Bryan Ducharme was feeling optimistic after bagging the Day 1a chip lead at the 2026 Bar Poker Open Florida World Championship held at the Palm Beach Kennel Club Poker Room.

He carried that momentum into Day 2, outlasting a field of 328 entries to take down the first-place prize of $26,400 from the $105,600 prize pool.

Final Table Results

"I went home yesterday, shaved, showered, slept in my own bed, and came back today completely refreshed and ready for the day." Ducharme told PokerNews following his victory. "I just played my cards the way they were coming, and I was hitting cards."

The road to the title was not easy. Ducharme had to battle with Glenda Ricci and Richard Stepanian of the Eastern Poker League during three-handed play. At different points, both Ricci and Stepanian managed to take the chip lead, but Ducharme stayed in the hunt.

"I ran into a battle with Glenda, and it just seemed like I wasn't going to be able to beat her. Then I got lucky on the river against her," Ducharme said.

The hand Ducharme referenced came when the chips went in on the turn against Ricci's top pair. Ducharme spiked a king on the river to make two pair, eliminating Ricci and sending him into heads-up play with the chip lead.

It was not long into the heads-up match before Ducharme hit a bump in the road when Stepanian landed a runner-runner flush to stay in contention.

"I just tried not to let my emotions get the best of me and not tilt," Ducharme said.

Stepanian wrestled the chip lead away shortly after, but the momentum swung again when Stepanian attempted a bluff on the river. Ducharme called with top pair after hitting a pair of queens and refused to fold.

Not long after, Ducharme's pocket threes flopped a set against Stepanian's overcards to seal the victory and capture the Bar Poker Open title.

Day 2 Action

A total of 33 hopefuls returned for Day 2. The first hour saw a flurry of bustouts, with the field quickly trimmed to 20 players after the first two full levels of play.

Alfred Cotten and JP Terrasi clashed in a memorable hand filled with banter as Cotten exclaimed, "You only have one pair. Stop wasting time." Terrasi took the advice and folded, prompting Cotten to show a straight while flexing for the table, drawing laughter from those watching. Terrasi eventually finished in 15th place, while Cotten bowed out in 13th.

The televised final table began with a bang when Ducharme eliminated both Thomas Heinlein and Kurt Lennon by hitting trip jacks to crack both queens and kings. It proved to be Ducharme's hand of the day, as he later hit running trips with ace-jack to crack the pocket kings of Pat Aguiar, sending him to the rail in fifth place.

Day 1b chip leader Vangjel Haxhia entered Day 2 with the most chips and carried that momentum to the final table. However, Haxhia struggled to gain traction as the day progressed and ultimately bowed out in fourth place.

This concludes the PokerNews coverage of the 2026 Bar Poker Open Florida World Championship. Check back here for continued coverage of tournaments around the world.