Veerachai Vongxaiburana Scoops WSOP Big O Championship Bracelet

Veerachai Vongxaiburana came into the 2025 World Series of Poker with only one prior cash in a $10,000 buy-in event: a 485th-place showing in the 2023 main event for $35,000. That was the day trader and poker hobbiest’s second-largest score to date, trailing only the $39,419 he earned with a final table run in a $3,000 limit Omaha event at last year’s World Poker Tour World Championship. 

Despite his lack of prior experience at the buy-in level, the 51-year-old Las Vegas resident battled his way through a field of over 400 entries in this year’s WSOP $10,000 Big O championship event, overcoming a stacked final table to secure his first bracelet and the top prize of $784,353.

“I just play for fun. I play a lot, mostly pot-limit Omaha, some Big O. I like Big O. I don’t play much else. I don’t play a lot of the mixed games,” Vongxaiburana told PokerNews live reporters after closing out the win.

This breakthrough victory ballooned Vongxaiburana’s overall tournament earnings to more than $1.2 million. It also came with 1,800 Card Player Player of the Year points, enough to put him within reach of the top 100 in this year’s POY standings. The 784 PokerGO Tour points he secured moved him into 15th place on that high-stakes-centric leaderboard.

Down the stretch he had to contend with an online poker legend and several seasoned WSOP champions, including squaring off against four-time bracelet winner Phil Hui with the title on the line. But this was Vongxaiburana’s time to shine.

Turnout Surges For Big O Championship’s Second Year

This year’s 402-entry turnout represented a 21 percent increase when compared to the 332 that entered in the inaugural running in 2024. The top 61 finishers all earned a share of the $3,823,020 prize pool, with notables like four-time bracelet winners Jeff Madsen (19th) and Ben Yu (18th), five-time bracelet winner Calvin Anderson (16th), 10-time bracelet winner Erik Seidel (15th), two-time bracelet winner Dylan Weisman (14th), World Poker Tour champion Dylan Wilkerson (11th), and bracelet winner Justin Liberto (10th) all running deep.

Day 3 concluded with the elimination of Chris DeMaci. The schedule had called for a halt in play at that point, but tournament staff gave players the option to continue with a unanimous agreement. Shawn Rice, who ended DeMaci’s run in sixth place ($131,841), was the only player to vote against playing on.

After the elimination of Christopher Demaci in 6th Place ($131,841), the final five players in the Big O Championship have bagged up for Day 4 tomorrow at 1 pm. #WSOP2025 pic.twitter.com/PqCWeZeIbk

— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) June 17, 2025

Double Knockout Narrows Field To Three

Two-time bracelet winner Marco Johnson held the chip lead when the final five returned to Horseshoe Las Vegas to play down to a champion. Vongxaiburana was in a virtual tie with Rice for third chip position. Johnson got off to a slow start, falling out of the lead and towards the bottom of the chip counts in the early going before scooping a monster with quad aces and the wheel. His river shove was called by Viktor Blom, who mucked after being shown nut-nut. A straight flush was possible in theory, but Johnson held a crucial blocker (the 4♠) to ensure that his four of a kind was unbeatable for the high. With that, Johnson surged back in front while Blom dropped to the short stack.

Blom managed one double-up, making the wheel with A-3 to scoop the high and low, but was soon all-in and at risk again, and with company. The hand in question began with Rice raising to 500,000 from the cutoff with A♦Q♥9♥6♣2♦. Blom three-bet to 1,580,000 with A♥K♥8♦5♣3♠ from the small blind and Hui four-bet the pot holding A♠A♣7♠5♦3♥. Rice called all-in for 2,200,000 more and Blom called off his remaining 740,000. The board ran out J♠10♥2♠7♥J♦ and Hui scooped with aces and jacks for the high and no low possible.

Rice took home $253,276 as the fifth-place finisher, a new career-best payday for the Texas resident. Blom was awarded $181,841 for his fourth-place showing. This was already the fifth cash and fourth final-table finish of the series for the Swedish online poker legend known to many as ‘Isildur1.’ He has now cashed for nearly $893,000 so far this series, including a sixth-place showing in the $50,000 no-limit event for $349,068.

Marco Johnson Puts Up Another Strong Showing At The Series

Johnson began to fall behind during three-handed action. He soon made his final stand after defending his big blind against a small-blind raise from Vongxaiburana. The two saw a flop of A♦J♠6♠ and Vongxaiburana potted, wagering 2,750,000. That just barely had Johnson covered. He made the call with A♠8♣6♥3♠3♥ for aces and sixes with the nut flush draw and an emergency low draw. Vongxaiburana had A♥J♦5♠5♦2♥ for aces and jacks with the third-nut low draw. The 7♥ turn and 5♣ river kept Vongxaiburana ahead. He scooped the pot with a set of fives for the high and a live deuce for the 7-6-5-2-A for the low.

Johnson earned $360,711 for his podium showing. This was the second-largest score to date for the mixed-games specialist from the Bay Area. He now has more than $5.5 million in recorded tournament earnings, with the majority of that coming from his extensive success at the series.

With the elimination of Marco Johnson in 3rd place ($360, 711), Phil Hui (@KungPhui) and Veerachai Vongxaiburana are now heads up in Event #44: $10,000 Big O Championship. Follow the action on WSOP+! #WSOP2025 pic.twitter.com/26S6yE7QbR

— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) June 17, 2025

Final Showdown For The Gold

Heads-up play began with Vongxaiburana holding 13,500,000 to Hui’s 10,500,000. The two traded the lead in the early going before Vongxaiburana began to pull away. His advantage grew to 3:1 before Hui began a comeback by doubling up with the nut flush. Hui moved ahead and then began to expand the gap a bit himself before it was Vongxaiburana’s turn to bounce back.

The turning point of the match saw all of the chips go in on a 9♠7♥5♠8♦6♣ board, with a significant pot already built after the turn and the remainder wagered on the river. Hui had 7♠7♦5♦4♣2♠ for a flopped set that became an eight-high straight. He also had a qualifying low. Vongxaiburana, however, had him beat with the nut low and a ten-high straight, which was good for the scoop. He revealed his winning A♦Q♦10♣8♣2♦ and doubled into a commanding lead.

After a break in the action, Hui found a double with the wheel to give himself some breathing room, but it wasn’t long before his tournament life was at risk again. The very next hand began with a button raise for Vongxaiburana, who held A♠K♦J♥10♠7♥. Hui called with 7♠6♠6♣5♠5♣. The flop came down 9♣8♦3♦ and Hui led out for 3,000,000 with his wrap straight draw and Vongxaiburana shoved with his higher wrap draw. Hui called all-in and the turn brought the 3♣. Hui was leading, but had a lot to fade on the end. The Q♦ river gave Vongxaiburana a queen-high straight to secure the pot and the title.

Hui earned $522,878 as the runner-up, his second-biggest payday yet. This score trails only the $1,099,311 he earned as the 2019 WSOP $50,000 Poker Players Championship winner. He now boasts tournament earnings in excess of $5.5 million.

Final Table Results

Photo credit: PokerGO / Miguel Cortes.