The World Series of Poker had just about reached the halfway point on June 19 with 49 bracelets awarded in the annual poker festival at the Horseshoe and Paris Casinos in Las Vegas.
The series has seen plenty of players finding their first wins and big-name pros adding more bracelets to their collections.
The UK’s Benny Glaser may be the biggest story of the series so far, scoring back-to-back wins in the $1,500 Dealers Choice for $150,246 and $1,500 Mixed Omaha for $258,193.
Here’s what he had to say about chasing bracelets in this 2024 episode of 888Ride:
Glaser now has more than $9 million in live tournament winnings. Glaser now has more than $9 million in live tournament winnings. After securing the first win, adding a second piece of hardware was already on his agenda.
“It was on my mind,” he told PokerGO. “I had essentially infinite messages putting it in my mind, just like ‘We see another bracelet for you in this series as well.’
“And going for three, it’s obviously like a stretch of a goal, but it’s absolutely been on my mind. I was really looking forward to coming in for a big summer this time.”
Here’s a quick look at the first half of the series and a preview of the second half of the action in July.
Bracelets Pile Up for Schulman, Baker, Koon, Martirosian
Some of the greatest poker players of all time won big, collecting many bracelets this summer. Poker pro and commentator Nick Schulman has been on a tear over the last few years and has had five bracelet wins since 2019.
Nick Schulman
The latest came in early June when he took down the $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship for $497,356, earning his seventh bracelet.
Schulman, who now has $23.8 million in live tournament winnings, overcame a gruelling eight-hour heads-up battle with Darren Elias, denying the four-time WPT World Poker Tour champion his first bracelet.
NOTE: Schulman became one of the two WSOP Poker Hall of Fame inductees in 2025!
Schulman was complimentary of his opponent:
“First of all, Darren Elias (runner-up for $336,421) who I was heads-up with, is easily, probably the toughest no-limit deuce player I’ve ever played with,” Schulman said after the win.
“Big shoutout to him. It was a crap shoot at the end, and I made hands. It’s a little silly. He just hung in there the whole time and played so great. It’s a little emotional because I was content to lose to him because he deserved it.
“I wanted to win. It feels amazing. I’m a little bit overwhelmed with this one.”
David “ODB” Baker
In the $5,000 Seniors High Roller, David “ODB” Baker found his fourth bracelet for $646,845. A healthy chip lead with strong poker chips value and only four players left in the tournament secured the win.
The high-stakes regular also has a WPT title, $8.3 million in live tournament winnings and loves the game.
"I put my heart and soul into the World Series,” he told PokerGO afterward, “and I put my heart and soul into poker, and I try every day to be a good example of being a pro.”
Jason Koon
A few of the bigger names also added to their trophy collections. In the $50,000 High Roller, Jason Koon topped fellow pro Andrew Lichtenberger heads-up for the bracelet and $2 million top prize.
Koon scored his second WSOP victory and now sits third in all-time poker winnings with almost $61 million.
Artur Martirosian
The $25,000 Heads-Up Championship remains one of the most coveted tournaments among pros, and this year, Artur Martirosian rose to the top with a score of $500,000.
This win marked his third bracelet, and he was pleased to reach the finish line in first place.
“It’s my favourite tournament, so I came earlier to play this event,” said Martirosian, who now has $25.4 million in live tournament winnings.
“Last year, I was unlucky in the semifinal, so I’m happy to finally win it.”
Negreanu, Hellmuth Get Close
Two of the biggest names in poker have made some deep runs but came up short in quests for a bracelet. Daniel Negreanu made major waves last summer after capturing his seventh bracelet in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship for $1.3 million.
He put a lot of last year's success down to his GTO-poker evolution:
He’s now off to an impressive start this year.
In the $10,000 Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship, Negreanu took runner-up for $313,615. Ryan Bambrick won the event, scoring his second bracelet for $470,437.
Negreanu followed that up with seventh, eighth, and eleventh-place finishes. The Canadian poker pro added a ninth in the $250,000 High Roller for $531,284.
Seventeen-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth scored a deep run in the $2,500 Limit Omaha 8 or Better/Stud 8 or Better event. However, he came up just short in his battle for bracelet number 18, finishing in third place for $112,360.
He had some other things on his mind as he was playing:
“Today’s third-place finish starts in an interesting place for me,” he noted in a video on Twitter afterwards. “I kind of thought, ‘Wow, I’m going to win my 18th bracelet on my mother’s birthday, June 18.’ Unfortunately, about a half hour before her birthday, I had this really ugly 20-minute stretch where I lost like seven million in chis to finish in third place.
“But I don’t have any regrets, and I don’t know if I’ve ever played in a poker tournament where I don’t have any regrets.”
Other Players Strike Gold
In other action, longtime pro John Racener came out on top in the $1,500 No Limit Hold'em Super Turbo Bounty for his third career bracelet and $247,595.
In the $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship, Ian Johns earned his fourth bracelet and $282,455.
One winner stood out in the early events, walking away a winner as a first-timer. South Korea’s Chang Lee is a regular high-stakes cash game player but had only played one tournament before jumping in the $25,000 High Roller.
In his first attempt in the series, Lee booked a win for $1.9 million after topping a field of 392 entries for a $9.2 million prize pool. The triumph came after some severe jet lag and a poor start.
“The first day of this tournament, I got super coolered three times – top set aces two times, lose to runner-runner straight [poker hand],” he said.
After re-entering on the second day of play, Lee found his footing and went on to win the tournament. He is now 100% in tournaments at the series, which accounts for all his career winnings.
Player of the Year Update
As of June 20, Scott Bohlman [2,397.19 PTS] sat atop the player of the year leaderboard after recording eight cashes, including one win and fourth and ninth-place finishes.
Online poker legend Viktor Blom sat in third after a massive run to start the series. The Swedish poker pro is still looking for his first career bracelet but took runner-up in the $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship for $282,455.
Blom also grabbed a sixth-place finish in the $50,000 High Roller for $348.068 and a fourth in the $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo Championship for $152,315.
In the $ 10,000 Pot Limit Big O Championship, Blom added a sixth-place finish for another $181,069 and seems determined to win some hardware this summer.
At the end of the day, poker sensation Shaun Deeb took the 2025 WSOP Player of the Year Award with his victory in Event #79: $100,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller sealing the deal!
Shaun Deeb – 2025 WSOP POY
WSOP Bracelet Wins:
Deeb's victory in Event #79: $100,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller earned him $2,957,229, contributing significantly to his overall POY points.
WSOP Final Table Finishes:
Deeb made five final table finishes, with four being podium finishes (1st, 2nd, 2nd, and 3rd)
Overall WSOP Cashes:
He cashed in 24 events, with six cashes happening on WSOP.com.
