WSOP First Week Recap: Gheba, Daly, Wang, Cheung, And Casella Win Bracelets

Daniyal Gheba From Chip Leader Coaching Wins $5,000 8-Handed NLH

Gheba coaches for Chip Leader Coaching, a stable founded by Alex Foxen and Chance Kornuth (both came to rail Gheba and stayed for a winner’s photo afterward).

Event #2: $5K 8-Handed NLH Final Table Payouts (570 Entries)

Place	Country	Player	Prize
1		Daniyal Gheba	$502,985
2		Chenxiang Miao	$335,290
3		Xiaohu Liu	$234,432
4		Ren Lin	$166,448
5		Peter Mugar	$120,035
6		Ivan Ruban	$87,945
7		Anatoly Nikitin	$65,479
8		Casey Hatmaker	$49,556

Daniyal Gheba may get a chance for a return photo, as Alex Foxen has reached the semifinals of the $25K Heads Up Championship.

Foxen advanced to the semifinals of Event #7: $25K Heads Up No-Limit Hold’em Championship. To win the bracelet, he must defeat Nikita Kuznetcov and then the winner of the Dimitar Danchev vs. Ryuta Nakai match. Third- and fourth-place finishers will each receive $300K, the runner-up will earn $528K, and the champion will take home $800K.

The stream starts today at 01:00 GMT on the WSOP YouTube channel.

Jason Daly Rewrites The Script And Wins $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo Early In The Series

The previous two years of Jason Daly’s WSOP followed the same pattern: arrive, lose $100K, then get unstuck at the end of the series. This year, the story will be different. Daly shipped the $1,500 PLO8 for $191,362. It was the third bracelet of his career:

• 2023 — $3K Limit Hold’em ($165,250)
• 2024 — $2.5K Limit O8 / Stud8 ($244,674)

In addition to winning his third bracelet, Jason Daly had an unforgettable experience: he shared a final table with Perry Green (note: a 90-year-old poker pro who won his first bracelet in 1976 and finished runner-up in the 1981 WSOP Main Event for $150K when Stu Ungar won the title).

Event #4: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo Final Table Payouts (828 Entries)

Place	Country	Player	Prize
1		Jason Daly	$191,362
2		Dorian Rios	$127,528
3		Per Hildebrand	$87,038
4		Amnon Filippi	$60,517
5		Andrew Voor	$42,879
6		Perry Green	$30,973
7		Joseph Hallock	$22,817

Yang Wang Defeats Jesse Lonis Heads-Up In $5K PLO

Lonis entered the final table with half the chips in play. At six-handed, he controlled 60% of all chips. However, after a couple of double-ups by the short stacks, that advantage disappeared.

Jesse Lonis started heads-up play with 22 big blinds, while Yang Wang held 120 big blinds. There was no comeback. In the final hand, Lonis got it in with A K Q 9 against Q 10 9 5 . Wang rivered a full house on the board 8 A 5 10 10 .

Wang has been playing poker professionally for more than 10 years and regularly competes at Triton and the WSOP. His best result came in WSOP Paradise 2024, where he earned $1,006,680 for finishing second in the $50K PLO. In his winner’s interview, Wang said patience was the key to his victory.

Lonis commented on his result on Twitter (X):

Event #5: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Final Table Payouts (716 Entries)

Place	Country	Player	Prize
1		Yang Wang	$595,388
2		Jesse Lonis	$396,892
3		Evan Krentzman	$277,537
4		Justin Scott	$197,139
5		Stephen Hubbard	$142,279
6		Dylan Weisman	$104,359
7		Jarred Graham	$77,815
8		Zackary Estes	$59,001
9		Edward Leonard	$45,502

James Cheung Wins His First Bracelet In $1,500 Stud

The Chinese Scottish (as he calls himself) first played the WSOP three years ago. Back then, he was absolutely convinced he would win a bracelet. In 2026, he finally did.

In heads-up play, Cheung defeated five-time WSOP bracelet winner Brian Yoon. Interestingly, during his first WSOP series, Cheung considered Yoon his toughest opponent. That is why this victory means so much to him.

In his post-tournament interview, Cheung said poker taught him two important lessons: controlling his emotions (not getting overly excited by wins or discouraged by losses) and never counting his winnings before they’re secured, especially in heads-up play where absolutely anything can happen.

Event #6: $1,500 Stud Final Table Payouts (359 Entries)

Place	Country	Player	Prize
1		James Cheung	$103,185
2		Brian Yoon	$67,771
3		Gregory Josephson	$45,570
4		Thomas Savitsky	$31,380
5		Bradley Jansen	$22,141
6		Jonathan Glendinning	$16,017
7		Korey Simeone	$11,888
8		Karle Wilson	$9,058

Michael Casella Wins His First Bracelet In A Star-Studded $1,500 Badugi Field

The three-handed players in this event had a combined 14 bracelets: seven for Scott Seiver, seven for Nick Schulman, and zero for Michael Casella.

The heads-up match against Nick Schulman lasted three hours, but Casella never considered giving up. Long one-on-one battles are nothing new to him because he spent his entire life playing chess.

Event #8: $1,500 Badugi Final Table Payouts (554 Entries)

Place	Country	Player	Prize
1		Michael Casella	$141,963
2		Nick Schulman	$94,607
3		Scott Seiver	$62,920
4		Gary Benson	$42,815
5		Brant Hale	$29,824
6		Stephan Nussrallah	$21,279