The World Series of Poker’s $50,000 Poker Players Championship stands out as one of the most prestigious titles in poker. The nine-game format, which combines no-limit, pot-limit, and limit mixed games, is a gauntlet that proves an all-around skillset.
On the eve of the 2025 PPC, which kicks off Tuesday, Robert Wells staked an impressive claim. Wells, who had a pair of close calls for a WSOP bracelet in 2024, captured the $3,000 nine-game title for a career-best $228,115 and 1,080 points in the Card Player Player of the Year race, presented by Coin Poker.
The Welsh pro outlasted a field of 409 players, defeating Canadian Thomas Taylor heads-up to lock down his first WSOP bracelet win. In a stunning parallel, Wells recorded two runner-up WSOP finishes in an 11-day stretch in 2024. Taylor, who also finished second in the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. event last week, has posted two second-place finished in a span of 12 days, one year later.
“I came second twice last year, so I know that pain on the other side, so being on this side of it is amazing,” Wells told PokerNews in the aftermath of his victory. “If I could have picked any tournament to win, this would probably be two on the list, besides the PPC.”
Neither Wells nor Taylor had a WSOP bracelet coming into this summer, but their reputations are strong. Team owners in the $25,000 buy-in WSOP fantasy contest rostered both of them, as Wells’ bid reached $10.00, and Taylor’s, $7.00.
A Long Final Day
There were 18 players in contention for this title when day 3 began Monday afternoon. Wells had a long way to go to reach the end, and his competition included the defending champion of this event, Yuri Dzivielevski, former WSOP Player of the Year Jeff Madsen and former $50,000 PPC winner David Bach, among a number of talented adversaries.
Wells steadily climbed the chip counts as the field was reduced to two tables with 14 players left. He made his first big move near the final table bubble. Facing off against recent $10,000 pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better champion Philip Sternheimer, he picked off the newly crowned bracelet winner. In a hand of no-limit deuce-to-seven single draw, Wells stood pat with a jack-ten low and Sternheimer missed draw to a ten-five low.
That pot gave Wells the narrowest of leads as the field combined to a single table of eight. He then built upon that advantage, as he scooped big pots in both deuce-to-seven variations before settling into the background. Wells didn’t record another elimination until the field was reduced to three, as Taylor cleaned up and built a stack with big pot after big pot.
Deuce-to-seven single draw once again weighed heavily in Wells’ run to success. His elimination of Fu Wong didn’t even require a draw. After Wong patted his hand and declined to draw, Wells showed a nine-eight low, which had Wong’s jack-ten low crushed.
Path To Victory
Taylor quickly jumped out to a 2-to-1 lead, but after a short break, Wells flipped the script in no-limit hold’em. Both players flopped a pair and rivered aces up, and with aces and nines, Wells’ hand was best.
Taylor battled, and regained the lead as the chip counts got tight. Wells grabbed a stranglehold in the seven card stud eight-or-better rounds. In consecutive hands, he made two-pair and then trips to open a lead of over 5-to-1.
And while Taylor battled on for the better part of an hour, he was never able to regain a foothold. Appropriately enough for Wells, it came down to no-limit deuce-to-seven single draw once more.
Wells put Taylor all-in and stood pat, tabling a 10-7-5-4-3 low. Taylor was drawing to an 8-7-3-2, but ended up pairing his three to end his tournament run in second place.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points |
| 1 | Robert Wells | $228,115 | 1,080 |
| 2 | Thomas Taylor | $149,152 | 900 |
| 3 | Fu Wong | $99,771 | 720 |
| 4 | Anthony Ribeiro | $68,304 | 540 |
| 5 | Nicolas Barthe | $47,884 | 450 |
| 6 | David Bach | $34,394 | 360 |
| 7 | Jonathan Glendinning | $25,328 | 270 |
Photo credit: PokerGO / Miguel Cortes.
