WSOP Paradise Tops $200 Million In Prize Money

In a month crowded with world-class poker tournament action, the World Series of Poker Paradise stood out as the undisputed heavyweight. While competing for players’ attention against rival festivals in Las Vegas and Prague, the Triton-partnered WSOPP leveraged its high-stakes focus to build over $203 million in prize pools across 15 bracelet events.

The festival ran from Dec. 4-18 at Atlantis Paradise Island Bahamas. While there were a few lower buy-in options along the way, the majority firmly qualified as high roller events. All but one of the tournaments built prize pools of a million dollars or more, with six events surpassing the eight-figure mark.

The heaviest hitter of all was the record-setting $60,000,000 guaranteed $25,000 super main event. A total of 2,891 entries saw the largest guarantee ever attached to a poker tournament surpassed by nearly $12.3 million.

The largest share of that $72,275,000 was ultimately awarded to Bernhard Binder. The 27-year-old took home $10,000,000 and his first WSOP gold bracelet as the champion.

“This has been on my bucket list, to be honest,” he told WSOP commentator Jeff Platt after coming out on top. “That it’s the biggest one… it wasn’t really necessary. I would have taken any other, but we got the biggest one. I can’t complain.”

It was the second major victory of 2025 for the Austrian online grinder, who also took down the online GGMillion$ main event in February for $1.8 million.

Binder also earned plenty of rankings points with this triumph. The 4,200 Card Player Player of the Year points that came with the title catapulted him into 45th place in the overall POY standings presented by CoinPoker, despite no prior qualified scores. In fact, prior to this mammoth win, his top live score was a $64,500 cash in a Triton high roller from just a few months earlier.

The 1,600 PokerGO Tour points he also earned saw Binder climb to 10th on that high-stakes-centric leaderboard, guaranteeing him a spot in the season-ending $1,000,000 PGT Championship.

The staggering turnout of nearly 3,000 entries was achieved in part by some of the biggest names in the game firing multiple bullets into the sizable event. Among the most visible was Poker Hall of Famer and seven-time bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu, who bought into the tournament 10 times before registration officially closed, vlogging the entire experience on his YouTube channel.

‘Texas’ Mike Moncek reportedly led the field with 14 entries, while two-time Player of the Year Stephen Chidwick bought in 13 times. Fellow high rollers James Hopkins, Jesse Lonis, Mike Watson, and Shaun Deeb were in for a reported 13, 12, 11, and nine entries, respectively.

A total of 436 finishers made the money in this mammoth event, with plenty of big names among them. Notables who made it to the business end of the tournament included Martin Kabrhel (56th), Santhosh Suvarna (42nd), David Coleman (31st), Chad Eveslage (29th), Ren Lin (28th), Lautaro Guerra (25th), Felipe Ramos (23rd), Charles Hook (14th), and Faraz Jaka (13th).

Eight-time bracelet winner Benny Glaser was eliminated in 10th place via a controversial hand that saw Eric Wasserson take his time calling a preflop all-in with pocket aces. Glaser took exception to the slow roll and was in rough shape with A-Q. The board offered no help and the UK pro settled for $665,875 after being knocked out on the final table bubble. The 36-year-old, who won three bracelets this summer alone, now has more than $10 million in career tournament earnings.

Glaser was soon joined by German high roller Leonard Maue, who ran pocket kings into the pocket aces of Jean-Noel Thorel to finish ninth for $850,000. He now has $8.5 million in total cashes.

Super Main Event Final Table Action

The final table began with eight remaining and Thorel in pole position. Short stack Franco Spitale ran A♠J♦ into the pocket queens of Wasserson to be sent packing in eighth place. The Argentinian bracelet winner earned $1,100,000 for his second career seven-figure score. He had previously taken home $1,250,125 as the 2024 WSOP Millionaire Maker champion.

Peter Chien got his last 10 big blinds in a dominating position, but his A♥K♥ was unable to hold against the A♦Q♣ of Binder. The board brought four diamonds to end Chien’s run in seventh place for $1,400,000. This was by far the largest score yet for the Canadian.

Last woman standing Natasha Mercier was left on fumes when her A-8 lost a big clash with Terrance Reid’s A-J. She got the rest in on the following hand with A♥Q♠ facing the K♦8♦ of Thorel, before a king on the river sent her to the rail. Natasha, the wife of six-time bracelet winner Jason Mercier, secured a career-best score of $1,800,000 as the sixth-place finisher. She now boasts more than $3.2 million in lifetime earnings after this result.

