While major live tournament action wound down for 2025, a handful of big winners got in under the wire in the final days of the World Poker Tour World Championship festival at Wynn Las Vegas. As Schuyler Thornton won the signature event of the series, and Aaron Johnson broke through in the WPT Prime Championship, the ballrooms elsewhere on property were buzzing until the very end.
Online poker legend Cliff Josephy became the biggest winner of the festival outside of Thornton and Johnson. Clemen Deng and Kelly Becker each claimed significant titles of their own. Josh Arieh came back from the Bahamas and immediately chopped a seniors high roller with Maksim Paniak.
And amidst the many mixed game events on offer during the WPT World Championship festival, another memorable figure from the early days of online poker stepped forward. Richard ‘Chufty’ Ashby won a pair of mixed game events in a three-day span, becoming the only double winner of the entire festival.
As the poker world enters an unofficial holiday break, here’s everything you need to know about an eventful last few days of action at Wynn Las Vegas.
Cliff Josephy Finds Paydirt
Cliff Josephy (pictured above) has had a tremendous impact on the world of poker over the last 20-plus years. The man formerly known as ‘JohnnyBax’ has two World Series of Poker bracelets, a 2016 WSOP main event final table appearance, and a reputation as one of the most prolific backers of poker players on the scene.
For a tournament result to register among his career-best live performances is a matter of significant note, and that’s exactly what came to pass in the closing days of the 2025 WPT World Championship festival. Josephy beat out a field of 1,544 entries to win a $3,000 buy-in side event at Wynn, taking home $700,157. That stands as the second-largest live result of Josephy’s career, behind only his third-place finish in the WSOP main event for $3,453,035.
The tournament exceeded its $3 million guarantee by a fair stretch, hitting $4,199,680.
The final table also featured bracelet winner Jack Duong (3rd) and two-time bracelet winner Shannon Shorr (5th).
For his victory, Josephy earned 1,620 Card Player Player of the Year points. It was his second qualifying result of 2025. Shorr, who received 675 points for fifth place, rose to 27th place overall in the yearlong race presented by CoinPoker. Sixth-place finisher Yiannis Liperis, who resides in England, sits 71st following that result.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | Points |
| 1 | Cliff Josephy | $700,157 | 1,620 |
| 2 | Ben Ramon | $456,229 | 1,350 |
| 3 | Jack Duong | $350,612 | 1,080 |
| 4 | Michael Lavenburg | $209,042 | 810 |
| 5 | Shannon Shorr | $161,536 | 675 |
| 6 | Yiannis Liperis | $120,383 | 540 |
| 7 | Stephen Kehoe | $88,184 | 405 |
| 8 | Samuel Bekerian | $64,326 | 270 |
| 9 | Rajesh Mehta | $49,156 | 135 |
Kelly Becker Takes Down Mystery Bounty
A handful of tournaments spilled into an extra day beyond the end of the WPT World Championship itself. Among those events, there was considerable excitement surrounding a multi-flight, $1,600 no-limit hold’em mystery bounty event.
The final day entailed pulling bounty envelopes that included multiple six-figure prizes. Luka Bojovic, who made the WSOP main event final table over the summer, cashed in once again with one of the $100,000 bounties.
One of the $100,000 BOUNTIES has been PULLED at the $1,600 @WPT Mystery Bounty at @WynnLasVegas 🤯 pic.twitter.com/mT9MYNas9Q
— World Poker Tour (@WPT) December 22, 2025
Kelly Becker didn’t pull any of the biggest bounty prizes along the way, but he ultimately cashed in the traditional way. Becker defeated a field of 1,478 entrants to win the $239,688 first-place prize, along with $7,000 worth of bounties and 960 POY points. It well exceeded Becker’s previous best live result of $34,020.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | Points |
| 1 | Kelly Becker | $246,688 | 960 |
| 2 | Peter Kamaras | $153,669 | 800 |
| 3 | Jeffrey Chen | $116,718 | 640 |
| 4 | Peter Cross | $90,878 | 480 |
| 5 | Kenneth Kim | $69,419 | 400 |
| 6 | Yansong Kou | $52,870 | 320 |
| 7 | Hyung Jung | $39,728 | 240 |
| 8 | Jared Kawalsky | $29,190 | 160 |
| 9 | Dusti Smith | $21,381 | 80 |
Clemen Deng Captures Final Wynn High Roller
Clemen Deng
Over the course of the WPT World Championship festival, there were a handful of standout high roller events on offer. The last big buy-in event was a $10,500 eight-max no-limit hold’em event, which drew 94 players for a $902,400 total prize pool.
