WSOP 2025 Day 8 Recap: Bambrick Denies Daniel Negreanu Eighth Title, Brad Ruben Wins Fifth in Five Years

Eshaan BhallaA stunning day of action at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) saw three bracelets won and six more events in progress as Daniel Negreanu was denied his eighth WSOP title at the last. The Horseshoe Las Vegas and Paris casinos were packed to the last seat as events in No Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha and Mystery Bounty formats thrilled poker fans in Las Vegas.

Bambrick Denies Kid Poker the Candy

With five players returning overnight, Daniel Negreanu and Viktor Blom prepared for a battle between poker eras in a bid to win gold. In the end, a revenge mission from Ryan Bambrick spoiled the party, as the American cut through the final five in Event #9 to win the $470,437 top prize and his second WSOP bracelet.

The action got underway with the Swedish phenom Blom in charge but he fell away in stark fashion, as Bambrick’s superior two-pair grabbed the pot and a chip lead he never looked like relinquishing. Bambrick had the sign over Blom for much of the final table and after Hunter McClelland’ shorter stack disappeared, so too did Blom, cashing for $152,315 in fourth place.

Three-handed play took care of Ofir Mor, but while Negreanu made quads to score that scalp, it still left him with only 20% of the chips in play when the final showdown began. Kid Poker got back to around a 2:1 deficit but trips fell to a full house and Negreanu rose to congratulate an understandably elated Bambrick instead.  

“It’s pretty sweet to beat Daniel Negreanu and Isildur1 at the final table,” the winner said afterwards. “It’s kind of surreal really. Everyone was clapping for , but I had a couple of people clapping for me too. Honestly, I liked it, it didn’t intimidate me at all.”

Bambrick said that after the win he was probably going to ‘play a pretty full slate this year’, and after he once saw Negreanu focus on an online hand the pair shared which went the way of Negreanu, revenge was a dish served extremely cold... and gold, in Las Vegas.

WSOP Event #9 $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championships Results

Ruben Reaches Ultimate Prize 

With his recent record, Brad Ruben has entered the history books. Joining legends of the game such as Phil Ivey and Doyle Brunson, Ruben’s victory in 532-entry Event #12, the $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw, earned him a top prize of $138,080 and his fifth bracelet in five years.

The final day began with Han Liu in charge, as he had been at the start of both Day 2 and 3. That lasted a long way but at the final table, and down to five, Brian Yoon’s elimination was followed by that of Liu’s fellow Chinese player Yueqi Zhu, before Liu made heads-up. Heads-up, Liu had a 2:1 chip edge but Ruben turned it around over a long period of time, picking off bluffs and winning when the overnight leader’s ten-low was bettered by Ruben’s nine-low. After the event, Ruben was delighted with his victory.

“I want to compete for the most bracelets this decade,” Ruben declared. "I think Ausmus has five and a bunch of people have four. So that's a goal of mine that keeps me going. I've loved the WSOP ever since I was a teenager and I'm very passionate about it.”

Another thing he was passionate about in victory was his own and others’ mental health.

“I'm very passionate about that and want to get a message out,” he said. “Whatever people are going through, there's a light at the end of the tunnel and I'm happy to talk to anyone, at anytime, about whatever.”

With five WSOP bracelet wins and no defeats when reaching the heads-up stage, Brad Ruben is a World Series master. His experiences in life and Las Vegas combine to make him a player anyone could be a fan of... and fear in the WSOP events to come.

WSOP Event #12 $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Final Table Results 

Yosef Fox Bags Mystery Bounty Gold 

In Event #11, the $10,000 Mystery Bounty event, Yosef Fox repeated his son Jorden’s trick as he won a WSOP bracelet and a top prize $729,333 in Las Vegas. Six years and a pandemic since his son won in 2019, Fox also bagged the biggest and best $250,000 mystery bounty on the final day of play as five played down to a winner.

The 616-entry field ended with a heads-up battle between the more mature Fox and the Spanish player Alejandro Peinado, who won $486,192 as runner-up, and the former chip leader     James Mendoza from the Philippines, who earned $336,594.

“This is incredible; I watched my son win a bracelet in 2019, and it was incredible then, it feels even better now,” said Fox. “Now he’s gotta come back and win a second one, which is okay.”

Read all about Event #11 in more detail here.

