WSOP 2025 – Decider Drama as Kid Poker Goes Close and Benny Glaser Chases a Double
Nine events took place on Day 8 of the 2025 WSOP, with three winners and six other events getting closer to gold. In the final table of the $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship, PokerStake player Daniel Negreanu came oh so close to his eighth WSOP title as Ryan Bambrick won his second, while Benny Glaser, Josh Arieh and others put themselves in a strong position to claim gold later this week in a dramatic day at Horseshoe Las Vegas and Paris casinos in Las Vegas.
Near Miss for Negreanu as Bambrick Exacts ‘Revenge’
“Ever since then I’ve wanted to get him back. I finally did.”
Both Daniel Negreanu and Viktor Blom missed out on fulfilling their bracelets dreams in Event #9, as the $10,000-entry Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship ended in victory for Ryan Bambrick instead. Only five players returned to the Horseshoe Las Vegas to battle for the bracelet but while Negreanu got close, finishing as runner-up for $313,615, Blom went from chip leader when play began to out on the rail in fourth for just $152,315.
Rather than it being Negreanu who spoiled Blom’s party, however, it was Bambrick. From the first orbit, the eventual champion was on the attack and stealing chips left, right and center. After the America player Hunter McClelland busted in $152,315 in fifth place. Down to three players, Negreanu took out Ofir Mor when quads dealt the fatal blow, but the Canadian still had work to do, facing a 4:1 chip deficit heads-up against Bambrick.
This is where poker’s version of revenge fantasy came true. According to Bambrick’s post-game interview with PokerOrg, his extra motivation stemmed from way back when and a hand of online poker.
“He made a YouTube video where he was playing a hand against me online,” Bambrick said. “It was blind vs. blind. Ever since then I’ve wanted to get him back. I finally did.”
If that seems petty, well maybe. But motivation, declaration and visualization are all tools Negreanu has used to amass seven WSOP bracelets and there was no bitterness when Kid Poker shook Bambrick’s hand as the latter won his second gold in Las Vegas. In fact, Negreanu was the perfect gentleman.
Bambrick admitted to other reporters that toppling the star-studded final table meant that little bit more because of the respect he has for the luminaries he faced.
“It’s pretty sweet to beat Daniel Negreanu and ‘Isildur1’ at the final table,” he said. “It’s kind of surreal really. Everyone was clapping for [Daniel Negreanu], but I had a couple of people clapping for me too. I liked it, it didn’t intimidate me at all.”
| WSOP Event #9 $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship Results: | |||
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1st | Ryan Bambrick | United States | $470,437 |
| 2nd | Daniel Negreanu | Canada | $313,615 |
| 3rd | Ofir Mor | United States | $216,223 |
| 4th | Viktor Blom | Sweden | $152,315 |
| 5th | Hunter McClelland | United States | $109,679 |
| 6th | Maxx Coleman | United States | $80,772 |
| 7th | Micah Brooks | United States | $60,866 |
| 8th | Daniel Spear | United States | $46,957 |
| 9th | Ben Lamb | United States | $37,110 |
Brad Ruben Reaches the Promised Land
“I want to compete for the most bracelets this decade.”
For many players, winning a WSOP bracelet is a long-held dream they might work their entire poker careers to earn. For Brad Ruben, it’s just what he likes to do in the summer months. A stunning win in the 532-entrant Event #12, the $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw tournament, earned Ruben $138,080 and his fifth WSOP bracelet in the past five years.
Amazingly, for a man who has won five WSOP titles since 2020, Ruben hadn’t claimed gold in almost three years, since his victory in the 2022. Here are all the bracelets in Brad Ruben’s collection:
| Year | WSOP Event | Prize |
| 2020 | $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha (Online) | $220,160 |
| 2021 | $600 PLO 6-Max (Online) | $69,148 |
| 2021 | $1,500 Razz | $99,188 |
| 2022 | $1,500 Dealer’s Choice | $126,288 |
| 2025 | $1,500 NL 2-7 Single Lowball Draw | $130,080 |
| Top Prize Total: | $644,864 |
Ruben’s recent record is so impressive that he shares the stage with genuine poker legends. Hall of Famers Phil Ivey, Doyle Brunson and Phil Hellmuth are among a select group who have ‘five in five’ and what also impressed about Ruben’s victory was that he had to beat a seemingly invincible opponent to do so.
Day 1 of this event ended with American player Han Liu in the lead. So too did Day 2 and when Liu reached the heads-up stage with a 2:1 chips lead, it looked like the ultimate wire-to-wire winner might be crowned. Instead, Ruben flipped the script, building small pots, taking them without showdown then eliciting a bluff, calling it off to take the lead. A few hands later, nine-low beat ten-low and Ruben had bracelet number five.