This marked the second straight year that a female player made a final-table run in this event, with Liv Boeree having placed fourth in 2024 for $2.8 million.

Five-handed play continued for multiple hours without any knockouts. There was plenty of jockeying for position along the way, including one of the wildest hands of the tournament. Belarmino De Souza min-raised from the hijack with J♦10♦ and Binder called out of the small blind with J♥10♥. Thorel came along with Q♥2♥ in the big blind and the flop came down K♥9♦2♦. It checked through and the Q♠ rolled off on the turn. Binder led out and Thorel folded his queens-up, prompting WSOP livestream commentator Henry Kilbane to question if he was even aware he’d made two pair. De Souza called with his nut straight and flush redraw.

The Q♣ river would have given Thorel a winning full house. Instead, Binder overbet, putting De Souza to a test for his remaining chips. De Souza, who had a single time bank remaining, eventually folded his the straight, which would have been good for a chop.

Wasserson was the next to hit the rail. He three-bet shoved with A♥J♠ over a Binder min-raise. Binder called with K♦Q♠ and made a flush on a Q♦10♦6♦J♦A♣ runout to send the mixed games standout packing in fifth place for $2,350,000. This narrowly set a new personal best for the bracelet winner, topping the $2,287,000 he earned with a fourth-place finish in a $200,000 Triton Montenegro event earlier this year. He now has nearly $9 million in career earnings.

Reid, a poker media member and increasingly accomplished tournament player, secured $3,000,000 as the fourth-place finisher. Reid made an ill-timed move with middle pair, running right into Binder’s flopped flush. Prior to this, Reid’s top payday had been the $192,755 he picked up by winning the $2,500 RunGood Poker Series event at Thunder Valley in 2024.

The next big hand began with Thorel limping from the small blind with 8♥4♦. De Souza checked his option with 10♠6♥. The flop fell 10♦5♠4♥ to give both players a pair. Thorel check-called a bet from out of position and the 4♠ turn gave him trips and the lead. He checked again, and De Souza opted for the exact same bet. Thorel called and the river 4♣ gave him quads. He check-raised all in after De Souza bet. The Brazilian called with his fours full of tens and was shown the bad news. The $4,000,000 third-place payout was a new high score, besting the $261,249 he’d earned with a runner-up showing in a 2020 WSOP Online $2,500 six-max event.

The final showdown for the bracelet and the eight-figure top prize began with Binder holding a nearly 2:1 lead over Thorel. The early action favored the 78-year-old Frenchman, however, and the two were virtually tied when the next break arrived.

The gloves came off after that, as both players were able to win big pots via aggression. Thorel bluffed with a missed straight draw in a big pot and was able to get a quick fold from Binder’s missed low flush draw. Not too long after that, Binder jammed the river with a missed straight draw of his own that forced Thorel off second pair.

As the rising blinds made their impact felt, Binder began to pull away. He won a big pot value betting second pair to kick off his final push to the title. Thorel was down below 20 big blinds when the final hand of the tournament was dealt.

He opened the button holding K♦Q♠. Binder three-bet jammed from the big blind with A♣8♣ and Thorel called all-in. The 9♦6♣2♥3♠8♠ runout gave Binder a pair of eights for the win.

Thorel earned $6,000,000 as the runner-up. The biologist and entrepreneur’s lifetime earnings now exceed $27.8 million, extending his lead as France’s top tournament earner. All five of his top scores have now come in second-place showings, with three additional multi-million-dollar paydays among them. He also cashed for an additional $600,000 by final tabling the Triton main event just days earlier.

Speaking of Triton…

Kayhan Mokri Keeps Heater Going With First Bracelet

Six of the events at this stop were official collaborations between the WSOP and the high-stakes Triton Poker Series, with buy-ins ranging from $75,000 up to $250,000. The quarter-million-dollar price tag belonged to the Triton Invitational. This event featured the tour’s unique invitational format which sees the day 1 field split evenly between amateurs and their invited pro counterparts. The prize pool swelled to $33,250,000 thanks to 98 entries and 35 re-entries, bringing the total count to 133.

High-stakes cash game crusher Kayhan Mokri stood alone when the final card of the tournament hit the felt. The Norwegian pro earned a career-best $7,725,000 along with his first WSOP bracelet.

“I don’t know what’s going on, to be honest,” the 31-year-old said of winning his third Triton title in the last 13 months. “I’m very perplexed by the whole thing. I don’t know, I keep showing up, and I keep turning it into a win somehow. I’m having the year of my life, and honestly, I’m very happy. I don’t know what to say.”

