TikTok Engineer Claims First WSOP Bracelet In $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em Event

One of the most beautiful aspects of the World Series of Poker is that the opportunity to win a bracelet is open to anyone who can put up the buy-in. Every summer, tournament veterans pile up their numbers, as was the case in recent weeks with Benny Glaser, Michael Mizrachi, Shaun Deeb, and Daniel Negreanu each drawing closer to the top of the all-time WSOP bracelet-winners list.

In the same environment, you can get first-time winners stepping into the arena and finding success in equal measure. That was the case for Zixuan Liu of China, who entered a $1,000 no-limit hold’em event with just one previous WSOP cash to his name, earned just a few days prior. Now Liu is a WSOP bracelet winner.

Liu triumphed against a field of 1,732 entrants and claimed a $219,391 first-place prize. A TikTok software engineer based in Northern California, Liu earned 1,080 Card Player Player of the Year points for his victory. Having previously earned 17 POY points for his 21st-place finish in a $600 Seepstack no-limit hold’em event, Liu’s 1,097 points put Liu just outside the top 400 in the yearlong race presented by CoinPoker.

Liu enjoyed a massive windfall following a whirlwind couple of days in this tournament. On the first day of action, 1,732 players entered by the close of registration, and just 53 survivors remained by the end of the night. Coming into the second (and final) day of action in this tournament, Liu held the overnight chip lead.

A Dream Of A Run

When play resumed on day 2, with most of the $1,524,160 prize pool still left to play for, only two prior bracelet winners remained in the hunt. There was Lukas Pazma of Slovakia, who won a bracelet at WSOP Europe in 2023. And then there was Greg Merson, who won both of his bracelets at the 2012 WSOP, including that year’s main event title.

Neither was a factor deep into the day, as Merson went out in 32nd place ($6,571), and Pazma got knocked out soon thereafter in 26th place ($7,943). Tournament veterans Mukul Pahuja (30th – $6,571), and Tony Ruberto (31st – $6,571), a two-time World Poker Tour champion, also made day 2 before bowing out.

Liu held onto the chip lead through the early stages of the final table, but his big move started with five players left. Liu took out Tyler Phillips, the only player with over $1 million in career earnings at this final table, winning a coin flip with K♠Q♥ against Phillips’ pocket threes, courtesy of a K♦ on the flop.

Heads-up play saw Liu battle Justin Shiao for the bracelet, with more than a $73,000 difference between first and second place also hanging in the balance. On the final hand, the chips got in on the turn of a 10♦8♣7♥4♣ board. Liu had the lead with two pair, holding 8♦4♦. Shiao had outs to a straight or a flush with Q♣9♣, but the 8♥ river improved Liu’s hand instead, giving him a winning full house to clinch his victory

Final Table Results

Photo credit: WSOP / Lennart Hennig