Back-To-Back Benny! Glaser Headlines Early World Series Of Poker Winners

The 56th Annual World Series of Poker officially got underway on May 27 at the Paris and Horseshoe Las Vegas. The first couple of weeks have been action-packed, with 24 bracelets awarded so far, already paying out more than $71.8 million in prize money.

The total entries for the series currently sits at over 45,000, with an average field size of nearly 1,900. (The 64-entry $25,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em heads-up championship is weighing down the mean a bit, while the $1,000 Mystery Millions that once anchored the first week drew an astounding 19,654 entries, up from 18,409 in 2024.)

Glaser Takes Two, Extends Streak

Benny Glaser entered elite company by capturing his sixth career gold bracelet in the $1,500 Dealers Choice event for $150,246 on June 2. Later that same day, Glaser hopped into the $1,500 mixed Omaha eight-or-better event. Four days later, he was hoisting his second bracelet of the week and his seventh overall.

The victory puts the 35-year-old UK poker pro in rarefied air among WSOP champions. He breaches the top 10 all-time, joining a six-way tie for seventh place. (Three players reached the seven-win plateau at the 2024 series, as Daniel Negreanu, John Hennigan, and Scott Seiver each posted standout performances. Seiver did so by winning three times last summer on his way to locking up the WSOP Player of the Year award.)

Glaser’s triumph also continues a long-running streak of at least one player earning multiple bracelets in a single year that has gone on for more than a quarter of a century. Chris Ferguson took down a $2,500 stud event and the main event in 2000 to get the ball rolling, and Glaser ensured that it will not stop in 2025 by earning two titles within the first 10 days of play.

“I generally try to be realistic and think that mostly, yes, it’s just a distribution of results,” Glaser told Card Player. “But I think in this case, there was a little bit of something where people knew I had just won, like it was quite big news. I think in a way, it helped, especially on day 2. I think people were a little bit scared of me, which was kind of nice. I used that to my advantage a bit.”

This wasn’t even the first time Glaser’s rattled off multiple bracelet events in less than a week. In 2016, Glaser went back-to-back in winning both the $1,500 and $10,000 buy-in Omaha eight-or-better events.

Glaser outlasted a field of 1,239 entrants for his second victory in the mixed Omaha shortly after beating out 597 in the Dealer’s Choice event. The mixed Omaha tournament featured a mix of pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better, limit Omaha eight-or-better, and Big O, the five-card variation of PLO8.

Glaser earned a first-place prize of $258,193 after scooping the last pot. He now has nearly $9.2 million in career tournament earnings, with nearly half of that coming from his success at the series.

Brad Ruben Bags Fifth Bracelet In As Many Years

Brad Ruben first broke through at the WSOP in August of 2020, taking down an online pot-limit Omaha event. Less than five years removed from that triumph, Ruben has already grown his bracelet collection to five.

Ruben’s latest piece of hardware came from a win in the $1,500 no-limit deuce-to-seven single draw lowball event. The 39-year-old Florida resident overcame a field of 532 entries on his way to securing the title and the top prize of $138,080. He now boasts career live earnings of more than $2.8 million, the majority of which has come from his success at the series.

Ruben is just the 44th player in poker history to have won five or more bracelets, and he captured all of his hardware in the span of just half a decade. His second and third bracelets were both won in 2021. He first took down a second online PLO bracelet in the summer, then the $1,500 razz event at the live WSOP festival in the fall. The following summer he emerged victorious in the $1,500 Dealer’s Choice event, further proving his mixed-games chops.

“I want to compete for the most bracelets this decade,” Ruben admitted. He is now tied with Jeremy Ausmus, who has won five since 2021.

Third Time Charmed For Heimiller, Martirosian, Luo, And Guagenti

Dan Heimiller was one of four players to grow their bracelet total to three during the first couple of weeks of action. The 62-year-old defeated a field of 377 entries in the $1,500 seven card stud event to earn $106,840.

Heimiller built himself an impressive résumé since bursting onto the scene with a pair of final table appearances at the 1997 WSOP. After his win in this event and a seventh-place showing a week later in the $10,000 stud championship, Heimiller now has 23 final table appearances in WSOP bracelet events and over $8.3 million in career tournament earnings across all tours.

