Under 35 and Unstoppable: Young Pros Shine at WSOP 2025

1. Benny Glaser (United Kingdom)

It seems like Glaser has been around forever, but the British mixed-game crusher is still only 35. Benny Glaser had a series for the ages, winning three bracelets, becoming only the seventh player in history to achieve that feat, taking his total to eight.

The 11-time SCOOP winner was the last player standing in the $1,500 Dealers Choice, the $1,500 Mixed Omaha and the $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball, for total cashes of $616,991. He also racked up eight other cashes, taking his recorded career winnings to just shy of $10,000,000.

Photo Credit: PokerGO

Remarkably, those performances were not enough for Glaser to secure the Player of the Year title, with the ultra-consistent Shaun Deeb pipping him by 40 points, and Mizrachi finishing in third, despite his victories in the most prestigious events.

If Glaser continues his current trajectory, it is not inconceivable to see him challenging Phil Hellmuth’s record of 17 World Series of Poker bracelets, and he would seem to be a shoo-in for Hall of Fame accolades in due course.

The Brit himself acknowledged the record was a possibility at this year’s series, and it will be interesting to see how that chase develops over time.

2. Klemens Roiter (Austria)

The 34-year-old Austrian is now a regular on the high roller scene, and secured his first bracelet in the $1,500 Monster Stack, overcoming a 9,920-entry field to take a $1,204,457 payday.

The victory took his career earnings to almost $5,000,000, and Roiter came close to a second piece of hardware after a fourth-place finish in the $10,000 No Limit Hold’em 6-Max. Overall Roiter secured 11 cashes for total winnings of almost $1,700,000, finishing ninth in the Player of the Year race.

A heavily GTO-influenced player, Roiter is part of a strong cohort of talented young Austrian players, including Mario Mosbeck and Samuel Mullur, that will surely be chasing the biggest titles for many years to come.

3. Zdenek Zizka (Czechia)

Zdenek Zizka clearly has a natural ability for strategy games, with the 32-year-old Czech being a feared backgammon grandmaster, as well as a World Series of Poker bracelet winner.

Photo Credit: Alicia Skillman

Zizka defeated Deeb heads-up in the $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em event to secure his first bracelet for a $232,498 score, and added a further 12 cashes to bank a total of $425,515 across the series.

The Czech then switched disciplines and followed up his top-ten finish in the Player of the Year race with victory in the prestigious Ultimate Backgammon Championship in Monte Carlo in July.

Zizka is certainly a name to watch for the future, perhaps the only issue for him being whether he has sufficient time to commit to a full poker schedule.

4. Adrian Mateos (Spain)  

Adrian Mateos, the 31-year-old Spaniard is one of the most feared players in the game, dominating opponents online and live at the highest stakes for years, on the way to amassing almost $54,000,000 in recorded live cashes.

Photo Credit: Rachel Kay Winter

A six-time SCOOP winner, he notched up his fifth bracelet with victory in the $3,200 No Limit Hold’em High Roller for $253,080, becoming only the fifth player 30 or under to reach that milestone. Mateos is also the youngest player to achieve three bracelets, having achieved the feat at 22 years old.

Possibly the finest technical Hold’em player in the game, Mateos is another who could potentially challenge Hellmuth’s record bracelet total, and has surely already built a resume which makes him a guaranteed Hall of Famer.

5. Dan Zack (United States)

Dan Zack is another mixed-game specialist, and the 31-year-old American secured his fourth bracelet with victory in the final mixed event of the series, the $3,000 Pot Limit Omaha 6-Max, for $471,170.

Zack bagged nine other cashes to finish just outside the top ten in the Player of the Year race, with scores totalling $555,551 across the series, including a final table in the $10,000 Dealers Choice Championship.

Remarkably, four of Zack’s six recorded live tournament victories have been at the World Series, each in different variants – Mixed Triple Draw, Omaha Hi/Lo 8 and Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo 8 titles preceding this year’s Omaha victory. With a clear mastery of the smaller field mixed-game events, few would bet against the New Jersey native adding to his bracelet tally in the coming years.

Honourable mentions go to 26-year-old Brit Mitch Hynam, who continued a breakout year by securing his first bracelet in the $1,000 No Limit Hold’em-Super Turbo for a career-best score of $237,924, following a 49^th place finish in the Main Event, and GPI Number One ranked Jesse Lonis.

Although the 29-year-old King Kong of poker had a slightly disappointing World Series by his standards, he did triumph in high rollers at the Wynn and the Aria for almost $700,000, and continues to delight fans with his exploitative style and engaging backstory, rising from the construction sites of New York to the summit of the tournament poker world.

*All figures courtesy of WSOP.com and The Hendon Mob