PokerNews is here with your daily recap of the 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP) from the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. June 23 was the 28th day of the 2025 WSOP, and it was another busy day in “Sin City.”
Robert Wells became a WSOP champion for the first time after taking down Event #58: Nine Game Mix. Wells found himself heads-up against Thomas Taylor, and he came out on top after an epic heads-up battle that spilled over until the early hours of the morning. In addition to his first bracelet, Wells took home $228,115 and plenty of points for Team Hoggers in the $25K Fantasy Draft.
Stars Turn Out for the $5K NLHE 6-Max Event
Almost 1,000 players turned out on Day 1 of Event #62: $5,000 6-handed No-Limit Hold’em, a number that’s set to grow because late registration spills over into Day 2. By the time the tenth level was done and dusted, only 348 players had chips requiring bagging and tagging.
Spain’s Sebastian Toro (695,000) bagged the largest stack, one worth 278 big blinds on Day 2. Toro leads from Samy Dubonnet (602,500) and Benoit Fiasson (514,000), two talented Frenchmen.
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Dozens of $25K Fantasy Draft picks and bracelet winners progressed from Day 1. They included Jake Schwartz (383,500), Alexandros Kolonias (342,500), Ryan Leng (331,000), Taylor Paur (313,500), Adrian Mateos (302,000), and Roland Rokita (298,500). All those mentioned players return in the top 20.
Ower down the pecking order but by no means out of contention, are players like Patrick Leonard (243,000), Brek Schutten (232,500), Martin Jacobson (214,500), Faraz Jaka (210,500), Anthony Zinno (198,500), Davidi Kitai (163,000), Mustapha Kanit (148,000), Stephen Song (144,000), Xixiang Luo (120,500), the legendary Erik Seidel (110,500), and Artur Martirosian (55,000).
Play resumes at 11:00 a.m. local time on June 24 with late registration open until the start of Level 12 at around 1:15 p.m. local time.
Event #62: $5,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em Top Ten Chip Counts
RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds 1Sebastian ToroColombia695,000278 2Samy DubonnetFrance602,500241 3Benoit FiassonFrance514,000206 4Javier GomezSpain451,000180 5Edward PakUnited States436,000174 6Bariscan BetilUnited States409,500164 7John PointerUnited States395,500158 8Merijn Van RooijNetherlands387,500155 9Jake SchwartzUnited States383,500153 10Eric YanovskyUnited States366,000146
Kaifan Wang Leads Final 44 in the Millionaire Maker
Kaifan Wang
You may not be too familiar with the name Kaifan Wang, but that will change if he continues in his current vein of form and becomes the champion of Event #53: $1,500 Millionaire Maker. Wang (21,900,000) leads the final 44 players into Day 4 knowing he is only a couple of sessions away from becoming a WSOP champion and a millionaire to boot.
Two-time World Poker Tour (WPT) Main Event champion James Carroll (11,925,000) returns to the action with a top-five stack and will fancy his chances of adding a bracelet to his trophy cabinet.
Only a handful of $25K Fantasy Draft picks and bracelet winners progressed to Day 4. Josh Reichard (6,300,000) is in the middle of the pack, while Jonas Lauck (4,625,000), Leo Margets (4,000,000), Jinho Hong (3,050,000), and Carlos Leiva (1,525,000) have a bit more work ahead of them if they are to win some WSOP gold.
Play resumes at 11:00 a.m. local time on June 24. By the time Day 4 ends, only a handful of players will remain in contention for the $1,255,180 top prize.
