Andrey Zhigalov Returns To Win Second WSOP $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. Title

To call Andrey Zhigalov a mixed game specialist when it comes to poker tournaments might be understating it; Of Zhigalov’s 40 recorded tournament cashes in the Card Player database, only two results are in no-limit hold’em events.

Since his first cash at the World Series of Poker in 2014, Zhigalov has made seven WSOP final table appearances, with two results standing out: his win in the $1,500 HORSE event in 2018, and a second-place finish to Scott Seiver in the 2019 $10,000 Razz championship.

For the second time in his career, Zhigalov won the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. event. He closed out the victory in the early hours of Saturday, June 14, 2025 to become the latest player at this year’s festival to have won an event he’d already taken down in the past, including Nick Schulman earning his third win in the $10,000 no-limit deuce-to-seven single draw lowball and Xixiang Luo taking down the double board pot-limit Omaha bomb pot event for the second straight year.

Luo’s repeat win is a bit less straightforward than Zhigalov’s and Schulman’s, though, as there were notable changes to the structure of the event for 2025, with it now comprised entirely of bomb pots, rather than being a mixed no-limit hold’em and pot-limit Omaha event that featured bomb pots only when the game switched

By besting a field of 867, Zhigalov claimed a first-place prize of $197,923, his second career WSOP bracelet and 912 Card Player Player of the Year points. In an odd coincidence, despite changes to several different variables, that’s the same amount of POY points Zhigalov won for his 2018 bracelet win.

The victory also pushed the 36-year-old Russian-born pro to over $1 million in career tournament earnings.

Highs And Lows

Zhigalov carried the chip lead into day 3 of this tournament. Among the final 18 contenders were multi-time bracelet winners Ari Engel and Alex Livingston. Neither ultimately made it deep into the day, finishing 17th and 15th, respectively.

Poker Hall-of-Famer Linda Johnson narrowly missed out on her first official WSOP final table since 2004. The 1997 WSOP $1,500 Razz champion and First Lady of Poker settled for 10th.

We’re down to nine in the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E after Linda Johnson — aka @FirstLadyPoker — was eliminated in 10th place, earning $11,561 for her run.

A great showing from the Hall of Famer, bracelet winner, and true legend of the game. pic.twitter.com/4zfmXXMQQo

— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) June 13, 2025

At the official final table of eight, Zhigalov and Marcel Vonk entered as the only previous bracelet winners left. Zhigalov’s early good fortune had fallen by the wayside, and he was the shortest stack with less than two full big bets.

A six-high straight, made on seventh street in seven card stud, tripled Zhigalov’s stack, and it was off the races. He’d soon triple that stack again in a four-way seven card stud eight-or-better hand with two-pair, sixes and fives.

Zhigalov’s upward trajectory carried him all the way back to the chip lead four-handed, thanks to a pair of back-to-back eliminations. Thomas Taylor dethroned Zhigalov before the dinner break, but another key elimination pulled Zhigalov back towards the top.

In Razz, Avivi made an eight-seven on sixth street to pull ahead of Zhigalov’s nine-six low. On the final card, though, Zhigalov pulled out a six perfect low and scooped a most significant pot.

Three-handed play carried on for an hour, until Taylor eliminated Vonk in third place with two pair, aces and kings, in seven card stud.

One More Comeback

Taylor held a lead of almost 4-to-1 when heads-up play began. Zhigalov clawed some of that back with quad fives in limit hold’em, and then pulled even with an ace-high heart flush in the same game.

Zhigalov had Taylor on the ropes several times, only for Taylor to pull it back and recapture the lead. The seesaw battle saw Taylor extend his own lead back to more than 3-to-1, only for an absolutely wild Razz hand to swing the match Zhigalov’s way for good.

With seemingly innocuous-looking boards, 10-4-2-Q for Zhigalov and K-4-2-10 for Taylor, a battle broke out. After raises on multiple streets, three bets got in on seventh. Somehow, with those boards, Zhigalov held A-5-3 for a wheel, and Taylor had A-6-3 for the second nuts.

It didn’t take long for Zhigalov to close the deal from there. On the final hand, once again in Razz, Zhigalov made a 6-5-4-3-A to finish his victory with a flourish.

Of the 38 live events to finish so far at this year’s series, 21 were taken down by a champion like Zhigalov who had at least one prior WSOP bracelet victory.

Final Table Results

Photo credit: WSOP.