Clemen Deng, who has become a regular presence among the super high roller fields over the last few years, secured his first live title of 2025 in the dying embers of the year. For his victory at Wynn, Deng took home $267,742 and 540 POY points. The win elevated Deng to 57th in the POY standings.
Michael Gathy, the four-time bracelet winner from Belgium, finished second. 2024 bracelet winner Dylan Destefano went out in sixth, while recent WPT bestbet Scramble champion Connor Rash finished seventh.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | Points |
| 1 | Clemen Deng | $267,742 | 540 |
| 2 | Michael Gathy | $166,944 | 450 |
| 3 | Najeem Ajez | $116,861 | 360 |
| 4 | Taylor Wilson | $85,728 | 270 |
| 5 | David McGowan | $64,296 | 225 |
| 6 | Dylan Destefano | $50,128 | 180 |
| 7 | Connor Rash | $40,157 | 135 |
| 8 | David Ha | $32,938 | 90 |
Maksim Paniak And Josh Arieh Chop Up Seniors High Roller
Maksim Paniak
The 50-and-over crowd got a high roller event of their own, with 93 players showing up for Wynn’s $10,000 buy-in senior high roller. Russia’s Maksim Paniak claimed the title and $217,011 for first, following a heads-up deal with seven-time bracelet winner Josh Arieh.
Arieh was just back from WSOP Paradise, where he made two final table runs at his eighth WSOP victory. This final table also featured four-time bracelet winner and WPT champion David Baker (3rd), WPT champion Lee Markholt (5th), longtime Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood standout Raminder Singh (6th), and WPT champion Matt Salsberg (9th).
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout |
| 1 | Maksim Paniak | $217,011 |
| 2 | Josh Arieh | $192,010 |
| 3 | David Baker | $109,995 |
| 4 | Rabah Abdelmalek | $80,619 |
| 5 | Lee Markholt | $60,740 |
| 6 | Raminder Singh | $46,383 |
| 7 | Mike Gao | $36,886 |
| 8 | Patrick White | $30,039 |
| 9 | Matthew Salsberg | $25,179 |
Richard Ashby Enjoys ‘Mixed’ Results In Wynn Double
Richard Ashby built a reputation in online poker as ‘Chufty’, but the English pro has live results dating back well over 20 years. He earned a unique distinction during this WPT World Championship festival as the only double winner of a festival with 53 events on tap.
Ashby showed off his mixed game prowess, starting with an $1,100 pot-limit Omaha event that drew 237 players. He earned $47,728 and 264 POY points for that victory, in a tournament that spanned two days. 2024 NAPT Las Vegas champion and fellow UK native Nick Marchington made that final table, finishing third.
The day after his PLO win, Ashby entered a $1,600 T.O.R.S.E. event, and proceeded to win that tournament, too. In that event, Ashby outlasted a field of 137 entries on his way to a $52,896 payday. Four-time bracelet winner and 2006 WSOP Player of the Year Jeff Madsen (7th) and two-time bracelet winner Marco Johnson (8th) reached the T.O.R.S.E. final table as well.
$1,600 T.O.R.S.E. Results
| Place | Player | Payout | Points |
| 1 | Richard Ashby | $52,896 | 264 |
| 2 | Dean Joe | $32,658 | 220 |
| 3 | Sean Yu | $22,824 | 176 |
| 4 | Simeon Tsonev | $16,946 | 132 |
| 5 | Ross Hoffman | $12,538 | 110 |
| 6 | Nicolas Milgrom | $9,404 | 88 |
| 7 | Jeff Madsen | $7,347 | 66 |
| 8 | Marco Johnson | $5,926 | 44 |
$1,100 Pot-Limit Omaha Results
| Place | Player | Payout | Points |
| 1 | Richard Ashby | $47,728 | 384 |
| 2 | Isaac Cohen | $37,727 | 320 |
| 3 | Nicholas Marchington | $25,682 | 256 |
| 4 | Jannick Schoeb | $19,034 | 192 |
| 5 | Vu Dang | $14,093 | 160 |
| 6 | Chris Hak | $10,458 | 128 |
| 7 | Evgeni Tourevski | $7,817 | 96 |
| 8 | Adam Nattress | $5,959 | 64 |
| 9 | Nicholis Trivisonno | $4,642 | 32 |
Photo credits: WPT / Wynn Poker Room.