Event #53: $1,500 Millionaire Maker Top Ten Chip Counts
RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds 1Kaifan WangUnited States21,900,00091 2Jacques OrtegaBrazil19,225,00080 3Alejandro GanivetSpain17,675,00074 4Ignacio MoronSpain15,950,00066 5James CarrollUnited States11,925,00050 6Jeffrey TanouyeUnited States11,225,00047 7Samuel TaylorUnited States11,100,00046 8Pablo MelognoUruguay10,150,00042 9Atanas KodinovBulgaria10,000,00042 10Anze SmajdSlovenia9,725,00041
Battle of the Ages Requires an Additional Day With Eight Players Remaining
Joseph Roh
Event #59: $1,000 Battle of the Ages was due to play down to a champion, but it was decided to come back on June 24 for an unscheduled Day 3 because eight players still remained as the clock approached 3:00 a.m. local time.
Those eight players return to the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas at 4:00 p.m. local time to fight it out for the bracelet and the $228,632 top prize. Joseph Roh (17,375,000) leads the way after starting the day as chip leader.
Recent addition to the two-time bracelet winner’s club, Allan Le (2,450,000) is still in contention, although he only has six big blinds at the restart. Macao’s Xia Wang (2,400,000), is the last woman standing, albeit with four big blinds.
Play resumes at 4:00 p.m. local time on June 24 and continues until a champion emerges.
Event #59: $1,000 Battle of the Ages Final Day Chip Counts
RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds 1Joseph RohUnited States17,375,00034 2Srivinay IrrinkiUnited States14,850,00029 3Jack MaskillUnited Kingdom7,350,00014 4Hakeem MashalUnited States7,025,00014 5Ignacio SagraArgentina6,000,00012 6Allan LeUnited States3,450,0006 7Sebastiaan de JongeNetherlands2,650,0005 8Xia WangMacao2,400,0004
$3K Limit Hold’em Ends With Only 11 Players; Andrew Bradshaw Leads
Andrew Bradshaw
Only 11 players remain in Event #60: $3,000 Limit Hold’em and nobody has more chips than Andrew Bradshaw (2,475,000). Day 2 saw 100 players return, but they were decimated by the time the curtain came down on proceedings.
Bradshaw, fresh from a 20th place finish in the $1,000 Seniors Championship is set for his first WSOP final table and is only ten eliminations away from capturing his first bracelet.
Stephanie Nguyen (1,820,000) has a realistic chance of becoming the first woman of the 2025 WSOP to win an open event; she returns to the action third in chips. Also still in contention are Roland Israelashvili (1,280,000), Scott Bohlman (975,000), and Matthew Valeo (905,000).
The final 11 return to their seats at 1:00 p.m. local time, and play continues until one man or woman possesses all of the chips.
Event #60: $3,000 Limit Hold’em Final Day Chip Counts
RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Bets 1Andrew BradshawUnited Kingdom2,475,00031 2Kerry WelshUnited States1,910,00024 3Stephanie NguyenUnited States1,820,00023 4Simeon TsonevBulgaria1,380,00017 5Nicholas TsoukalasUnited States1,285,00016 6Roland IsraelashviliUnited States1,280,00016 7Scott BohlmanUnited States975,00012 8Matthew ValeoUnited States905,00011 9Moshe GavrieliUnited States785,00010 10Ian PelzUnited States765,00010 11Robert KleinUnited States245,0003
Action Packed $500 NLHE Freezeout Day 1 Sees Field Cut From 5,028 to 211
Anatoly Korochenskiy is second in chips
Event #61: $500 No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout saw eliminations from the word go, as the 5,028-strong field was reduced to a more managable 211 on the first of its two days.
Spain’s Juan Lucena (1,990,000) topped the overnight chip counts, closely followed by Anatoly Korochenskiy (1,815,000) and Sherwin Basti (1,755,000) in second and third place. Korochenskiy has several WSOP cashes, including a deep run in the 2018 Main Event and a tenth-place finish in the $800 No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack last year.
Indian bracelet winner Aditya Sushant (1,605,000) returns on Day 2 in the top ten.
Despite this event having one of the most affordable buy-ins on the schedule, several stellar names bought in and progressed to Day 2. Arthur Morris (1,100,000), Matthew Bode (905,000), Guoliang Wei (715,000), David Simon (610,000), Gabriel Schroeder (375,000), and Francis Anderson (300,000) were the only bracelet owners or $25K Fantasy picks to bag up chips at day’s end.