“I think it’s stubbornness,” Heimiller answered about what sets him apart. “Wouldn’t quit poker when I should have. I could have quit a long time ago, but I persisted. A lot of people have this silly, serious philosophy and their entire nature is their need to get respect. I tell people at the poker table, ‘If you want respect, go buy a dog.’”

One year ago, Artur Martirosian played all the way into the semifinals of the $25,000 heads-up championship. He lost that match and settled for a $180,000 consolation prize. If there was any doubt as to Martirosian’s heads-up credentials, though, they’re over.

Martirosian battled through that elite 64-entry-field again at the 2025 WSOP, taking down Jeremy Ausmus, Faraz Jaka, Kevin Rabichow, Chance Kornuth, Patrick Leonard, and Aliaksei Boika in the final round to earn $500,000 and his third career bracelet. Two of those WSOP victories are now heads-up titles. In 2023, Martirosian won the $10,000 no-limit hold’em WSOP Online heads-up championship. His other bracelet win came in the 2023 WSOP Paradise $800 Flip & Go event.

The Russian high roller has been red hot recently, having made seven final tables between EPT Monte Carlo and Triton Montenegro in May. Martirosian, who also has an EPT main event and two Triton Poker titles to his name, now boasts $31.6 million in career earnings.

Xixiang Luo also added his third career WSOP bracelet, taking down this year’s $1,500 pot-limit Omaha double board bomb pot event for $290,400. In a way, Luo defended his title, as he took down the inaugural double board bomb pot event in 2024. That event also featured no-limit hold’em, though, and only had the double-board bomb pots when the switch was made between NLH and PLO. In 2025, it was all PLO, and all bomb pots, all the time.

The Chinese mixed-games standout actually won both of his previous bracelets last summer. In addition to his first bomb pot triumph, he also took down the $25,000 H.O.R.S.E. high roller, while making two other final tables. He now has more than $4.8 million in career cashes on the circuit.

Nick Guagenti earned his third bracelet just hours after Luo’s victory. He weathered a lengthy heads-up battle against Chino Rheem in the $10,000 seven card stud championship, coming away with the hardware and $295,008 in prize money.

The win came just over a year after he took down the $1,500 limit hold’em event. His very first bracelet came in the 2020 WSOP Online, winning a $2,000 no-limit hold’em event to begin his bracelet collection. The 40-year-old Ohio native’s career tournament earnings now sit at more than $3.3 million, with the majority of that haul coming from his success in WSOP events.

Rheem once again fell just shy of his first bracelet, and subsequently, the Triple Crown. This was his third runner-up finish at the WSOP, and sixth top-five finish in the last four years. His cash did put him over the $17 million mark for career earnings, however.

Seven Players Became Two-Time Champions

14 of the 24 bracelets awarded to this point have gone to players who already had a prior win on their record. Antonio Galiana was the first of the newly-minted two-time bracelet winners. He beat out a field of 693 entries in the $5,000 no-limit hold’em event to lock up $582,008.

This triumph came after he won the $2,500 freezeout at last year’s series for $439,395. The Spanish player now has nearly $1.1 million in recorded tournament earnings, with the vast majority coming from his two big scores in Las Vegas.

The $5,000 pot-limit Omaha event made headlines when it drew a larger field (757 entries) than the overlapping no-limit hold’em event at the same price point (693 entries). The impressive turnout for the first PLO bracelet of the year resulted in a prize pool of $3,573,040, with $620,696 earmarked for the winner.

The hardware and that hefty sum were ultimately awarded to Caleb Furth, who came back from down to a single chip at one point to nab his second WSOP title. His first was won in last year’s $1,500 PLO eight-or-better event for $265,361.

A giant, standing room only crowd gathered in the Horseshoe Grand Ballroom looking to witness Daniel Negreanu make history with another 30,000-plus watching along on the PokerGO YouTube stream. Negreanu got heads-up for the $10,000 Omaha eight-or-better championship with a chance at his eighth WSOP gold bracelet, but it was not meant to be.