Mokri’s tournament record for 2025 is particularly impressive, on a limited schedule. He cashed in 10 live tournaments, all high rollers, and won five of them. With this latest marquee triumph, his earnings on the year ballooned to more than $13.2 million, while his career haul sits at over $21.2 million.

This win doubled Mokri’s previous career best, a $3,835,059 Triton victory in Jeju back in September. It also saw Mokri surpass 2022 WSOP main event champ Espen Jorstad to claim the top spot on the Norwegian money list.

Mokri defeated Gabriel Andrade heads-up for the title. Andrade, who is from Ecuador, was one of five non-professionals at the final table. That group also included Albert Daher. Daher, who was the player who invited Mokri into the tournament, finished third, falling at Mokri’s hand.

Several accomplished pros joined Mokri at the final table as well, including Sergio Aido (7th – $1,320,000), Thomas Boivin (5th – $2,290,000), and Jonathan Jaffe (4th – $2,860,000).

Notables Add To Their Bracelet Collections

Before making a final-table run in the Super High Roller Bowl X, Sam Soverel defeated a field of 103 entries in the $100,000 Triton pot-limit Omaha main event to earn his fourth career WSOP bracelet and the top prize of $2,594,000.

This was the largest score yet for Soverel, blowing away the $1,024,364 he earned for a win in a $100,000 no-limit high roller in 2016. Soverel won his third bracelet earlier this year, taking down the $10,000 six-max no-limit hold’em championship in Las Vegas. The 35-year-old poker pro’s previous wins at the series were the 2023 WSOP Online $5,300 high roller and the 2016 $1,000 pot-limit Omaha event.

Aleksejs Ponakovs had made the money more than 30 times in Triton Poker events, accumulating $19.5 million in earnings. While he had four separate multi-million-dollar cashes on the tour in close calls, he’d never managed to capture a trident trophy.

That all changed when the Latvian poker pro defeated a field of 237 entries in the $100,000 Triton no-limit hold’em main event. The 34-year-old Riga native secured his first title on the tour, his third career WSOP gold bracelet, and a career-best payday of $4,750,000. He now has more than $37.1 million in total tournament earnings, with $24.3 million of that coming from his success in Triton events.

Joao Simao had a busy month, ultimately closing out the year by winning in the Super High Roller Bowl X for $1.1 million. Before that, he took down the $150,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em event in the Bahamas, besting the field of 77 entries for a career-best score of $3,067,000 and his third WSOP gold bracelet.

It was an all-Brazilian affair down the stretch, with Felipe Boianovsky (2nd – $2,131,000) and five-time bracelet winner Yuri Dzivielevski (3rd – $1,409,000) joining Simao on the podium. All three players sit in the top four of the Brazilian all-time money list.

Koray Aldemir wrote his name in the poker history books when he took down the 2021 WSOP main event, topping 6,650 entries to earn $8 million and his first gold bracelet. The German poker pro was one of the most accomplished players of the past decade to come out on top in the big dance, having already accumulated over $12 million in prior live tournament earnings ahead of his career-defining victory in Las Vegas.

Aldemir added to his legacy with a victory in the $10,000 eight-game mix event in the Bahamas this year. The 35-year-old defeated 115 entries to capture his second bracelet and the top prize of $287,800. In doing so, he became just the eighth world champion since 2003’s Chris Moneymaker to win again. With this latest triumph, he now has more than $23.4 million in career earnings. This was his first live cash since finishing 598th in the 2024 main event for $32,500.

Breakthrough Bracelets

Matthias Eibinger outlasted a field of 93 entrants in the $75,000 buy-in pot-limit Omaha event to earn $1,570,640, the first bracelet of his career, and the trident trophy. The Austrian pro now has more than $28.7 million in lifetime cashes.

The win marked the fifth Triton title for Eibinger, and his first victory in a non-hold’em format. He won the title by defeating Michael Watson heads-up following an ICM deal. Watson walked away with just slightly less than Eibinger, taking home $1,459,360 for second. It was the fifth-largest live result for Watson, in a career in which the Canadian triple crown winner has accumulated over $37.2 million in total results.

Coming into 2025, Daniel Rezaei had never cashed for seven figures in a single event. Now the Austrian poker pro has three such tournament poker scores, with his latest being the largest yet. At this series, he raced through a field of 151 entries in the $50,000 no-limit hold’em turbo event to earn a career-best $1,900,000 and his first bracelet.

