Mike Gorodinsky Binks Fifth WSOP Bracelet In Eight-Game Championship

Things weren’t looking great for Mike Gorodinsky on Friday, July 4. He was feeling a little sick, he was tired after three long days of poker, and Gorodinsky was seeing his hopes of a fifth career World Series of Poker bracelet slipping away.

But after a 13-hour day 3 of the 2025 WSOP‘s $10,000 eight-game championship, the heads-up match for the bracelet was paused. Eric Wasserson had a 7-to-1 chip lead and a second career bracelet in his sights ahead of the resumption of play for Saturday’s unscheduled day 4.

After a dose of Nyquil and a full night of sleep, Gorodinsky came back a new man. He chipped away at the deficit, slowly closing the gap. Then, just moments after taking the lead for the first time all day, Gorodinsky slammed the door in no-limit hold’em. He earned $422,421 and his fifth career gold bracelet as the champion. This score helped push Gorodinsky’s career tournament earnings past the $5.5 million mark.

“It’s tough being sick the whole day, especially when you’re focusing and playing,” Gorodinsky said. “So yeah, I was just kind of hoping to make it through the last hour and get out of there. So I’m glad I did.

“This tournament wound up being really deep, so there was always going to be a lot of play still, even with the deficit. And, I mean, it’s a tournament, all you really have to do is win five to 10 hands in a row, which happens quite often in poker, and you’re just back in it. That’s more or less what happened.”

Grateful to be able to keep coming out here and competing against the best. Rollercoaster of a tournament; ready to sleep for the next 20 hrs 🙏 https://t.co/x8XQ0MU0Jf

— Mike Gorodinsky (@gordoMG) July 5, 2025

In addition to the hardware and the money, Gorodinsky also scored 840 points in the Card Player Player of the Year race, presented by Coin Poker. Additionally, Gorodinsky earned 422 PokerGO Tour points for this win, in his fifth qualifying result of 2025 in PGT‘s season-long leaderboard.

Slowly Whittling The Field Down

With just 13 players left from a starting field of 195 heading into day 3, it seemed likely that there would be an eight-game champion crowned by the end of the night. But between the split pot games, and the 90-minute levels, 13 hours simply wasn’t enough to do it.

There was plenty of action to go around, as notable after notable fell by the wayside. First it was 2024 WSOP main event runner-up Jordan Griff, followed closely by six-time bracelet winner Brian Hastings. Poker Hall of Famer Todd Brunson went out in 11th place, and six-time bracelet winner Jeremy Ausmus just missed the final table, in 8th.

Four of the final six players already had a bracelet win to their name. Jon Turner made his 16th career live WSOP final table, dating back to 2007, and was still hunting for his first shot at playing heads-up for a bracelet.

Gorodinsky scored the first elimination of the final table in no-limit hold’em. Bradley Jansen shoved his last 10 big blinds with pocket sixes, and Gorodinsky called with A♠J♣. The board ran out K♠Q♠7♦K♣10♣, giving Gorodinsky a straight on the river.

Wasserson kept pace at the top of the chip counts when he picked off Australian two-time bracelet winner Kahle Burns in fifth. In pot-limit Omaha, Wasserson four-bet all-in and Burns called. Burns showed K♠K♦Q♥3♠ and Wasserson tabled A♣Q♣10♦7♦. The Q♠J♣10♣ flop was all Wasserson, and his two-pair remained good through the turn and river.

Gorodinsky scooped a massive deuce-to-seven triple draw hand against Turner. On the final draw, the maximum five bets went in, and Gorodinsky tabled 7-5-4-3-2 for the wheel to scoop.

Surviving Day 3

Turner doubled his stack multiple times as he clung on to his spot at the table. He held on long enough to pass Brian Tate in the chip counts, and then the two short stacks battled in deuce-to-seven triple draw. Turner was dealt a pat 8-6-5-4-2, and by the final draw Tate was drawing slim with 7-6-4-3. Tate could not find one of the three remaining deuces, and the former poker pro and founder of Oats Overnight was out in fourth place.

There was a short window in which Turner made a run, but then he ran head-first into a cooler in pot-limit Omaha. Turner had a chance to triple up when he committed his stack pre-flop, Wasserson called, and Gorodinsky re-raised to isolate Turner.

But there was bad news for Turner when the cards were rolled over. There were many shared cards, as Turner held A♣Q♥Q♦4♦ and Gorodinksy had A♥K♥K♠4♣. Turner’s best paths to victory were a queen or a diamond flush, but Gorodinsky had the pot locked up by the turn of a 6♣6♠2♠K♣3♣ board.

Gorodinsky had the lead going into heads-up play against Wasserson, but one hand of PLO put Gordo in dire straights. On a board of J♦6♥3♦J♣10♦, Wasserson bet 2.5 million into a pot of 2.95 million, and Gorodinsky called. Wasserson showed K♥J♠10♥4♠ for top full house, and claimed the pot worth just a hair shy of 8 million.

With 11.7 million total chips in play, Gorodinsky had a lot of ground to make up. He briefly chipped his way back before tumbling further, and when the bags came out, it looked dire. Wasserson had 10,115,000 to Gorodinsky’s 1,585,000 when the night ended.

Coming Back For Number 5

Eric Wasserson and Mike Gorodinsky are back in action for the final day of Event 82: $10,000 Eight Game Mix Championship!

It’s heads-up for the bracelet, with Wasserson holding the chip lead as both chase another WSOP title and the $422,421 top prize.

Who will come out on… pic.twitter.com/CFiTZZ61U4

— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) July 5, 2025

Through the early stages of day 4, Wasserson kept the pressure on. But as he won more small pots than he lost, Gorodinsky slowly clawed his way back. By the time they got to the first break of the day, Wasserson’s lead had shrunk significantly, with 7,185,000 to Gorodinsky’s 4,520,000.

Then, in the blink of an eye, Gorodinsky flipped the script, and then dropped the hammer. In one hand of no-limit hold’em, the board read 9♣7♠4♥A♥ by the turn. Wasserson bet 850,000, Gorodinsky shoved, and Wasserson mucked. For the first time all day, Gorodinsky was on top.

By the time that round of no-limit hold’em was over, so too was the tournament. In the final hand of the event, Wasserson raised to 240,000 on the button, Gorodinsky three-bet to 825,000, and Wasserson called. An A♥8♣4♣ flop saw Gorodinsky lead out for 650,000, and Wasserson called. On the 10♥ turn, Gorodinsky checked, Wasserson paused, and then shoved all in for 3,670,000. Gorodinsky called, and showed A♠Q♦.

His pair of aces was ahead, but Wasserson had significant outs with J♣7♣. A club or a nine would all but guarantee a win for Wasserson. But the 2♥ river kept Gorodinsky’s hand best, and that was it.

Gorodinsky adds this eight-game bracelet to his 2015 WSOP Poker Players championship victory, a $2,500 seven card stud/Omaha eight-or-better win in 2013, the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. championship in 2023, and a $10,000 pot-limit Omaha championship at WSOP Paradise in 2024.

Final Table Results

Photo credit: PokerGO / Enrique Malfavon.