The first week of action at the 2025 World Series of Poker Paradise festival has been electric. Eight bracelets have already been awarded, in events with buy-ins of $2,500 all the way up to the $250,000 Triton Invitational.
Tens of millions of dollars worth of prizes have already been awarded, and there’s still another week of action to go.
In the opening event of the festival, the $2,500 WSOP Circuit Championship mystery bounty, a solid mix of WSOP Circuit regulars and other bracelet hopefuls converged to create a massive field. With almost 2,400 total entries, the $2,500 buy-in event generated a sizable series of payouts and bounties. Mark Darner ultimately emerged with his second WSOP bracelet victory of 2025.
The $10,000 ‘Super Plossus‘ pot-limit Omaha event was yet another landmark in a bountiful year for PLO tournaments. The $10,000 buy-in event beat all expectations, and Tom Vogelsang cashed in on his first bracelet win, denying Viktor Blom his own elusive first win in the process.
Darner Strikes Again
Mark Darner
Back in June, Mark Darner outlasted a field of 1,493 entries to win a $2,500 no-limit hold’em event in Las Vegas, for his first bracelet. Six months later, Darner struck again under similar circumstances.
In another $2,500 buy-in NLH affair, this one in the Bahamas and with a mystery bounty format, Darner won again. The Coloradan took home $350,000 for first, beating out an even larger field this time, as 2,396 entrants took their shot and built a prize pool of $5,990,000.
The WSOP Circuit Championship mystery bounty event was built upon a foundation of WSOP Circuit ring winners who qualified for their prize package and entry to this WSOP Paradise tournament through that victory. Darner earned his way in via a WSOP Circuit title at Harrah’s Cherokee over the summer. Entry and re-entry to the WSOP Circuit Championship were also open to anyone willing to put up $2,500.
The mystery bounty prizes were gigantic in comparison to the rest of the prize pool. Jack Germaine of England pulled the $250,000 bounty, earning just shy of second place money with the addition of his $8,900 payday for finishing 40th.
😱 OH BOY WHAT A SWEAT!!
🤑 Jack has either pulled the 250K, 100K or 50K bounty! Which will it be in the $2,500 Mystery Bounty? pic.twitter.com/X5DuP6Z2jn
— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) December 8, 2025
Darner’s victory netted him 1,620 Card Player Player of the Year points. That pushed Darner inside the top 100 for the year, as he sits in 76th place overall on the yearly leaderboard presented by CoinPoker.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points |
| 1 | Mark Darner | $350,000 | 1,620 |
| 2 | Yayun Liu | $265,000 | 1,350 |
| 3 | Bogdan Jontulovic | $200,000 | 1,080 |
| 4 | Tomas Jozonis | $140,000 | 810 |
| 5 | Matthew Klapstein | $100,000 | 675 |
| 6 | Michael Nugent | $75,000 | 540 |
| 7 | Christopher Nguyen | $60,000 | 405 |
| 8 | Johnny Bromberg | $46,000 | 270 |
| 9 | Vera Dong | $33,000 | 135 |
Tom Vogelsang Rules Over ‘Super Plossus’
Tom Vogelsang
Between Triton Poker events, the WSOP, multiple PokerGO festivals and numerous standalone events, pot-limit Omaha tournaments have seen remarkable numbers throughout 2025.
That was once again the case in the $10,000 buy-in ‘Super Plossus’ PLO event at WSOP Paradise. A total of 284 entries increased the prize pool to $2,754,800, with Tom Vogelsang being the largest beneficiary. The Dutch pro won $609,800 and secured his first career WSOP bracelet win, his most significant live title to date. He now has nearly $6.2 million in recorded scores after this win.
Vogelsang beat out a decorated final table on his way to victory. He denied Viktor Blom from securing his own long-elusive first WSOP bracelet. In 2025 alone, this is Blom’s second runner-up finish in a WSOP bracelet event, along with fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-place results in other bracelet events this year.
2025 EPT Barcelona main event winner Thomas Eychenne finished third. Five-time WSOP bracelet winner Yuri Dzivielevski took fifth, with PLO standouts Sean Rafael (6th) and Tom-Aksel Bedell (8th) also making the final table.
All-time WSOP bracelet leader Phil Hellmuth recorded his first cash of the 2025 WSOP Paradise festival in this event, finishing 16th.
For his win, Vogelsang collected 1,140 POY points. He rose to 69th in the 2025 POY standings, with Rafael (27th), Xixiang Luo (86th), Eychenne (88th), Blom (91st), and Bedell (95th) all positioned in the top 100 following this result.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points |
| 1 | Tom Vogelsang | $609,800 | 1,140 |
| 2 | Viktor Blom | $406,000 | 950 |
| 3 | Thomas Eychenne | $281,000 | 760 |
| 4 | Xixiang Luo | $199,000 | 570 |
| 5 | Yuri Dzivielevski | $143,000 | 475 |
| 6 | Sean Rafael | $105,000 | 380 |
| 7 | Andreas Torbergsen | $79,000 | 285 |
| 8 | Tom-Aksel Bedell | $61,000 | 190 |
| 9 | Dongwuk Moon | $48,000 | 95 |
Photo credits: WSOP X account.
