Wild Comeback In Razz Championship Pushes Brian Rast To 7th WSOP Bracelet

Brian Rast didn’t build himself a Poker Hall of Fame resume by accident. The 2023 HOF inductee entered the 2025 World Series of Poker a six-time bracelet winner with three of those wins coming in the prestigious $50,000 Poker Players Championship.

Despite that resume, no one could be faulted for counting Rast out at one of a half-dozen low moments in the $10,000 Razz championship. At multiple points during the final table, the 43-year-old poker pro swung from chip leader down to a nub of a stack, only to fight all the way back to the top.

It appeared that a victory had all but slipped away early on in day 4 of the tournament, as Andrew Yeh honed in on the victory, but Rast refused to die. Despite being reduced to a single big bet for the second time at this Razz final table, Rast ultimately roared all the way back to beat Yeh and secure his seventh career WSOP bracelet on Thursday.

Poker Hall of Famer Brian “Razz” Rast (@tsarrast) has won his 7th WSOP gold bracelet in the $10,000 Razz Championship. He is the third player to win his 7th bracelet this summer, after @BennyGlaser and @NickSchulman, and this is his first bracelet in Razz. #WSOP2025 pic.twitter.com/A9JgQjZEgH

— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) June 20, 2025

In outlasting 134 players, Rast banked $306,644 and 660 Card Player Player of the Year points. This was his first qualifying score in the 2025 POY race, presented by Coin Poker. He also scored 307 PokerGO Tour points as the champion. This was his seventh PGT cash, bringing his point total to 472. As a result, he has climbed to 50th in the overall standings for that high-stakes-centric points race.

Yeh, who seemed to have what would have been his second career WSOP bracelet all but won, ultimately settled for second place and $204,423.

A Stacked Final Table

The top 21 finishers all earned a share of the $1,246,200 prize pool in this event. When the field was reduced to a final table of eight, there were some true heavy hitters in the mix. Beyond Rast, five-time WSOP bracelet winner Brian Yoon, four-time champion Joao Vieira and bracelet winners Yeh, Christian Roberts, Ali Eslami, and Maksim Pisarenko had all made it down to the business end of this championship tournament.

Yeh held the chip lead and Rast was second when the final table began, but their paths to a heads-up battle were anything but linear. Eight-handed play carried on for an extensive period, until Yoon broke the deadlock by eliminating Pisarenko.

Eslami, who was the chip leader to start day 3, went out shortly thereafter. Rast claimed all but one big bet, and then Roberts finished the job.

Roberts tried to run a bluff past Rast and failed, and then lost his remaining chips to Vieira when the latter made a six-five low. Vieira also picked off Nikolay Ponomarev, the lone non-bracelet winner at the final table, with an eight-seven low.

Always Darkest Before The Dawn

Rast was the chip leader when the event reached four-handed play. But he slowly dwindled down to the short stack while Yeh took a commanding lead over Rast, Yoon and Vieira.

Rast was reduced to a single big bet four-handed, only for back-to-back doubles to save him. He hovered around for hours, always picking up a key pot or full double-up when it mattered the most.

Yoon took all but a single 5,000 chip, which was 25 percent of an ante, from Vieira with an eight-six low. Yeh then eliminated Vieira to reduce the field to three. Vieira earned $101,983 as the fourth-place finisher. This score came less than a week after the Portuguese tournament star took down the $100,000 no-limit hold’em high roller at the series for more than $2.6 million and his fourth bracelet.

Rast grinded all the way back into the lead three-handed, only for Yeh to push back. Yeh got Yoon all-in on sixth street, holding (6-4)2-A-A-9 to Yoon’s (4-5)9-A-Q-7. Both players improved with a three on seventh street, and Yeh’s six-five was better than Yoon’s seven-five. Yoon settled for $142,579 for his third-place showing.

Yeh put Rast on the brink again early on in their heads-up match, reducing Rast to less than four big bets. Tournament staff eventually halted play late on day 3, with Yeh held firmly onto a 3-to-1 chip lead.

One More Comeback

When play resumed on a previously unscheduled fourth day, it was very nearly an instant wipeout. Yeh made a well-hidden six-low to reduce Rast to just over one big bet for the second time at this Razz final table. Even as Rast fought back and chipped away, Yeh didn’t yield an inch and reduced Rast’s stack down to two big bets. Yeh was a single card from winning the tournament, making a 6-5-4-3-A by seventh street.

Rast needed a five or a six to make his hand and extend the tournament, leaving him just four outs. “He frickin’ got it,” Yeh said, as recounted in the PokerNews live updates, as Rast rolled over a five for a wheel.

Yeh got Rast back down to less than two big bets on one final occasion. But from there, Rast simply wouldn’t be denied. He stormed back to even, and then traded the lead back and forth with Yeh. On the hand that swung the tournament for good, Yeh called all the way down to the end and tanked for five minutes on seventh street. He called, only to see Rast table a winning eight-six low.

It would only take a few hands for Rast to complete his miraculous comeback. Yeh’s last few chips went in with K-8-2 against Rast’s 2-3-3, and Yeh was drawing dead on seventh street when Rast made a ten-nine low.

More History For Rast

Just because he’s already in the Poker Hall of Fame doesn’t mean that Rast is done building his legacy. He’s the third player to reach seven career WSOP bracelets in the summer of 2025, joining Benny Glaser and Nick Schulman. Rast is now one of just 14 players in poker history to have won as many titles at the series.

With this victory, Rast also eclipsed $28 million in lifetime tournament earnings.

Final Table Results

Photo credit: PokerGO / Enrique Malfavon.