WSOP 2025: Week #1 & #2 News and Notes

Blom versus Negreanu Not Up to the Hype

All eyes were on the final table of WSOP Event #9 – the $10k Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship as two of the biggest names in poker squared off for a bracelet.  In one corner stood Viktor Blom, the online poker sensation known as “Isildur1” and entered the final five as chip leader.  In the other corner stood Kid Poker himself – Daniel Negreanu, looking for bracelet #8, entered play on the final day essentially tied with Ryan Bambrick for 2^nd.  All of the hype around this final table did not materialize as the crowd watching saw Bambrick take out Blom early on, sending the Swedish pro to the showers in 4^th place.  On a day where the cards just didn’t go Viktor’s way, Bambrick regularily scopped pots from Blom, taking him from the leader to the short stack and left him with nothing at the end of the night.

Negreanu was steady on the other side of the table, maintaining his second place while Bambrick rose to the chip leader and extended it while three handed.  Bambrick’s lead was massive, but when Negreanu ended Ofir Mor’s run in third with rivered quad nines, was the stage was set for an epic Negreanu comeback, or was it just a matter of time before Ryan Bambrick collected WSOP bracelet #2?

For Kid Poker fans, the 4 to 1 deficit he had was just too much to overcome, despite Daniel fighting hard and getting the deficit to 2 to 1 at one point, but when the poker gods continuously smile upon you, his fate was already sealed.  Bambrick took that 2 to 1 lead to a commanding point, leaving Negreanu with less than 5 big bets before polishing off the 7-time WSOP champ, and earning his second career WSOP bracelet (his first came in 2018, winning the $1,500 PLO event for just over $219k) and a nice pay day of $470k, the biggest of his career.  The rail went home disappointed, but Negreanu has the momentum behind him as he immediately registered for the $10k Dealer’s Choice event and ending day 1 there in 3^rd place with 255k.

Poker’s Newest Mystery Millionaires

Two Mystery Bounty events highlighted the first 7 days at this year’s World Series and several players are now much richer than they were when the series started!

Cherish Andrews owes Shaub Deeb a Beer – Or Two

Moving over to the $25k Mixed PLO / NLH High Roller event, right at the stone bubble, the tournament entered level 20 which had blinds at 20k and 40k with a 40k big blind ante.  With 38 players remaining and only 37 getting paid, Cherish Andrews – who was sitting with a 80k stack, pushed her big blind & ante into the middle, putting herself at risk.  Shaun Deeb, sitting a few seats across from her, realized that the blind level increase was incorrect and called the floor over, arguing that it should have been a 35k big blind ante.  The floor discussed and agreed, allowing Cherish to keep 5k back.  She then watched Allan Le bust on that hand, putting the field into the money and netting Cherish $50k – a cash she may not have gotten had she been all in on that hand.

We don’t know her cards, but despite almost her entire stack being in the middle, but recognizing that others were at risk, her fold made her $25k.  The controversary – albeit minor – was that the ruling was not expressively communicated to all tables, so some played one hand with the incorrect ante amount.  At the end of the day no one was negatively affected by this – except Allan Le that is.  Rest assured though that Cherish owes Shaun one for catching this.

WSOP Numbers Looking Promising

We might only be a week and a bit into this year’s series, but the potential reduction in players making the trek to Las Vegas has not panned out thus far.  Comparing like for like tournaments so far:

$1,000 NLHE Mystery Millions – 2024 – 18,409; 2025 – 19,654
$5,000 PLO 8 Handed  2024 – 733; 2025 – 757
$10,000 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo 8 or Better Championship – 2024 – 197; 2025 – 217
$1,500 Mixed Games – Dealer’s Choice – 2024 – 530; 2025 – 597

The big measuring stick is on the horizon as the COLOSSUS is just underway with the first flights, but if the COLOSSUS numbers are up from 2025, all the talk pre-WSOP around player numbers going down may be for not.  If poker can overcome tariffs, international tensions worldwide, and changes to domestic travel document requirements, and increase the numbers – live poker will be in such a good place.

What will be interesting is the number of bracelet winners and players registered from outside the US which we won’t get an idea around for several weeks yet.  At this point, organizers should be encouraged with the results so far!

Benny Glaser – Déjà vu?

It’s rare to see poker stars come from non-Hold’em events but Benny Glaser has made history this year at the World Series of Poker.  In the span of a week, he won his sixth bracelet – the $1,500 Dealer’s Choice event, and his seventh bracelet – the $1,500 Mixed PLO Hi/Lo 8 or better event, joining only 11 others who have seven WSOP bracelets or more.  What makes Glaser’s accomplishment even more impressive is that the British pro has won all seven in non-Hold’em events, and this is the second time in his career that he’s turned the double in a week’s time.  Back in 2016, Glaser won two Omaha bracelets, taking down both the $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo Championship for $407k, and the $1,500 Omaha Hi/Lo event for $244k.

Glaser had to traverse rough waves, being down 2:1 in chips and all in against Travis Pearson when Pearson thought he had eliminated Glaser, only to realize Benny’s king high flush was better than him.  From there Glaser gained momentum and rode it all the way to the title.

Now an early candidate for WSOP Player of the Year, Benny’s going to be bracelet hunting and looking for more hardware as more mixed games come up on the schedule, his focus is shifting to winning the POY award.  With over a dozen mixed events still to come, Benny will have plenty of chances to capture the POY and increase his lead on everyone else.  

The amateurs and rec players will be flooding into Las Vegas this weekend as the COLOSSUS takes hold of both Paris and The Horseshoe, while the big-name pros will be looking to secure a seven-figure payday in the $25k NLH 8 handed event & $50k NLH 8 handed events kicking off, and the $10k 2-7 Lowball Championship to name a few of the events set to start over the next few days.  Lots of action to come from Las Vegas – stay tuned to see what happens next!