | 29 | 1 |
| Klaus | Kollmann | A | 186,000 | 33 | 1 |
| Günther | Quedritsch | A | 184,000 | 28 | 2 |
| Hans | Sharan | CH | 173,000 | 19 | 2 |
| Walter | Hosiner | A | 172,000 | 32 | 8 |
| Brigitte | Hauenstein | CH | 171,000 | 33 | 7 |
| Harald | Winkler | A | 170,000 | 32 | 5 |
| Istvan | Törö | HU | 168,000 | 33 | 5 |
| Fritz | Schwarzer | A | 168,000 | 31 | 1 |
| Mario | Hübel | A | 164,000 | 33 | 6 |
| Ernst | Pouschner | A | 161,000 | 30 | 1 |
| Richard | A | 159,000 | 19 | 7 | |
| Georgy | Teliysky | D | 153,000 | 31 | 4 |
| Andi | Strasser | A | 133,000 | 28 | 1 |
| Werner | Lorenzoni | A | 124,000 | 29 | 3 |
| Stefan | Bittger | D | 122,000 | 18 | 4 |
| Andrea | Michelotto | I | 122,000 | 33 | 2 |
| Walter | Blättler | CH | 116,000 | 31 | 3 |
| Rudolf | Teusl | A | 113,000 | 28 | 5 |
| Paolo | Delleva | I | 110,000 | 29 | 2 |
| Alfred | Kammerer | A | 108,000 | 33 | 8 |
| peterfredgun | CH | 95,000 | 28 | 6 | |
| Andreas | Knöbel | A | 92,000 | 28 | 4 |
| Karl-Heinz | Metz | D | 90,000 | 30 | 8 |
| Richard | Borics | A | 90,000 | 32 | 6 |
| Helmut | Strobl | D | 90,000 | 31 | 8 |
| Diamonds Three | D | 87,000 | 19 | 6 | |
| Mario | Forward | A | 82,000 | 18 | 7 |
| Nico | Montani | A | 79,000 | 29 | 8 |
| Anna | Schneider Stricker | CH | 65,000 | 30 | 5 |
| Harry | Casagrande | A | 64,000 | 32 | 1 |
| Hellas | D | 61,000 | 29 | 4 | |
| Jerry | A | 56,000 | 30 | 6 | |
| P70 Driver | D | 53,000 | 32 | 4 | |
| Zoltan | Toth | D | 53,000 | 30 | 3 |
| 2 Swabians | A | 53,000 | 19 | 3 | |
| Thomas | Sipos | A | 53,000 | 18 | 5 |
| Roland | Meißl | D | 45,000 | 32 | 2 |
| Rev. Johannes | A | 45,000 | 31 | 7 | |
| Antonio | Turrisi | I | 44,000 | 18 | 1 |
| Bernd | Hartmann | D | 41,000 | 28 | 3 |
| Reinard | Dersch | D | 34,000 | 19 | 5 |
| Roland | Gruber | A | 30,000 | 33 | 4 |
Payouts:
| Rank | First Name | Last Name | Country | Prize Money |
| 1 | €18,650 | |||
| 2 | €12,850 | |||
| 3 | €9,050 | |||
| 4 | €6,460 | |||
| 5 | €4,880 | |||
| 6 | 3,800 € | |||
| 7 | 3,030 € | |||
| 8 | 2,480 € | |||
| 9 | 2,060 € | |||
| 10 | 1,700 € | |||
| 11 | 1,700 € | |||
| 12 | 1,470 € | |||
| 13 | 1,470 | |||
| 14 | 1,350 € | |||
| 15 | 1,350 € | |||
| 16 | 1,350 € | |||
| 17 | 1,350 € | |||
| 18 | 1,250 € | |||
| 19 | 1,250 € | |||
| 20 | 1,250 € | |||
| 21 | 1,250 € | |||
| 22 | 1,250 € | |||
| 23 | 1,250 € |
Photos
Schedule
