More than a decade after recording his debut live poker tournament cash, Argentina’s Carlos Leiva broke through to win his first World Series of Poker gold bracelet. Leiva outlasted 1,932 entries in the 2025 WSOP $1,000 pot-limit Omaha event to hoist the hardware and capture the top prize of $237,852.
This was the second-largest score on Leiva’s résumé, trailing only the $440,000 he secured with a win in the 2023 Enjoy Poker Tour Gran Final Millonaria. He now sports career earnings in excess of $1 million.
The strong turnout for this PLO event built a prize pool worth more than $1.7 million, with the top 290 finishers all earning a share. Among the many notables to run deep were Mike Leah (39th), 2013 WSOP main event champion Ryan Riess (30th), Robert Cowen (12th), 2009 WSOP main event fourth-place finisher Eric Buchman (8th), and two-time bracelet winner Dylan Weisman (4th).
Leiva was the chip leader heading into the final day, with seven still in contention. Weisman scored the first knockout of the day, before Leiva sent the next two players packing. Weisman then got the last of his stack in after seeing a jack-high flop with two hearts holding an overpair of aces. He was facing the pocket kings and flush draw of Hooman Nikzad. The turn also gave Nikzad an open-ended straight draw, which came in on the end to end Weisman’s latest deep run at the series. He earned $83,503 for his efforts.
From Three Hopefuls To One Champion
Brian McKain committed the last of his stack with a set of threes and an open-ended straight draw facing the flopped seven-high straight of Leiva. The chips went in on the turn and McKain was unable to catch up on the end, finishing third for $114,399.
It didn’t take too long for Leiva to convert his heads-up chip lead into the title. In the final hand, Nikzad raised to 650,000 from the button with 9♦8♣3♦3♣ and Leiva three-bet to 2,450,000 with K♠K♣J♥2♠. Nikzad called and the flop came down J♣10♦5♦. Leiva bet the pot and Nikzad moved all-in with his open-ended straight draw and low flush draw. The Q♥ turn improved Nikzad to a queen-high straight, but the 9♠ river gave Leiva the king-high straight and the pot.
Nikzad was awarded $158,481 as the runner-up. This was the second-largest score of his career. In 2007, he earned $264,785 for a win in a $3,000 no-limit hold’em event at the Bellagio.
Carlos Leiva 🇦🇷 has taken down a tough field to win a first-place prize of $237,852 and his first WSOP gold bracelet. #WSOP2025 pic.twitter.com/XP5Ei8Umsf
— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) June 16, 2025
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points |
| 1 | Carlos Leiva | $237,852 | 1080 |
| 2 | Hooman Nikzad | $158,481 | 900 |
| 3 | Brian McKain | $114,399 | 720 |
| 4 | Dylan Weisman | $83,503 | 540 |
| 5 | Kyle Rosnes | $61,641 | 450 |
| 6 | Joshua Palmer | $46,024 | 360 |
| 7 | Florian Ribouchon | $34,761 | 270 |
| 8 | Eric Buchman | $26,562 | 180 |
Photo credit: PokerGO / Enrique Malfavon.
