Canada’s Kevin Li earned his seat in the 2025 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions by taking down a $600 no-limit hold’em and pot-limit Omaha mix event at the WSOP International Circuit Deerfoot Inn & Casino stop last August. The 23-year-old Vancouver native, now based in Toronto, parlayed that victory into a $200,000 payday and his first WSOP gold bracelet as the last player standing from a field of 485 contenders in this year’s TOC.
This annual event ran from May 15-17 at Commerce Casino in Los Angeles, California. The $1,000,000 freeroll required a WSOP gold bracelet or WSOP Circuit gold ring win during the past year in order to participate. A total of 1,169 players were eligible, with roughly 42 percent of that total actually turning up to compete.
Li came into the final day in eighth chip position among the last nine. Reigning World Poker Tour World Championship winner Scott Stewart was the first to hit the rail. The eight-time WSOPC ring winner lost a huge flip with Q
Q
against the AK of Shawn Rice. Stewart was a huge favorite heading into the river with a board of J7
4Q
, but the 10 on the end gave Rice broadway and the knockout. Stewart settled for $16,100 as the ninth-place finisher.
Kevin Lemmer (8th – $21,000) and Yang Xu (7th – $28,000) soon joined Stewart on the rail. Nine-time ring winner Maxwell Young’s (7th – $37,000) run came to an end when his top pair, top kicker clashed with the flopped two pair of Donald Ciaglo.
Li was the short stack to start five-handed play, but found a crucial double through Karapet Galstyan to give himself some breathing room. Galstyan was left short after his A-8 suited lost to Li’s K-9 in a preflop showdown, and soon was eliminated in fifth place ($50,000).
2023 WPT World Championship winner and 2024 WSOP $1,500 shootout champion Daniel Sepiol soon got involved in a preflop clash with Li, who had opened with AJ from the cutoff. Sepiol three-bet shoved for 18 big blinds from the small blind with A10 and Li called. The board ran out K98Q10 and Li made broadway to score the knockout. Sepiol grew his career earnings to $9.5 million thanks to the $70,000 payout he secured as the fourth-place finisher.
Li’s surge continued when Ciaglo shoved from the button for 38 big blinds with A6. Li called with AA from the small blind and held to take the lead going into heads-up play with Rice. Ciaglo earned $100,000 for his podium showing.
The final battle for the bracelet lasted roughly an hour and a half. Li had extended his lead to nearly 3:1 by the time the final hand arose. Rice raised to 300,000 on the button with K4 and Li three-bet to 1,000,000 holding KQ. Rice jammed for 5,090,000 total and Li made the call. The AA5J7 runout improved neither player, and Li’s superior high cards earned him the pot and the title. Rice walked away with $140,000 as the runner-up, the second-largest score of his career.
Check out the final table action via Bally Live Poker below:
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Earnings |
| 1 | Kevin Li | $200,000 |
| 2 | Shawn Rice | $140,000 |
| 3 | Donald Ciaglo | $100,000 |
| 4 | Daniel Sepiol | $70,000 |
| 5 | Karapet Galstyan | $50,000 |
| 6 | Maxwell Young | $37,000 |
| 7 | Yang Xu | $28,000 |
| 8 | Kevin Lemmer | $21,000 |
| 9 | Scott Stewart | $16,100 |
Photo credit: Poker.org.
