Blaz Zerjav Captures His Second World Series of Poker Bracelet Of The Summer

Slovenian poker pro Blaz Zerjav has won two World Series of Poker gold bracelets this summer in two markedly different events. While his first triumph saw him show off his no-limit hold’em chops against an elite high roller field in the $25,000 six-max, his second victory came in a comparatively low-cost mixed-games event: the $1,500 stud eight-or-better. Zerjav defeated a field of 615 entries in the tournament, overcoming four-time bracelet winner Huck Seed heads-up to scoop the hardware and the top prize of $153,487.

“Completely different. It’s a different format. It’s a different type of player, a different type of game, I’d say,” Zerjav told PokerNews reporters when asked about his pair of title runs at the 2025 WSOP. “But this one is also special.”

As for squaring off against a Poker Hall of Fame member at the end of his latest win, Zerjav said, “He is really tough to play against. I enjoyed every moment of it, and learned a few things.”

Zerjav now has more than $3.7 million in recorded tournament earnings, with more than $2.3 million of that coming from his successes at the series. He has cashed 49 times in bracelet events, including his two wins this summer. His earlier win at Horseshoe Las Vegas came with a career-best payday of $1,734,717.

This was Zerjav’s third final table showing of 2025, having also placed second in an eight-game mix side event at the European Poker Tour Monte Carlo. With 2,660 Card Player Player of the Year points, he now sits inside the top 50 in the overall standings presented by Coin Poker.

Huck Seed

As for Seed, he came within one spot of capturing his first gold bracelet in over two decades. His last win at the series saw him take down a $5,000 razz event in 2003 for his fourth WSOP title. He first broke through in 1995, winning a $2,500 pot-limit Omaha tournament. Two years after that, he took down the WSOP main event for $1 million. Seed’s other bracelet was earned in the 2000 $1,500 razz event.

Field Full of Studs

The strong turnout for this event resulted in a $816,413 prize pool, with the top 93 finishers all securing a slice.

Plenty of big names ran deep, including three-time bracelet winner David ‘Bakes’ Baker (77th), four-time bracelet winner Jeff Madsen (35th), Allen Kessler (29th), two-time bracelet winner Jason Daly (18th), five-time bracelet winner Robert Mizrachi (13th), and bracelet winner Denis Stebkov (6th).

The third and final day for this event saw 11 players return with a shot at the title, with Zerjav in second chip position to start behind only Jay Kerbal. Zerjav scored multiple knockouts early in the day, but was still trailing Kerbel when five-handed play began. Kerbel then began to slide down the leaderboard, and was ultimately scooped by Seed’s aces up with an 8-7-4-3-A low to finish fifth for $34,842.

Zerjav was out in front during early four-handed play, but was eventually surpassed by Sergei Tolkachov. Michelle Konig was ultimately knocked out in fourth place ($48,931), running into a flush for Tolkachov and an 8-7-5-3-2 low for Zerjav.

Zerjav then made a straight to best the trip queens made by fourth street for Tolkachov. That ended Tolkachov’s run in third place ($70,071), putting Zerjav on top going into the heads-up showdown against Seed.

Final Battle For The Bracelet

Seed had 5,700,000 to work with at the start of heads-up play, with Zerjav on 9,200,000. Seed got off to a fast start, closing the gap then taking the lead. At one point, Seed had grown his chip advantage to more than 6:1, but Zerjav soon bounced back. He won a big pot with tens up to narrow the distance between the two considerably, and soon had edged his way back in front.

Zerjav then won a hefty pot with a club flush made on sixth street to pull away. Not long after that, the final hand arrived. Zerjav brought it in with a deuce showing and Seed called with a four showing. Seed check-called on both fourth and fifth street. Seed made nines and fours on sixth street and led out. Zerjav, who had hit tens up on fifth, raised. Seed called all-in and the players rolled over their hand. Seed could win with a four, king, ten, or nine on the end. S ($102,281).

Zerjav: (10♥2♥)2♦6♣10♣9♣(7♠)

Seed:(9♦4♣)4♦K♠10♠9♠(Q♠)

Seed wound up hitting a queen, which meant his latest deep run at the series was over in second place. He now has more than $6.4 million in career tournament earnings to his name.

Final Table Results

Photos for Card Player by Drew Amato.