It's summer 2024 in Las Vegas, which means three things.
- Firstly, it's blistering hot.
- Secondly, the World Series of Poker is here.
- And thirdly, the 888 Ride is back on the meter, bringing poker players to the WSOP.
In this episode of 888 Ride, we pick up Benny Glaser, one of the most successful European players to ever play at the World Series of Poker. He's also probably one of the most underrated poker players in the world.
The Southampton, UK-born 36-year-old is undoubtedly destined for the Poker Hall of Fame with two WSOP bracelets already under his belt in this year’s 2025 series – as of publishing this article!
- $1,500 Dealer's Choice --- $150,246
- $1,500 Mixed Omaha --- $258,193
Check out the full-length Benny Glaser 888ride podcast from July 2024 HERE.
World Series of Poker Bracelet Hunting - Again?
This WSOP isn't Benny Glaser's first time at the rodeo. As of the writing of this article, he has bagged two additional bracelets in the 2025 series.
But as of this episode of the 888 Ride in 2025, he had a mere five bracelets under his belt:
World Series of Poker Bracelets
|
Year |
Tournament |
Prize (US$) |
|
2015 |
$1,500 Triple Draw Lowball (Limit) |
$136,215 |
|
2016 |
$1,500 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better |
$244,103 |
|
2016 |
$10,000 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better Championship |
$407,194 |
|
2021 |
$10,000 Razz Championship |
$274,693 |
|
2023 |
$10,000 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Championship |
$311,428 |
|
2025 |
$1,500 Dealer's Choice |
$150,246 |
|
2025 |
$1,500 Mixed Omaha |
$258,193 |
Benny’s poker career began in the world of journalism, playing online poker for penny stakes and in pub leagues with his mates.
But it was only a matter of time before the bright lights of the WSOP came knocking:
"I was grinding online for a long time, right, and hadn't really been playing live still, you know, the World Series was a big thing for me. I was still playing relatively low stakes.
“And then the first year I came on to the World Series, I decided to give it a shot back in 2014, and I actually bricked everything. I didn't play very much. It was like, eight, ten events or something.”
“I had the realisation when I came. It's like I’m, you know, better than most of these guys that have been watching on TV. And it's like, yeah, I can definitely compete here. So even though it's tough for me to come to the World Series and brick, I was still like, okay, I'm planning to hopefully come next year and do better.”
Next year is 2025, and even though 2024 was a bust, he has already done better!
Grinding Away and Building Confidence
Confidence and belief in your skills turned things around for Benny Glaser – focusing more on the rational and not the results:
"That is one thing that poker teaches you in a good way: to be logical and rational and not be results-orientated. At the time, I had all of this information, and based on that information, I made the best possible decisions.
"And then this is the result, the outcome, which might have gone not the way you hoped for, but at the time, it's still a good decision. So, you can just be happy with those decisions at the time and try not to be results-oriented.
“So generally, poker hopefully teaches people in life to be able to separate that stuff.”
Like every poker player, Benny has had to deal with the downswings that come with poker variance:
"I mean, even recently, right before this World Series, I was on the biggest downswing I've ever had by quite a way. People don't necessarily see how hard I fire. I was playing all the Wynn 10Ks in March, all that kind of stuff, and I was sadly running very bad at, ah, the higher stakes this year.
“So, there's two months where, for example, even though I won a Scoop, I was still down a bunch from the series.”
Grinding late-night SNGs was another way that Glaser was able to build confidence and become a more well-rounded and successful player:
"I used to grind heads up, sit and go's online, for example. That was also a very insular process before I kind of was successful. There was a lot of times of pain during that time."
Talking Accomplishments on the Cards
Having already taken the poker world by storm, asking Benny what is on his bucket list is like asking the world’s richest person what they’d like for their birthday!
However, there are a few accomplishments that he has his eye on before hanging up his cape:
"I was debating between winning the £50K or World Series Player of the Year. I guess I would lean towards Player of the Year. I think it's a little bit more prestigious in that way.
“And, yeah, I think Poker Hall of Fame would be next. I don't know, I guess, where I would rank in those two, right? Yeah.”
The Poker Hall of Fame will have to wait as the age requirement for that prestigious honour is 40, and at 36, Benny is four years off.
However, there’s no doubt in our minds that if Benny’s career continues the same trajectory, he’ll accomplish all three goals!
