Poker is booming in Brazil. In this vast country, stretching from the sweltering Amazon to the teeming metropolis of Sao Paulo, the biggest city in the Western Hemisphere, the game has captivated a population of more than 200 million and turned the biggest stars into national heroes. And there is no clearer sign of the game's growth here than the BSOP Millions.
Over the last two weeks, featuring 90 tournaments with combined guaranteed prize pools of R$60,000,000, thousands of players have descended on Sao Paulo’s WTC Sheraton. It’s the largest poker festival ever held in Latin America. The biggest prize was the R$25,000 BSOP Millions Championship as 503 players built a prize pool of R$11,081,150 and a first prize of R$2,140,000.
The player who stood atop this field after one of the most dominating final table performances in recent memory was left wondering whether it was divine intervention that had him be the one to lift the trophy at the end. Marcos Kenne led wire-to-wire on his way to defeating Paulo Goncalves heads-up to take home the biggest prize of his poker career.
“Man, I’ve been trying for a long time to win a big title like this to see if I could dedicate more time to the game. I have another job and other responsibilities. But I kept coming close, and it just didn’t happen. I said, ‘God has the right moment for everything.’ And it happened now,” Kenne said following his victory.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (R$) | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marcos Kenne | Brazil | R$2,140,000 | $369,514 |
| 2 | Paulo Goncalves | Brazil | R$1,346,500 | $232,500 |
| 3 | Dennys Ramos | Brazil | R$965,170 | $166,656 |
| 4 | Murilo Milhomem | Brazil | R$760,160 | $131,257 |
| 5 | Blas Torres | Argentina | R$597,270 | $103,131 |
| 6 | Rafael Mota | Brazil | R$466,520 | $80,554 |
| 7 | Breno Drumond | Brazil | R$351,250 | $60,650 |
| 8 | Joao Vieira | Portugal | R$244,850 | $42,278 |
| 9 | Diego Ventura | Peru | R$193,900 | $33,481 |
Kenne began the final table with a massive chip lead, nearly three times his closest challenger. He never lost the lead at the final table, but his journey to the title didn’t always go smoothly as Kenne admits thoughts of running away from the field crept into his mind.
“I started really big, but at the beginning, I made a few wrong calls, kind of trying to force the win. Then I thought, ‘I’ll calm down and see how things unfold.’ But I was really big. After a little cooler with one of the guys, I got back to a big stack and things started falling into place. I think I managed to put a lot of pressure on the others, and everything worked out.” he said.
“It’s unusual, I think, to come into a tournament with such a massive lead. It’s usually closer. So there were moments when it was easy for me to play. I didn’t need to get involved. When I could apply pressure, I did, and the guys had no choice but to fold. Some players made mistakes. I’m not a professional, but I noticed some clear errors. That’s part of it, though. Everyone makes mistakes, right? But I managed to play well because of that. I had a huge stack. It was tough to take the title away from me.”
The Sombrio native, 900 km southwest of Sao Paulo, came into the tournament with just $240,000 in live tournament earnings. His previous best score was for $140,050 when he came in fourth place in the €2,100 Mystery Bounty event at EPT Barcelona in 2023. He had never won a live tournament but did have three previous final table appearances in the BSOP. He’s now a champion for the first time over a field featuring some of the biggest names on the Brazilian and Latin American poker tour.
The final nine players took their seats on the main feature stage inside the WTC Sheraton in the heart of Sao Paulo at 2 p.m. local time after navigating through a field of 503 over the previous four days. Kenne led with 17,165,000, nearly 11,000,000 ahead of second-place Diego Ventura.
The final table was headlined by Portuguese online legend Joao Vieira, but Vieria’s run at the title took a near-fatal hit early when he lost a classic flip with ace-king against Goncalves’ queens. Goncalves doubled up to more than 9,000,000, while Vieira was left with just two big blinds.
Goncalves then picked up two kings against Kenne and bet 1,700,000 on the river. Kenne tanked for several minutes before folding top pair as Goncalves pulled closer to the chip leader. Rafael Mota halted Goncalves’ rise when he picked up queens to double against Goncalves’ tens.
Vieira doubled up the next hand after losing most of his stack to Goncalves, then was all in with king-five but dominated by Goncalves with king-queen. Goncalves remained ahead going to the river, but Vieira spiked a five on the river to double again.