Day 2 kicks off at 11:00 a.m. local time on June 24. The plan is to crown a champion.
Event #61: $500 No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout Top Ten Chip Counts
RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds 1Juan LucenaSpain1,990,00066 2Anatoly KorochenskiyRussia1,815,00060 3Sherwin BastiUnited States1,755,00058 4Massimo De MarioItaly1,750,00058 5Gregory RobbinsUnited States1,750,00058 6Edwin ChangUnited States1,650,00055 7Aditya SushantIndia1,605,00053 8Rittie ChuaprasertUnited States1,560,00052 9Jesse JonesUnited States1,530,00051 10David CoffmanUnited States1,445,00048
Yueqi Zhu Leads After Day 1 of the $1,500 Limit 2-7
Yueqi Zhu
Some 635 players entered Event #63: $1,500 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw, smashing last year’s record attendance of 574. After ten hours of grinding, only 113 players remained, with China’s Yueqi Zhu (395,000) leading the way at the top of the chip counts.
Zhu won his bracelet in the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha/Hi-Lo/Big O mixed event in 2018 and his done his chances of securing a second bracelet no harm at all here. However, this event always brings out poker’s big guns, and plenty of them are hot on Zhu’s heels.
Colton Blomberg (359,000), Brandon Shack-Harris (350,000), Ray Henson (344,000), Nathan Gamble (280,000), and Jon Turner (276,000) all bagged up top ten stacks.
Robert Mizrachi (233,000), Adam Friedman (233,000), Greg Mueller (206,000), Andres Korn (176,000), Tom Koral (170,000), Nick Guagenti (135,000), reigning champion Aaron Cummings (93,000), and Shaun Deeb (80,000) also progressed.
Day 2 will start at 1:00 p.m. local time on June 24.
Event #63: $1,500 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw Top Ten Chip Counts
RankPlayerCountryChip CountDay 2 Big Bets 1Yueqi ZhuChina395,00033 2Colton BlombergUnited States359,00030 3Brandon Shack-HarrisUnited States350,00029 4Raymond HensonUnited States344,00029 5Michael WagnerUnited States326,00027 6Alexander BrennekeUnited States308,00026 7James TiltonUnited States291,00024 8Peter NeffUnited States288,00024 9Nathan GambleUnited States280,00023 10Jon TurnerUnited States276,00023
What to Expect on Day 29 of the 2025 WSOP
Reigning $50K PPC champion, Daniel Negreanu
Up to nine events will be running on June 24, the 29th day of the 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP).
Day 4 of Event #53: $1,500 Millionaire Maker kicks off at 11:00 a.m. local time, the same time that Day 2 of Event #61: $500 No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout starts.
It is a noon start for Day 2 of Event #62: $5,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em, with Day 2 of Event #60: $3,000 Limit Hold’em and Day 2 of Event #63: $1,500 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw shuffling up and dealing an hour later at 1:00 p.m. local time.
After spilling over until 3:00 a.m. local time, the unplanned final day of Event #59: $1,000 Battle of the Ages resumes at 4:00 p.m. local time.
As is often the case, three new events enter the mix on Day 29. Poker veterans wanting to be in their seats for the start of Event #64: $1,000 Super Seniors No-Limit Hold’em need to be up nice and early because cards are n the air from 10:00 a.m. local time.
A couple of hours later, at noon, Event #65: $1,000 Tag Team gets underway before the tournament all the pros want to win, Event #66: $50,000 Poker Players Championship, kicks off at 2:00 p.m. local time. This event is one of the most prestigious on the schedule, perhaps even more so than the Main Event. Daniel Negreanu is the reigning champion. Expect a star-studded crowd to buy into this event.
Matthew Pitt
Senior Editor
