MPS Director Pucca Puts a R$1 Million Stage at the Center of the Circuit’s 2027 Plan

Marcus Victor, known in Brazilian poker as “Pucca”, has run the Maranhão Poker Series as tournament director since the 2026 season, and in an interview with Mundo Poker published October 31, 2026, he laid out how a statewide circuit got to the edge of a seven-figure prizepool. The conversation is about operations rather than hands: guarantees, the people building the schedule, and the buy-in tiers that separate a R$300 side event from a R$6,000 High Roller. For viewers who follow tournament footage and clips, that is the part that explains why a regional series looks the way it does on screen.

From R$200,000 guarantees to a R$1 million target

Pucca dates the MPS guarantee curve precisely. The circuit, he said, began with events guaranteeing R$200,000 to R$300,000, then stepped up to R$500,000 across 2023 and 2024. The next threshold is already in sight: he told Mundo Poker the series is “beirando”, or bordering on, an event with more than R$1 million in prize money, and said a R$1 million guaranteed stage is being planned for 2027.

He framed that target as a career marker as much as a business one, noting that his own time as a director is still short. The comparison he reaches for is his home state. When he started directing tournaments in Belém, Pará, in 2022, local events were guaranteeing R$300,000 to R$500,000; those numbers no longer happen there, he said. He offered a post-pandemic explanation but did not present it as established, and the interview does not include data on Pará’s current schedule.

The team behind the schedule

The interview is unusually generous with credit. Pucca said Jason Veloso started the circuit and remains central to Maranhão poker, and described the directorship handover in 2025 as largely a change of title because the two kept working together. Victor Maia, who Pucca said he invited into the organization, brings years of BSOP and national-event experience. Gustavo Rocha is named as the person who gives Pucca room to bring new ideas to the event.

His argument is that staffing, not just prizepools, drives growth: a tournament without a professional team does not scale, and dealers, floors and direction all feed the product players see. The interview does not publish an organizational chart or confirm job titles, so the roles are as Pucca describes them.

Buy-in spread from R$300 to R$6,000

Concrete scheduling detail is where the piece is most useful. The MPS runs statewide, with stops in Imperatriz, Santa Inês and the capital, São Luís. In São Luís, Pucca said the grid is deliberately wide: tournaments at R$300 and R$400 sit alongside the High Roller Prime at a R$6,000 entry, and some MPS regulars also play R$15,000 and R$25,000 events elsewhere in Brazil.

The cheaper tier is prospecting, in his account. A newcomer who assumed poker required a large bankroll can sit down, watch someone take down R$100,000, and recalculate what is possible. He described the circuit’s aim as bringing in new players while keeping the existing ones, and said that balance is what the schedule is built around.

What this changes for a video-focused reader

Buy-in tier is the fastest way to read a tournament clip. A R$300 field and a R$6,000 High Roller produce different table dynamics, different bubble lengths and different stakes on every decision, so knowing the entry level tells a viewer what kind of play they are watching before a single card is shown. A linked Mundo Poker interview headline says Gustavo Rocha “Coroné” announced broadcasts with revealed cards; this interview does not detail broadcast or streaming plans, so the MPS production side remains outside what Pucca actually confirmed here.

FactSource trailEarly MPS guaranteesR$200,000 to R$300,000Pucca, Mundo Poker2023-2024 guaranteesR$500,000Pucca, Mundo PokerCurrent positionNear R$1 million in prize money; R$1 million stage planned for 2027Pucca, Mundo PokerBuy-in rangeR$300-R$400 up to R$6,000 High Roller PrimePucca, Mundo PokerHost citiesImperatriz, Santa Inês, São LuísPucca, Mundo Poker

What remains unclear

No date, venue or stop has been attached to the R$1 million guaranteed event, and the “near R$1 million” tournament Pucca refers to is not identified by city or dates. All guarantee figures come from the director in a single interview and have not been independently audited or matched against published results. Belém’s decline is Pucca’s own observation, with his post-pandemic suggestion left as a question rather than a cause. Also unresolved: whether MPS stops are streamed, on which platform, and whether the revealed-cards format mentioned in the linked headline applies to 2026 or 2027 events.

Readers who want to track the seven-figure target should watch the MPS official calendar for a 2027 stop with a published guarantee, and treat the R$1 million figure as a stated plan until a schedule confirms it. Anyone booking travel to Imperatriz, Santa Inês or São Luís should verify dates and buy-in levels against the circuit’s own listings rather than the interview.

Source: Mundo Poker, https://mundopoker.com.br/maranhense/diretor-do-mps-marcus-victor-pucca-fala-sobre-crescimento-do-circuito-equipe-e-planos-para-temporada-2027/

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