WSOP 2025 Day 37 Recap: Martin Kabrhel Wins Fourth Bracelet, Main Event Kicks Off as Moneymaker Crashes Out

A thrilling ride from start to finish saw the opening day of the WSOP Main Event welcome 923 players to the Horseshoe and Paris casinos in Las Vegas, with over 600 of them surviving to Day 2. Among those to bust were the 2003 world champion Chris Moneymaker, who was coolered out of the event he helped make so world famous. In other events, Czech player Martin Kabrhel finally finished off a final table as he won the $1,000 Mini Main Event for his fourth WSOP title.

Kabrhel is King in Mini Main Event

If the $1,000-entry Mini Main Event is a gauge for excitement in the Main Event, then we could all be in for quite the ride in the World Championship. On a day of drama in the final of Event #75, five players returned to the felt but as usual when he features, it was all about one man - Martin Kabrhel.

After the eliminations of Bartlomiej Swieboda, John Ishak and Vadzim Lipauka, Kabrhel took 72% of the chips in play into the heads-up battle. Eventually, Alex Yen’s ace-four was no good against the ace-king of Kabrhel, who once again announced the call with ‘Not like that!’ before turning over his cards slowly with his catchphrase ‘Casino Royale’. To some sniggering from the rail, the dominating hand held and Kabrhel had gold again in Las Vegas.

“Everybody loves me!” He laughed as he posed with his new trinket, before asking the dealer if they could add ‘a few more diamonds’ to his prize. Asked about his table presence, the Czech Republic player said he was popular with most.

“Eight or ten people in the entire field didn’t like it everyone else loved it.” 
Jumping right into the Main Event proper, Kabrhel found a bag for Day 2.

He won’t go quietly this summer.

WSOP Event #75 $1,000 Mini Main Event Final Table Results

Four Chase Gold in Seven Card Stud Championship

Just four players remain in with a chance of scooping the top prize of $411,051 in Event #77, the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship. After players such as Phil Hellmuth (13th for $24,393), Viktor Blom (10th for $28,458) and Alex Livingston (7th for $54,105) all departed, the final table saw the overnight leader Qingpai Pan make moves once more, and with four left, he remains the man to catch with 5.26 million chips.

David Lin (3.1m) is closest to the leader, but British mixed game bracelet winner Luke Schwartz (1.96m) and double bracelet winner Andrey Zhigalov (795,000) will both have other ideas about the chip leaders running away with it when play returns tomorrow.

WSOP Event #77 $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship

Deeb and Haxton Ahead in PLO 

Isaac Haxton (15.7m) and Shaun Deeb (13.6m) headline the inaugural $100,000 Pot Limit Omaha High Roller event final table, with other crushers hovering around the top of the leaderboard too. In an event like no other, the biggest PLO event in WSOP history will award a top prize of $2.95 million, one of the biggest of the series so far.

On a day of drama, players such as Daniel Negreanu (15th for $209,457), Nick Schulman (12th for $209,457), and Ben Lamb (8th for $336,110) all just missed out on the final day despite cashing. Haxton and Deeb will be hard to catch but PLO expert Lautaro Guerra is well positioned in third place on 11.1 million chips, with Arthur Morris (9.9m), Alex Foxen (9.8m) and the 11-time bracelet winner Phil Ivey (8.7m) will all believe tomorrow could be their day.

Short stack Sean Rafael has all the skills to mount a comeback too, but with a starting stack of 3.67 million on the final day, will need help to get back into contention.

WSOP Event #77 $100,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller Chip Counts

Schill Shakes the Tree in PokerNews Championship

Day 2 of the $600 PokerNews Deepstack Championship, otherwise known as Event #78 on the schedule, saw WSOP hopefuls such as Daniel Schill (12.47m), Jason Li  (9.17m) and Ivan Ruban  (7.41m) all make the podium places as they bid to win a top prize of $302,165.

With Day 2 reducing the field from 635 starters to 55 finishers, only three of the remaining players have previously won a WSOP gold bracelet, meaning new poker history could be made on tomorrow’s final day with everyone guaranteed to walk away with $5,583 when play resumes.

WSOP Event #78 $600 PokerNews NLHE Deepstack Championship

Vo on Top After Day 1a of the WSOP Main Event 

The opening day of the 2025 WSOP Main Event, otherwise known as the World Championship, saw 923 players take part in the greatest poker show on Earth after WSOP legend Billy Baxter introduced the players to the action, giving the watching media his version of “Shuffle Up and Deal” as the cards went in the air.

At the close of play, just 634 players remained, with some high profile exits along the way such as the 2003 world champion Chris Moneymaker. The poker boom hero to millions couldn’t fold jacks over queens and lost to queens full as his bid to run deep yet again ended early.

Others such as Faraz Jaka, the 2009 world champion Joe Cada, Angela Jordison, Jean ‘JRB’ Robert-Bellande, Joao Vieira, The Hendon Mob legend Barny Boatman, Michael ‘Texas Mike’ Moncek, Main Event finalist Andy Black, Billy Baxter himself, Chris Brewer, Stephen Song and the former WPT Player of the Year and TV writer Matt Salsberg all departed too on a day where almost 300 players busted on the opening day of the most painful event to ever leave early.

It was Victor Vo who led the field at the close of play, with his stack of 352,000 some improvement on the 60,000 starting stack he began with. Only a three-bet behind is Justin Yaker (348,000), while Belgian player Miguel Coussement (320,200) rounds out the top three. With bags for Nikolos Lampropoulos (235,900), Martin Kabrhel (168,700), Roman Hrabec (162,500), Michael Noori (155,300) and Pedro Garagnani (144,500) inside the top 100 places, there was also a chance to zip up chips for Phil Hellmuth... no, not that one, but the son of the 17-time WSOP bracelet winner.

Hellmuth’s son Phil bagged up 87,200 for profit across Day 1a as he looks to join his illustrious father in Day 2. When The Poker Brat will play the Main is anyone guess but one thing is for sure, Day 1b is only going to get bigger tomorrow. 

WSOP Event #81 $10,000 Main Event World Championship Day 1a

Two Other Day1s Begin in Vegas 

In Event #80, the $800 NLHE Summer Celebration event saw players with a bankroll that doesn’t stretch to the Main Event (or who have been eliminated) take their seats in a new bid to win gold. A total of 3,054 entries were reduced to 168 survivors, with Dutchmen Roelof Pepping (2.77m) and Johannes Deusing (2.06m) at the top of the list. Former WSOP bracelet winners Pei Li 91.36m) and Tom Fuchs (1m) also sit inside the top 50 players to make Day 2 from Day 1a.

Finally, in Event #82, the $10,000 Eight Game Mixed Championship, 166 entries were whittled down to 75 survivors with the money bubble still some way away, as the latest bracelet event at the Horseshoe and Paris took place across 10 hours of poker. Day 1 was a big one for China’s Qiang Xu (311,000), with mixed game player Jon Turner (305,000) and PokerGO favorite Nate Silver (277,500) on the podium places too. 

Connect with PokerGO.com on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. Watch daily poker clips on the PokerGO YouTube channel. Join the conversation on the PokerGO Discord server. You can save $20 off your first year of an annual subscription to PokerGO.com by using the code “WSOP25” at checkout.