Instead, it was Ryan Bambrick putting on an impressive performance on his way to the title and his second career bracelet. Before this tournament, Bambrick’s second-largest live cash, beyond his previous 2018 WSOP $1,500 pot-limit Omaha win, was $13,500. The former day-trader turned crypto investor had never so much as cashed a $10,000 buy-in tournament, and yet this victory was worth $470,437.

Chris Staats has live tournament results spanning back to 2009. He had accumulated over $2 million in earnings across hundreds of in-the-money finishes over more than a decade of chasing poker glory. After the 2024 WSOP, the Oklahoma native decided to take a step back from the game. He took a job in a warehouse, looking to avoid the constant travel that separated him from his family.

After some time away, Staats decided to come back out for this year’s series and promptly ripped off the biggest win of his career. He outlasted a field of 2,354 entries in the $1,500 no-limit hold’em six-max event, earning his second gold bracelet and the top prize of $414,950. His previous bracelet also came in a six-max event at 2022 WSOP Online series.

When Lou Garza won his first bracelet back in 2023, the Texan punctuated his celebration with a marriage proposal to his then-girlfriend Carla. Nearly two years later, a now-married Garza scored a second triumph at the series. This time around, instead of an engagement, Garza had to engage a comeback to stop what seemed at the time like a runaway freight train in the form of two-time bracelet winner Ben Lamb.

Garza bounced back from more than a 3:1 chip deficit at the start of heads-up play for the top prize of $1,302,233 as the champion of this year’s $25,000 pot-limit Omaha and no-limit hold’em mixed event. This huge payday fell just short of surpassing Garza’s previous top score of $1,309,232 that came with his bracelet in the $10,000 PLO championship. He now has nearly $4.7 million in recorded scores to his name.

Scott Bohlman built himself a stellar reputation as one of the strongest mixed game tournament players in poker. He’s made 19 final table appearances in bracelet events since 2007, with only three of those coming in straight up no-limit hold’em events. But the 48-year-old Illinois native proved his hold’em skills with a win in the $2,000 no-limit event for $436,044 and his second bracelet. Bohlman outlasted 1,692 entrants, and claimed the lion’s share of a $3,011,760 prize pool.

Michael Lavin of New Jersey won his second career gold bracelet and $267,373 in this year’s $1,500 no-limit hold’em shootout. He beat out 1,299 entrants to lock up the hardware and the six-figure top prize, but in the process secured an even larger payday.

As part of a summer promotion, sweepstakes poker platform ClubWPT Gold has been giving away ‘Gold Rush’ tickets in daily freerolls and a variety of other live and online promotions. Anyone who earned a ticket, and then went on to win one of 11 qualifying summer tournament majors, would bank an extra $1 million. As it turns out, this event was on that short list, which meant that Lavin walked away with a seven-figure bonus to go with this title.

Lavin captured his first career WSOP bracelet in 2021, in a Pennsylvania WSOP Online no-limit hold’em Monster Stack. He’s also among the all-time leaders in WSOP Circuit rings, sitting fourth all-time with 17 such victories.

Zerjav and Wilklow Headline Early First-Timers

In addition to all the repeat winners, there were also 10 first-time bracelet winners. Chief among them was arguably Blaz Zerjav, who earned $1,734,717 (the largest top prize of the first 24 events) as the champion of the $25,000 six-max no-limit high roller.

Zerjav navigated a field of 336 through a final table that included Aram Oganyan (6th), Paulius Vaitiekunas (5th), Landon Tice (4th), and Jared Bleznick (3rd). Chris Moorman narrowly missed out on his third bracelet, settling for a runner-up payday of $1,129,608.

This even proved to be a live breakthrough for Zerjav, a 28-year-old Slovenian online poker standout. Previously, Zerjav finished runner-up in a $5,300 WSOP Paradise bracelet event in 2024.

The next seven-figure score went to Minnesota software engineer Michael Wilklow. He made his way through a massive field of 19,654 entries to bank $1 million and his first bracelet as the champion of the $1,000 Mystery Millions, which was the first event on the schedule.