WSOP Event #11 $10,000 Mystery Bounty Final Table Results

Davenport Stares Down the Final Dozen

Damarjai Davenport death-stared his final dozen opponents in the 13th event of the 56th annual WSOP, with 11 left in the mix to win the $414,950 top prize. Davenport has the lead with 11 million chips, good for a sizeable lead over Chinese player Shundan Xiao (9.33m) and Eshaan Bhalla (7.2m) when play returns on the final day. David Jackson sits a short distance back on 5.5m in fifth place as the only player to have won a bracelet before today aims for his third title.

WSOP Event #13 $1,500 NLHE 6-Handed Chip Counts

Mitchell the Monster in Split High Roller

Event #14 ended with just 17 players still in the field from 245 total entries. The $25,000 High Roller in Pot-Limit Omaha and No-Limit Hold’em welcomed the great and good, and on Day 2, the money bubble burst, leaving players such as the 17-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, 11-time champion Phil Ivey, the reigning Player of the Year Scott Seiver, and other bracelet winners Chance Kornuth, Artur Martirosian, Dan Zack and Stephen Chidwick on the outside looking in.

While Brandon Mitchell dominated Day 2, piling up a lead with 7.46m chips, other stars of the felt also survived with very playable stacks, such as Michael ‘Texas Mike’ Moncek (5,050,000), Ben Tollerene (2,955,000), Ben Lamb (2,715,000), Nick Schulman (2,500,000), while Shaun Deeb (225,000) was among the short stacks as play concluded hoping for a miracle tomorrow. With a $1.3m top prize and the gold bracelet up for grabs, it could be a fantastic finish to the high roller event.

WSOP Event #14 $25,000 High Roller NLHE/PLO Chip Counts

Benny Glaser Chasing Second Bracelet in Four Days

British mixed games expert Benny Glaser is chasing the secnd bracelet of his 2025 seies in Event #15, the $1,500 Mixed Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better event, where 264 players were reduced to 25 on Day 2.

While Abdul Konjuhi (3,195,000) leads the remaining field, six-time bracelet winner Glaser will be the most dangerous threat with 2.52 million chips, with other crushers like Dustin Dirksen (2.5m), Tyler Brown  (1.47m), Patrick Leonard (1.27m), and David Shmuel (810,000) all pose challenges on the third and final day of the event. 

WSOP Event #15 $1,500 Mixed Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Chip Counts

Three More Events Begin

Three more Day 1s kicked off WSOP events #16 through #18, as players did battle in Pot Limit Omaha, No Limit Hold’em and Dealers Choice. In Event #16, 3,110 entries were whittled down to 108 survivors as entrants paid $600 towards what will be a top prize of $193,780. Zachary Reinhold (3,475,000) has the chip lead, but plenty of big names made the cut, with Nick Maimone (2,155,000), Miguel Proulx (1,805,000), John Riordan (1,480,000) and Josh Arieh (980,000) all looking to add another bracelet to their collections.

In Event #17, the $2,000-entry NLHE event, 1,692 entries came down to 264 players across 15 levels of play. With $3m in the prize pool, a top prize of $436,044 is on the line, with Canadian player Ernest Chevrette (728,000) in the lead with a massive 146 big blinds. Jesse Lonis (696,000) ended the day third in chips and Sean Hegarty (550,000) made the second day in the top 10 chip counts too. Big names such as Alex Foxen (303,000), Chino Rheem (213,000), Eric Baldwin (160,000), Chris Brewer (341,000), and Chris ‘Big Huni’ Hunichen (145,000) all made the cut too.

Finally, Event #18, the $10,000 Dealers Choice Championship, began with 121 players and ended with 62 still left in the hunt for gold. Ryan Hoenig (298,500) top scored, with mixed games specialist Adam Friedman (258,000) and Event #9 runner-up Daniel Negreanu (255,000) in the top three. Scott Seiver (245,000), David ‘Bakes’ Baker (229,500), David ‘ODB’ Baker (180,000), Phil Hui (165,000), Matt Glantz (150,000), Mike Matusow (119,500), Alex Livingston (118,000), Brian Rast (107,000), Gus Hansen (105,000), and Viktor Blom (73,500) all made the Day 2 seat draw, along with the latest bracelet winner Brad Ruben (52,000).

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