Michael Wang Wins World Series of Poker Pot-Limit Omaha Championship For His Third Bracelet

On June 13, 2025, Michael Wang took down a $1,600 buy-in at the Wynn Summer Classic, outlasting 2,405 entries for a career-best score of $555,528.

That personal record only stood for 18 days.

Less than three weeks removed from that triumph, Wang overcame a field of 874 entries in the World Series of Poker $10,000 pot-limit Omaha championship for his third career bracelet and the massive top prize of $1,394,579.

This victory saw the 36-year-old poker pro from Livingston, New Jersey grow his lifetime tournament earnings to more than $9.1 million. More than a third of that has come from his success at the WSOP. His first bracelet saw him take down the 2015 $5,000 no-limit hold’em event at the series for $466,120. That was his largest career cash up to that point, and remained so until he took down the $5,000 eight-max NLH event at the 2022 series for $541,604 and his second bracelet.

In addition to the hardware and the money, Wang also secured 2,280 Card Player Player of the Year points for the win. With two titles and four final-table finishes this year, he is now ranked 21st on the 2025 leaderboard presented by Coin Poker. The 1,100 PokerGO Tour points that came with the title propelled Wang up those high-stakes-centric rankings, settling in 11th place.

Massive Turnout, Massive Bounce Back

The impressive turnout for this event, up from 811 entries in 2024, resulted in a prize pool of $8,128,200. The top 132 finishers cashed, with big names like 11-time bracelet winner Phil Ivey (81st), five-time bracelet winner John Monnette (77th), three-time bracelet winner Anson Tsang (68th), two-time bracelet winner Dennis Weiss (62nd), 17-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth (60th), reigning WSOP $250,000 event champion Seth Davies (58th), two-time bracelet winners Alex Livingston (44th), Scott Bohlman (39th), and Stephen Chidwick (35th), 2013 WSOP main event winner Ryan Riess (29th), four-time bracelet winner Mike Gorodinsky (26th), five-time bracelet winner Robert Mizrachi (23rd), two-time bracelet winner Ben Lamb (16th), bracelet winners Stefan Lehner (15th) and Michael Rocco, and 10-time bracelet winner Erik Seidel (9th) all running deep.

Wang’s most recent triumph nearly didn’t come about. He lost a big all-in on day 3 with a wrap draw facing two pair for Seidel that left him with less than a big blind in his stack. Had Seidel had just a slightly larger stack to start the hand, Wang could have been eliminated in 17th place. Instead, he was left with a chip and a chair, which once again proved to be enough. He managed several double-ups and was sitting on 20 big blinds again before the next knockout took place. By the end of that day, he had climbed into third chip position.

FT of the @WSOP 10k PLO after a wild ride where I was down to 0.65bb! Coming in 3/7 left, playing for a $1.4M 1st! Streaming on @PokerGO

— Michael Wang (@miw210) July 1, 2025

Day 4 Action Starts Hot

The fourth and final day began with seven players remaining and Quan Zhou in the lead.

Alex Foxen

Three-time bracelet winner Alex Foxen was the first to fall. He got the last of his stack in after the A♣10♠9♥ flop with K♠Q♠Q♦J♥ for a broadway wrap. He was up against Wang’s A♠9♠9♦3♥ for bottom set and aces up. Foxen had 40 percent equity according to Card Player’s Omaha odds calculator. That number cratered to zero when the 9♣ rolled off on the turn to give Wang quads, rendering the 5♠ river a mere formality.

Foxen earned $182,983 for his 12th final-table finish of the year. He has three titles so far, including two PGT victories and a win in a Triton Montenegro event. He now sits in third place in the 2025 POY standings and is the outright leader in the PGT season-long rankings after factoring in this latest deep run.

Javier Francort soon followed, with the Dutchman going out on the very next hand after Foxen was eliminated. He got his last chips in with K♠Q♣9♣5♣ facing the A♣J♠J♦4♥ of Sean Rafael. The flop came down A♠J♣3♥ to give Rafael middle set. Francort had a gutshot, and picked up more outs with the 2♣. Neither the flush nor straight came in though, as the river brought the K♥. Francourt scored $245,194 for his sixth-place showing, which is far-and-away his largest live payday yet.

Melad Marji committed his final 10 big blinds with Q♥10♠10♥9♥. He was up against A♠K♦J♦5♥ for Zhou, who flopped the world with A♦Q♣7♦. The J♥ turn gave Marji some outs to a straight, but the 3♦ on the end gave Zhou the nut flush and the knockout. Marji walked away with $334,017 as the fifth-place finisher, growing his career haul to more than $1.6 million in the process.

Wang Surges To Victory

Zhou entered four-handed action well out in front of the pack after sending Marji packing. Wang won a healthy pot off Zhou to move in front for a bit, but Zhou soon bounced back and regained the lead.

Wang all but pulled level with Zhou thanks to winning the next big all-in confrontation. He opened from the cutoff for 1,200,000 with A♥K♦4♠4♦ and Rafael three-bet shoved for 3,800,000 with A♦A♣K♥10♦ out of the small blind. Wang called and the board came down J♠9♠4♣J♣Q♣ to give Wang fours full and the knockout. Rafael earned $462,451 for his second-largest score ever. The rising PLO tournament star now boasts nearly $2.7 million in lifetime earnings.

Sean Rafael busts in fourth place from the @WSOP $10,000 PLO Championship.

The entire WSOP Main Event can be streamed on https://t.co/2RQh5ROjQG from July 2-16. Use promo code WSOP25X for $20 off your first year of a new annual plan. pic.twitter.com/cTfIVJpxp0

— PokerGO (@PokerGO) July 2, 2025

Quan Zhou

Zhou then began to slide down the leaderboard during three-handed play, falling to the shortest stack ahead of the next big clash. He got the last of his stack in after a 7♣5♥4♣K♥ flop and turn with Q♦Q♣6♠5♠. He was up against A♦A♣6♥5♣ for Wang. The J♠ on the end meant that Wang’s overpair of aces played to earn him the pot. Zhou cashed for $650,567.  The Chinese high-stakes regular now has more than $13.1 million in total cashes under his belt.

Wang held better than a 3:2 chip lead over Michael Zulker going into heads-up play. He had expanded that advantage slightly ahead of the final hand of the tournament. Zulker limped in from the button for 800,000 total with A♣K♠10♥5♦ and Wang raised to 2,400,000 from the big blind with Q♠J♣J♦8♠. Zulker came along to see a flop of J♥10♠10♦, which gave Wang jacks full while Zulker hit trip tens. Wang fired 1,800,000 and Zulker called. The A♠ turn gave Zulker tens full of aces. Wang sized up to 6,000,000 and Zulker came along. The 6♦ completed the board and  Wang moved all-in. Zulker made the call and was shown the higher boat.

Zulker earned $929,688 as the runner-up, blowing away his previous top score of $120,358 earned for a fifth-place showing in a 2021 Mid-States Poker Tour Venetian $1,600 event.

Final Table Results

Photos by Drew Amato for Card Player.