Ventura then three-bet shoved for 5,100,000, and Kenne called. Ventura had ace-king, but Kenne had picked up kings to bust the Peruvian WSOP bracelet winner in ninth place. Vieira, meanwhile, continued his short-stack wizardry by doubling up off Murilo Milhomem with ace-high to climb back up to 1,600,000.
Kenne cracked 20,000,000 when he turned a straight against Milhomem’s aces as Milhomem managed to get away with minimal damage. Mota doubled up off Goncalves again with kings against tens as he moved into second place on the leaderboard.
Goncalves’ slide continued as he called Kenne’s four-bet of 1,400,000 with ten-high, then check-called a bet of 650,000 on the flop. Kenne shoved the turn, and Goncalves finally folded, using a rabbit hunt card to see Kenne’s two kings. Vieira then doubled up for the fourth time at the final table, while Breno Drumond took his turn to stay alive by doubling up off Mota.
Goncalves was all in for 1,900,000 with two jacks and racing against Drumond’s ace-queen. Drumond couldn’t connect with the board and was knocked down to less than 1,000,000. Vieira’s run finally ended when he shoved the flop with a pair of tens but ran into Goncalves’ aces to finish in eighth place.
Goncalves continued his ascension by flopping a full house against Milhomem’s aces. Milhomem once more managed to get away from cracked aces, but not before being knocked down to a short stack.
Milhomem then moved all in for 1,900,000, and Drumond called for his last 600,000. Mota also called with ace-seven as Drumond showed ace-ten and Milhomem jacks. Milhomem held up to scoop the pot, busting Drumond in seventh place and earning a double-up off Mota. Mota was eliminated a few hands later when he called for his last 2,900,000 after Dennys Ramos shoved. Mota had ace-four, but Ramos showed two queens and stayed in front to send Mota to the rail in sixth place.
Kenne led with 29,250,000, more than three times his closest challenger, as the remaining five players took a 75-minute dinner break. The action picked up in a big way once they returned.
Kenne eliminated Blas Torres in fifth when he filled up with queen-jack to best Torres’ pocket sixes. Milhomem was then all in for 1,300,000 with two nines against Goncalves and poised for a double up until Goncalves spiked a straight on the river to send Milhomem out in fourth place. Ramos was the next to fall, shoving for 3,700,000 in the small blind as Kenne called in the big blind with king-seven. He had Ramos’ seven-six dominated and the board provided no help as Ramos finished in third, the third elimination at the table in as many hands.
Kenne led Goncalves 40,725,000 to 9,575,000 at the start of heads-up. On the first hand, Goncalves shoved the river with a pair of sevens and Kenne folded as Goncalves narrowed the gap. Goncalves then rivered a set of tens and got paid on a bet of 2,000,000 to climb up to 16,000,000.
Kenne then flopped two pair as Goncalves bet 1,000,000 on the flop, then 3,500,000 on the turn. Kenne jammed all in and Goncalves folded king-high to fall back down to 7,500,000. Kenne dwindled Goncalves’ stack down some more when he picked off a bluff on the river holding two jacks, leaving Goncalves with just 3,700,000.
Goncalves doubled up once when his ace-nine held up against queen-six, but he then called for his last 7,100,000 with ace-four as Kenne showed eight-seven. The flop gave Kenne a pair and straight draw, while Goncalves couldn’t catch up on the turn or river as he had to settle for a runner-up finish.
Kenne played the heads-up match the same way he played the rest of the final table: by constantly applying pressure. But he admitted afterwards that it’s not a situation he has much experience in.
“In heads-up, I had to sweat a little. It took me a while to win. I’m not used to playing heads-up. I need to study it more. I didn’t really know what to do. But in the end, I got it. We did it,” he said.
Kenne says the victory will finally allow him to chase his dream of playing more poker and getting recognized within the Brazilian poker community. “Now you’ll get to know Marcos. I’ll make some noise at the tables and study more to always bring my best,” he said.
“I love playing live. I’m always travelling and competing in great events. I want to represent the community well. Those who know me know I’m always out there giving it my all. I enjoy the thrill and staying aggressive.”
Poker’s booming market has a new star in its midst.
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