783 entries, a MX$5,261,760 prize pool and an almost entirely Mexican final table that ended with the ring on a Belgian's finger. The 2026 WSOP Circuit Mexico has its first champion: Miguel Use won the Opener Mystery Bounty at the Hotel Barceló Santa Fe in Mexico City for MX$485,000 plus bounties, as the circuit returned to the country after a seven-year absence.
The facts: the Opener cleared five million pesos
The opening event, a MX$8,000 buy-in with four starting flights and unlimited re-entry, closed at 783 entries, a number that already sets the tone for the festival we previewed in August. The mystery bounty envelopes paid MX$100,000 to Guillermo de la Vega, Fabián Balboa and Diego Ponce, and MX$250,000 each to José Antonio Rodríguez and Tomás Szwarcberg; the top prize of MX$500,000 was still unopened when the final table began.
That final table started with Tijuana's Josué Aguirre leading (5,155,000 chips) and Eliuth Rojas close behind (4,425,000). The first elimination was a textbook cooler: Gonzalo Mérida raised to 450,000 with K-K after Use had limped from under the gun with A-K; the Belgian shoved, Mérida snap-called and the flop brought an ace. Luisa Morfín finished sixth (MX$80,500), Aguirre fourth (MX$156,000) and Diego Ponce completed the podium (MX$221,000).
Heads-up was pair against pair: Use's Q-Q versus Rojas's 6-6, and a board with three kings sealed the title. Rojas left with MX$320,000.
The schedule doesn't let up: the Main Event (Event #6), a MX$27,200 buy-in (roughly $1,700), starts Saturday, September 5 with daily noon flights through Tuesday the 8th plus a fifth flight on Tuesday evening. Players start with 50,000 chips on 40- and 60-minute levels with unlimited re-entry. In between come Sunday's MX$48,000 High Roller and Monday's MX$12,800 PLO Championship.
Why it matters: when a limp hides a trap
Mérida's hand wasn't a mistake: with kings against an opponent who limps from early position and then jams, there is no fold. But Use's line deserves study. An under-the-gun limp at a final table with aggressive players behind is a classic trap: it invites the raise so you can reopen the action with everything. When it happens to you with kings, it's a cooler; when it happens with A-J, it's a lesson. Learn to recognize it.
The second lesson is about the format. With a MX$500,000 envelope still in play at the final table, a single knockout could be worth more than an entire pay jump. In a mystery bounty, the value of an all-in isn't measured in chips alone: it shifts your calling and shoving ranges, and anyone who doesn't recalculate is giving away equity.
The third is for anyone eyeing Saturday. Five flights with unlimited re-entry are an invitation to overspend. Decide before you arrive how many bullets your bankroll allows, and whether a satellite is the smarter route than the direct buy-in. The tournament of your life shouldn't start with a decision you already lost at the cage.
Playing one of the flights or following from home? Tell us in the community: the Main Event final table plays out on the 11th, and we'll break it down together.