Ian Johns Wins Second Limit Hold’em Championship For Fourth WSOP Bracelet

Ian Johns is now a four-time World Series of Poker champion, with three of his bracelets coming in limit hold’em events. Johns’ latest victory at the WSOP saw him take down the 2025 $10,000 buy-in limit hold’em championship, besting a field of 118 entries to claim the most prestigious title in fixed-limit two-card poker for a second time. Johns’ also won the same tournament in 2016, just 10 days after taking down that year’s $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. title. His first bracelet win had come a decade earlier, topping 341 entries in a $3,000 limit hold’em event for his debut triumph at the series.

Johns earned $282,455 for this latest victory after overcoming a stacked final table that included the likes of seven-time bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu (8th), two-time bracelet winner Ryan Bambrick (5th), bracelet winner Pedro Neves (4th), three-time World Poker Tour champion and five-time bracelet winner Anthony Zinno (3rd), and high-stakes online cash game legend Viktor ‘Isildur1’ Blom.

The 40-year-old from Seattle, Washington now has more than $2.2 million in career tournament earnings, with the vast majority coming from his success at the WSOP. He earned 600 Card Player Player of the Year points and 282 PokerGO Tour points as the champion. This was his second live tournament cash of the year, with his first being a ninth-place finish in yet another limit hold’em event: the $1,500 buy-in bracelet event that wrapped a few days earlier.

This was the 22nd bracelet of the 39 handed out so far at the 2025 WSOP to go to a champion with previous wins at the series.

Narrowing The Field

The top 18 finishers made the money in this event, earning a share of the $1,097,400 prize pool. Several big names were among those who cashed but missed out on the final table, including Patrick Leonard (16th), seven-time bracelet winner John Hennigan (15th), six-time bracelet winner Jeremy Ausmus (12th), European Poker Tour champion Dzmitry Urbanovich (10th), and two-time bracelet winner  Scott Bohlman (9th).

Johns was in third chip position of nine remaining contenders when the third and final day of play began inside the Horseshoe Las Vegas. Bohlman’s pocket aces were cracked by Q-J suited to send him packing with $25,687. Negreanu ($31,316) soon followed when his A-10 was out-flopped by the Q-9 of David Lieberman, who made top pair then backed into a one-card flush.

Lieberman ($39,349) was left short after a clash with Zinno, then ran jack-high into pocket nines for Max Hoffman to hit the rail. Hoffman’s run came to an end when his top pair, queen kicker was bested by the top two pair of Neves.

Bambrick bowed out next ($67,782), winning a three-way showdown that left Neves short. The Portuguese player hung around for a while, but eventually was bounced by Johns in fourth place ($92,774) to narrow the field of three.

From Three Players To Four Bracelets

The last three players battled for a few hours before the next knockout arrived. Zinno eventually fell behind the pack, and took a final stand with K♠10♦ out of the blinds. Johns had opened from the button with A♠9♥ and called a three-bet from Zinno. The flop came down 7♠7♦4♣ and Zinno led out. Johns raised and Zinno moved all-in. Johns called and the 7♥ turn and Q♥ river kept his ace-high ahead. Zinno earned $130,447 for his podium showing. He now has nearly $12.7 million in recording earnings to his name.

Ian Johns takes out Anthony Zinno from the @WSOP $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship. He’s now heads up with Viktor Blom.

Watch on https://t.co/2RQh5ROjQG. pic.twitter.com/FnBr0cVzvn

— PokerGO (@PokerGO) June 15, 2025

Heads-up play began with 4,415,000 for Johns and 2,670,000 for Blom. Johns expanded that lead early, winning a big pot with a full house against a straight draw that never materialized for his Swedish opponent. In the final hand, Johns raised from the button and called a three-bet with A♣10♦. Blom held Q♠9♠, which improved to a flush draw after the 6♠5♣3♠ flop. Blom led out with his draw and Johns called. The 10♥ turn saw another bet from Blom, with Johns now raising with top pair. Blom raised all-in for another 30,000 and Johns quickly called. There were plenty of cards that would see Blom double up, but the K♥ was not one of them. Blom settled for $188,295 while Johns got his hands on another piece of WSOP hardware.

Blom’s career tournament haul now sits at more than $8.4 million. This was his third final-table finish and fourth cash of the series. His largest score so far at the 2025 WSOP was a sixth-place showing in the $50,000 no-limit hold’em high roller for $349,068.

Final Table Results

Photo credit: PokerGO / Miguel Cortes.