“I want to compete for the most bracelets this decade,” Ruben declared after winning. “I think Ausmus has five and a bunch of people have four. So that’s a goal of mine that keeps me going. I’ve loved the WSOP ever since I was a teenager and I’m very passionate about it.”
Incredibly, Brad Ruben has reached a heads-up battle for a bracelet five times and has won all five. Even the runaway chip leader for almost three days in the event couldn’t stop him and after winning, Ruben dedicated much of his success to working on his mental health.
“I’m very passionate about that and want to get a message out,” he said. “Whatever people are going through, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel and I’m happy to talk to anyone, at any time, about whatever.”
| WSOP Event #12 $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Final Table Results: | |||
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1st | Brad Ruben | United States | $130,080 |
| 2nd | Han Liu | United States | $90,569 |
| 3rd | Yueqi Zhu | China | $60,738 |
| 4th | Jun Weng | China | $41,654 |
| 5th | Brian Yoon | United States | $29,228 |
| 6th | Tyler Phillips | United States | $20,994 |
| 7th | Eric Moum | United States | $15,446 |
Yosef Fox Wins Bracelet Six Years After His Son
“Now he’s got to come back and win a second one.”
Very few father-son teams have met with trophy-laden success in the world of poker. Doyle and Todd Brunson are an exception, both sitting in the Poker Hall of Fame. Roberto and Frank Romanello have both won World Poker Tour titles. But by and large, one member of the two-generation paternal team is more successful than the other. Take the Hellmuths, with their 17 WSOP bracelets between them, with all 17 going to Dad – at least, so far.
The 11th event of this year’s WSOP was an anomaly, then, as Yosef Fox won the title and a top prize of $729,333 in Las Vegas six years and a pandemic after his son Jorden Fox won gold. While Yosef took down the $10,000 Mystery Bounty event for the best part of three-quarters of a million dollars and pulled the $250,000 Mystery Bounty, Jorden won the Double Stack event for $420,693 in June of 2019.
Post pandemic, Dad has the edge and while Yosef was delighted to win, he hoped after wards that his son will want to go one clear of him again soon.
“This is incredible. I watched my son win a bracelet in 2019, and it was incredible then; it feels even better now,” said Fox senior. “Now he’s got to come back and win a second one.”
With 616 total entries, this bounty event was a classic, with the $250,000 top bounty prize waiting until the final day when Yosef himself won it and went crazy on the rail.
One for the family album in every sense.
| WSOP Event #11 $10,000 Mystery Bounty Final Tablte Results: | |||
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1st | Yosef Fox | United States | $729,333 |
| 2nd | Alejandro Peinado | Spain | $486,192 |
| 3rd | James Mendoza | Philippines | $336,594 |
| 4th | Richard Green | United States | $237,123 |
| 5th | Patrick Kennedy | United Kingdom | $170,036 |
| 6th | Chao Duan | China | $124,151 |
| 7th | Joe Cada | United States | $92,330 |
| 8th | Myles Mullaly | United States | $69,964 |
| 9th | Jordan Siegel | United States | $54,037 |
Benny Glaser Chasing Second Bracelet in Four Days
PokerStake player and mixed games specialist Benny Glaser is enjoying the kind of week poker players dream about. Usually that dream is rudely interrupted by the Vegas sunshine and the warm side of a pillow in Sin City. For Britain’s biggest mixed bracelet winner Glaser, however, it’s coming true at the poker felt in Las Vegas.
Having won his first bracelet of the 2025 WSOP in Event #8, the $1,500-entry Dealer’s Choice event, Glaser is going great guns in Event #15, the $1,500 Mixed Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better event. From 264 starters on Day 2, just 25 remained to head into the final day and Benny sits in second place on the leaderboard with 2.52 million chips, behind only Abdul Konjuhi (3,195,000).
While dangerous opponents such as Dustin Dirksen (2.5m), Tyler Brown (1.47m) and Glaser’s fellow Brit Patrick Leonard (1.27m) lie in wait on the final day, Benny will be the player striking fear into the hearts of his opponents as he bids to win two bracelets inside 100 hours in the gambling capital of the world.
| WSOP Event #15 $1,500 Mixed Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Chip Counts: | |||
| Place | Player | Country | Chips |
| 1st | Abdyl Konjuhi | United States | 3,195,000 |
| 2nd | Benny Glaser | United Kingdom | 2,520,000 |
| 3rd | Dustin Dirksen | United States | 2,500,000 |
| 4th | Travis Pearson | United States | 1,915,000 |
| 5th | Shane Howeth | United States | 1,760,000 |
| 6th | Thomas Taylor | Canada | 1,755,000 |
| 7th | Tyler Brown | United States | 1,475,000 |
| 8th | Bart Hanson | United States | 1,465,000 |
| 9th | Patrick Leonard | United Kingdom | 1,275,000 |
| 10th | Sean Remz | United States | 1,245,000 |
Photographs courtesy of PokerGO, the official live-streaming partner of the 2025 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.