Rezaei’s first seven-figure windfall came with a third-place showing in the massive Wynn Summer Classic main event for nearly $1.2 million in July. Roughly six weeks later he took down a $50,000 buy-in at the Onyx Club Super High Roller Series in Cyprus for another $1,043,530. Rezaei climbed to just outside the top 20 in the POY standings thanks to his incredible year on the circuit.

Just a couple years ago, David Coleman had zero live titles to his name. He then rattled off five wins in 2024 on his way to a runner-up showing in in the POY race. With the title dam having firmly burst, Coleman added a few more big wins in 2025. None can compare to his latest triumph, though.

The New Jersey native was the last player standing in the $125,000 no-limit hold’em event, besting 99 entries to earn $3,113,000 and his first WSOP gold bracelet. This was the largest score by far for the former online grinder, now based out of Las Vegas. The 32-year-old poker pro cashed four times during this festival, including a sixth-place finish in the $150,000 event won by Simao, moving up to 17th place in the POY race.

Tom Vogelsang beat out 284 entries in the $10,000 Super Plossus, earning $609,800 and his first bracelet. The Dutch pro now has nearly $6.2 million in recorded scores. Vogelsang beat out a decorated final table on his way to victory, denying Viktor Blom heads-up. The man formerly known as ‘Isildur1’ had another runner-up finish at the series in the summer, as well as several other close calls in WSOP events.

Charles ‘Chalie’ Hook has been in the poker spotlight on a few different occasions. He final tabled the 2024 WSOP $250,000 event, finishing fifth for $1,237,296, frequently appears in high-stakes cash games, and was one of the 64 players in the field on the recently reborn National Heads-Up Poker Championship.

But to this point, Hook didn’t have a signature tournament poker victory. That changed in The Bahamas, as Hook defeated ‘Texas’ Mike Moncek heads up to win the $50,000 pot-limit Omaha high roller for $1,456,000. Hook outlasted a stacked final table, with notables down the stretch including Stephen Chidwick (4th), Josh Arieh (5th), Jason Koon (7th), and all-time PLO money leader Lautaro Guerra (8th).

Johan ‘YoH Viral’ Guilbert, the French poker YouTube streamer and tournament pro, finally broke through in the $25,000 GGMillion$ turbo no-limit hold’em event, locking up a bracelet that had been tantalizingly close on numerous previous occasions.

He’d previously finished as the runner-up three times with a bracelet on the line, including in the 201 WSOP Europe main event. This time around he topped a field of 287 entries to earn the hardware and a career-best score of $1,534,645.

Darner, Love Shine In Lower Buy-In Offerings

There were only three events with buy-ins of $5,000 or lower at this series. The lone $5,000 buy-in, dubbed the Super Colossus, attracted a field of 527 entries to build a prize pool of $2,555,950. The eventual champion, who earned $504,950, asked not to have their tournament results tracked. Card Player contributor Jonathan Little (5th) joined Chino Rheem (4th) and Alex Keating (2nd) in making deep runs.

The first of two $2,500 buy-ins that ran at the festival was the WSOP Circuit Championship mystery bounty event, which was built upon a foundation of WSOPC ring winners who qualified for their prize package and entry via those victories. Entry was also available to anyone who wanted to post the $2,500 buy-in.

Mark Darner earned his way in via a WSOP Circuit title at Harrah’s Cherokee over the summer. He’d also won his first bracelet earlier this year, taking down a $2,500 no-limit hold’em event in Las Vegas. ​​Six months later, Darner came out on top in this event to earn his second bracelet and $350,000. The Colorado pro beat out 2,396 entrants on his way to hoisting the hardware yet again.

Imari Love was the last player standing in the final $2,500 buy-in, which featured a turbo bounty format. He defeated a field of 509 entrants to earn $145,725 and his first career bracelet. His heads-up opponent, Blaz Zerjav, was on the precipice of a three-bracelet year, having won twice already last summer in Las Vegas. His victories came in a $25,000 six-max high roller and the $1,500 stud eight-or-better event.

The WSOP Paradise is set to return in 2026, and will now be featured as part of the revamped year-long WSOP Player of the Year race, which will feature a $1 million prize for the winner. The 2026 winner will be able to accrue points in the Bahamas next December, as well as at the new-look WSOP Europe when it debuts in Prague next spring and, of course, the classic Las Vegas version of the series.