The first bracelet of the 2025 World Series of Poker Paradise festival belongs to Matthias Eibinger. The Austrian pro outlasted a field of 93 entrants in a Triton $75,000 buy-in pot-limit Omaha event at Atlantis Paradise Island in the Bahamas. He claimed $1,570,640, the first bracelet of his career, and the Triton trophy. He now has more than $28.7 million in lifetime cashes.
This win marks the fifth Triton title for Eibinger, and his first victory in a non-hold’em format. In fact, Eibinger’s previous tournament experience in PLO was virtually non-existent.
“In PLO, you might see me more often,” Eibinger said, “Because to compete with Triton titles I need more opportunities and more chances than just playing hold’em. So I thought, maybe I try the four-card format. And it’s a bit funny to me. I play one tournament and immediately I have the title.”
Eibinger added, “At the final table I felt zero pressure. Even though I play hold’em for 10 years, I always feel the pressure. But here I just took it with less expectations.”
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’s the fifth-largest live result for Watson, in a career in which the Canadian triple crown winner has accumulated over $37 million in total results.
Eibinger’s victory, the third-biggest live cash of his career, also came with 918 Card Player Player of the Year points. He currently sits just outside the top 100 on the 2025 POY leaderboard presented by CoinPoker. Watson, who received 765 points for his runner-up result, climbed to 81st.
From 12 to 4
The two-day tournament generated a total prize pool of $6,974,996. After a long first day of action in the Bahamas, 12 players returned to battle for the bracelet. The lead pack at the start of day 2 was composed of four players; Stephen Chidwick had just over 3 million, followed closely by Ben Lamb, Eibinger, and Dylan Weisman.
World Poker Tour champion Frederic Normand (12th) was the first to go. Eelis Parssinen (11th) and Isaac Haxton (9th), who each have WSOP bracelets and Triton titles to their name, eventually fell by the wayside as well.
Nacho Barbero, a four-time Triton champion and a WSOP bracelet winner, went out in eighth, reducing the field to an unofficial final table of seven.
Stephen Chidwick
Lamb fought back from a short stack several times, but ultimately went out in seventh place ($324,000). His A♥K♦K♣2♣ went up against Weisman’s A♦A♣Q♠7♥, and while he rivered a set on the J♥5♦2♥10♥K♥ runout, that king made Weisman a Broadway straight.
Eibinger took care of Biao Ding in sixth place. He called Ding’s all-in bet with A♦Q♠5♣3♠, and was up against Ding’s K♦K♥10♥6♦. Eibinger promptly flopped a straight on a 6♣4♦2♣ board and had Ding drawing dead by the turn. The Chinese crusher earned $412,000 to grow his career haul to $19.8 million.
Chidwick, who was short-stacked by that point, got the last of his chips in with J♣9♣9♠2♥ against Eibinger’s A♣K♠8♦7♣. Eibinger made two pair, kings and sevens, to eliminate the British tournament superstar in fifth place ($526,500). The two-time POY award winner climbed to 11th in this year’s standings while surpassing $75.8 million in lifetime cashes with this result.
The Final Push
With four players left, Eibinger held the chip lead but faced three tough competitors. Richard Gryko, who hails from England, won a Triton PLO title back in May in Montenegro. He also owns a WSOP bracelet.
Like Chidwick and Ding before him, Gryko fell at Eibinger’s hand. The Austrian’s A♠A♦3♦K♠ dwarfed Gryko’s K♥10♦9♠6♦, but Gryko flipped the script and became a favorite after a K♦8♥7♣ flop gave him top pair and a wrap straight draw. But running deuces kept Eibinger’s pair of aces best, taking Gryko out in fourth place ($655,500).
Weisman had Watson on the ropes, all in and at risk. His A♥Q♦Q♣5♦ led Watson’s A♣K♣J♥3♠ through a 9♣8♠2♥ flop and 5♣ turn. Watson drilled a K♦ river. The last of Weisman’s chips ran headfirst into the flopped trips of Eibinger, and he was drawing dead by the turn, his tournament run ending in third place. The two-time bracelet winner from America added $809,000 to his overall haul, which is now approaching $8.6 million.
After making an ICM deal heads up, the final battle didn’t last long. On the third hand of heads-up play, Eibinger raised to 750,000 with Q♦9♦8♠6♣, and Watson called with K♥Q♥J♦10♣. The flop was 10♥7♦3♦. Watson checked, and with a wrap straight draw and flush draw, Eibinger continued for 1,175,000. Watson called, and the turn was the K♣.
Eibinger bet pot, and Watson, with top two pair and an open-ended straight draw, shoved all in. Eibinger called. With 90 percent of the chips in play in the pot, Watson was a 67.5 percent favorite to take a commanding lead according to the Card Player Omaha odds calculator.
The 8♦ river made Eibinger’s flush, though, and delivered him the victory. Watson fell just short of his second career bracelet. The World Poker Tour champion and two-time European Poker Tour main event winner finally captured the gold in an online event last summer after a career of close calls.
Oh, so you play Omaha now?
PLO rookie @Matthias_Eibi steps into the mean four-card streets of Paradise and leaves with his fifth Triton title, first WSOP bracelet, and $1,570,640 in the $75K PLO 6-Handed opener.
More action awaits with @WSOP Paradise, presented with @GGPoker. pic.twitter.com/0bldCtkwjn
— Triton Poker (@tritonpoker) December 6, 2025
Regarding The Deal
The ICM deal made in this tournament appears to be the first-ever recorded instance of a sanctioned deal in an official WSOP bracelet event, which was also run in conjunction with Triton Poker, where deals are common.
The WSOP has long held an official stance of not facilitating deals between players. This summer, that policy contributed to a controversial situation. The WSOP did not award a bracelet in this year’s Millionaire Maker event after an apparent deal was made on the side between Jesse Yaginuma and James Carroll. Carroll seemingly dumping his chips allowed Yaginuma to win the event and claim a third-party $1 million bonus from ClubWPT Gold that was contingent on victory. Both players received their payouts but were allegedly banned from all Caesars properties as a result.
Final Table Payouts
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points |
| 1 | Matthias Eibinger | $1,570,649 | 918 |
| 2 | Michael Watson | $1,459,360 | 765 |
| 3 | Dylan Weisman | $809,000 | 612 |
| 4 | Richard Gryko | $655,500 | 459 |
| 5 | Stephen Chidwick | $526,500 | 383 |
| 6 | Biao Ding | $412,000 | 306 |
Photo credits: Triton Poker