Poker author and player Michael Acevedo was the runner-up for $563,350, while two-time bracelet winner Daniel Strelitz finished third for $429,950, falling just short of claiming a $1 million bonus from the same promotion that had paid dividends for Lavin.

There were over 1,000 bounty prizes in play in this event, but four towered above the rest, and those massive paydays didn’t last long. The two $1 million bounty prizes were pulled in the first few hours of day 2. Tyler Montoya was first to pull a seven-figure envelope. Upon the reveal, he proclaimed, “If you’re a stripper, you should be working tonight.”

Then Tom Zanot claimed the second $1 million bounty. Zanot had previously won a $6.4 million pai gow progressive jackpot payout in January 2023. Zanot simply told emcee Jeff Platt, “Rather be lucky than good.”

Nikolay Ponomarev claimed the $500,000 bounty, and Dan Matsuzuki drew the $250,000 prize.

The Rest Of The Best

As has long been the case at the WSOP, the very first champion crowned this summer came from the $500 tournament long known as the Casino Employees event. This year, the briskly paced no-limit hold’em affair was rebranded as the Industry Employees event. San Diego poker dealer Phovieng Keokham came out on top of a field of 914 entries to secure the hardware and $64,369.

David Shmuel took down the first open event bracelet awarded at the series, winning the $1,500 Omaha eight-or-better tournament. The Miami, Florida resident beat out 910 entries to earn $205,333 and the hardware. A handful of days later he finished third in the $1,500 mixed Omaha eight-or-better event that eventually saw Glaser earn his seventh bracelet. Shmuel took home $121,736 for that podium showing.

Kenneth Kim was the champion of the $600 no-limit hold’em deepstack event. The California resident bested a field of 6,090, earning $318,842. Kim is no stranger to navigating large field, low buy-in events. In 2024 he topped 4,666 entries in a Quantum Mega Millions event at the Bicycle Casino to walk away with $351,900.

It was like father, like son in the next event to wrap up. Yosef Fox had watched on as his son Jorden took down the 2019 $1,000 double stack event. Six years later, Jorden returned the favor. He rooted from the rail as his dad surged to victory in this year’s $10,000 mystery bounty. The elder Fox earned $729,333 from the main prize pool. As if that wasn’t enough, he also drew the largest mystery bounty to add $250,000 to his haul. All told, Fox walked away with $1,064,333 in total prize money.

The $600 pot-limit Omaha deepstack saw 3,110 entries made before registration came to a close, making for a prize pool of $1,657,008. Cristian Gutierrez ultimately secured the largest chunk of that money and the gold bracelet. This was the first WSOP title for the Connecticut resident originally hailing from Colombia. The $193,780 top prize was nearly three times larger than his previous top score of $85,815 earned at this year’s Borgata Winter Poker Open.

Ryan Hoenig came into the 2025 WSOP with 11 live tournament titles to his name, many in lower-stakes mixed game events around the country. Three of those triumphs came in a three-day span at the 2024 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown, with Hoenig posing for back-to-back-to-back winner photos in the deuce-to-seven triple draw, Omaha eight-or-better, and badugi tournaments. The Fort Collins, Colorado resident emerged victorious in this year’s $10,000 Dealer’s Choice event, banking $354,444.

The $1,500 pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better event drew 1,176 entries, resulting in a prize pool of $1,561,140. Zachary Zaret scooped up the lion’s share of that money in the end. The Toronto resident pocketed $248,245 for the victory.

Rounding out this long list of early champions is Aloisio Dourado, who took down the record-setting $1,500 badugi event. He had come within one spot of earning a bracelet back in 2023, but fell just short in that $1,500 eight-game tournament. Now, he is officially a WSOP champion. He beat out a record field of 534 entries to take home the top prize of $138,114.

Three quarters of the 2025 WSOP are still yet to play out, with many of the biggest events on the schedule yet to kick off. Make sure to check out the next few issues of Card Player for in-depth coverage of all the top stories from the series.

• Photos by PokerGO, Poker.org, WSOP