News Brazil’s Gabriel Tavares Goes Back-to-Back in ACR Poker’s Sunday Banana for More Than $204K Across Two Wins Owen Gaines Owen Gaines is a professional poker player and author who has played an estimated ten million hands and written four poker strategy books. October 15, 2026 The former $10 Million GTD Venom champion talks final-table discipline, Brazil’s poker community and another title chase, with a Day 2 stack already secured in October’s $5 Million GTD NLH Venom PKO.Two Sundays, two titles and $204,657 in first-place payouts. Brazil’s Gabriel “kingqueensuited” Tavares won ACR Poker’s Sunday Banana on October 4, then returned on October 11 and won it again, this time against a larger field.He has another stack waiting, too. On the same Sunday as his first Banana victory, Tavares advanced from Day 1A of the $5 Million GTD NLH Venom PKO with 4,248,891 chips. Day 2 of the Dual Venom PKOs begins Monday, October 19, at 1:05 p.m. ET. Two starting flights remain: Day 1D today and Day 1E this Sunday.For Tavares, the value of those consecutive Sunday wins starts with a word that matters to anyone playing a demanding tournament schedule: consistency. “When you play high stakes, consistency is very important, and winning tournaments like that is very important,” he said in an ACR Poker interview.He knows what a much bigger finish feels like. In April 2025, Tavares won the $10 Million GTD NLH Venom, beating a field of 3,735 entries. His latest Sunday results arrive with another chance to pursue the tournament that produced that career moment.The interview also gives a glimpse of the Brazilian community behind the screen name. Tavares speaks warmly about players and fans who celebrate each other’s results, and about what it means to carry the country’s flag at the tables.Before his planned live-poker travels and a summer beach break in Brazil, though, there is more online poker to play. His October schedule includes the Venom, and his explanation of the latest Banana win begins with a much less glamorous skill than collecting a trophy: knowing when to wait. Two Sunday fields and two first placesTavares earned $96,336.64 in the October 4 Sunday Banana, a $1,050 tournament that attracted 436 entries and generated a $436,000 prize pool.A week later, the Venom Special Sunday Banana drew 502 entries and produced a $502,000 prize pool. Tavares finished first again, collecting $108,320.79. The repeat came with 66 more entries to get through than the previous Sunday. Sunday Banana Buy in Entries First prize October 4 $1,050 436 $96,336.64 October 11 $1,050 502 $108,320.79 Combined winnings $204,657.43 Both wins came at the same buy-in. Together, they delivered more than $204,000 before October had reached its halfway point.“I’m feeling very good, of course—very happy,” Tavares said. “It’s a big tournament with a big field, and it’s very important for my journey.”His first winning Sunday also included the second-largest qualifying stack in the NLH Venom’s opening flight. He finished one event with a title and another with enough chips to make the next stage.The Venom win he still remembersTavares’s previous Venom championship finished on April 30, 2025. The $2,650 NLH event carried a $10 million guarantee.The result remains personal for Tavares, even as he moves on to the next tournament.“It’s special,” he said when asked about playing another Venom month. “It’s an important result in my career and a moment in my life that I’ll always remember.” #TheVenom $10M NLH has a new champion! 🏆 kingqueensuited takes it down for a massive $1,505,240! 🔥 Bow2Me finishes strong in second place, earning $1,094,230. 👏🏻 https://t.co/T8PQqQt8cS— ACR Poker (@ACR_POKER) May 1, 2025 October’s NLH Venom adds progressive bounties to the title chase. Tavares already has his place in Day 2; the field will come together after the remaining starting flights.Winning sometimes means staying out of the wayACR Poker: What was the toughest moment at your second final table?“The short stacks were really, really short, and I was a middle stack,” Tavares said. “It was very hard because I had to be very disciplined, and I was. It worked, but it was very tough.”That is a familiar final-table problem. A medium stack can still compete for the title, but taking a big risk while much shorter stacks remain can cost a chance to move up the payouts.Tavares described discipline as the hard part of the win. There was pressure to make the most of his chips while preserving the chance to outlast players who had fewer.ACR Poker: Was there one hand that changed the tournament?“Actually, it was a lot of small pots rather than one big hand that changed everything,” he said.He remembered a preflop encounter with ace-queen offsuit against jack-ten suited, but described it as a standard situation. What stayed with him was the accumulation of decisions across the tournament.“It was a lot of small pots rather than one big hand that changed everything.”— Gabriel TavaresFor players reviewing their own final tables, that gives them something useful to look for beyond the biggest all-in: the smaller pots that kept a stack moving and the spots where avoiding a confrontation preserved it.A final table at the end of the grindThe second Banana final table came late in Tavares’s session. By then, he said, he was focused on the finish.“This final table happened at the end of my grind, so I was very focused,” he said. He also pointed to ACR Poker’s ability to show replays with the cards revealed: “I think that put me in the atmosphere of the tournament. It’s important to me, and it helped me.”ACR Poker’s Final Table Replayer gives players a way to revisit completed final tables hand by hand with every player’s hole cards exposed. It is free to access in a browser, without an account or a download.For someone whose winning run involved plenty of small pots, a full replay offers more to study than the final payout screen. Players can revisit opens, folds and calls with the hidden cards now visible.Tavares usually brings ACR Poker into the middle and later stages of his session because of when the tournaments start. He also said he likes entering many events near the end of late registration.What draws him back is the tournament mix. “You have big fields with different players: lots of professionals and recreational players, and big tournaments with big prizes,” he said. “I really like playing there.”A Brazilian flag with plenty of supportBrazilian players are an important part of ACR Poker’s international player base, and the site is a popular stop for Brazilian tournament grinders. Tavares’s results give that community another player to follow deep into Sunday’s biggest events.Asked what representing Brazil means to him, he began with the people following along.“It means a lot. Brazilian poker is growing,” he said. “The Brazilian community is really big, and they’re poker fans. When you win a tournament, they embrace you and celebrate with you.”A tournament result may appear on screen beside a single account name. Tavares describes the celebration as something he shares.“It’s really nice because it’s an important moment, and sharing that moment makes it different,” he said. “It means a lot, of course.”His plans also include time back among friends at the tables. In the interview, he outlined an intended live schedule taking in Triton in Cyprus, the BSOP in São Paulo and a series in the Bahamas, followed by a beach vacation during Brazil’s summer.The São Paulo visit has an attraction beyond the tournaments: “I get to see my friends,” he said.Another Venom Monday is waitingFor now, Tavares has an online championship to pursue. He is 12th in the NLH Venom chip standings as of October 15, with his Day 2 place secured before the final two starting flights.Players still looking to join the field have Day 1D on Thursday, October 15, and Day 1E on Sunday, October 18, both at 1:05 p.m. ET. The direct buy-in is $2,650.Day 2 follows on Monday, October 19, at 1:05 p.m. ET, with NLH Day 3 on October 20. The final table is scheduled for Wednesday, October 21, at 4:05 p.m. ET.Tavares has already shown he can win two Sunday Bananas in a row. Another Venom title would revisit a result he still describes as one of the important moments of his career.“I’m very excited to play again,” he said, “and maybe win.”Check the ACR Poker lobby for the remaining starting flights and follow kingqueensuited when the NLH field returns for Day 2.