WSOP Weekly: Benny Glaser Finds Gold, Negreanu Runs Deep in Omaha Hi-Lo

WSOP Weekly: What You’ll Learn

• Discover Who Took the 2025 WSOP Crown: Get the details on Benny Glaser’s triumphant win and how he secured gold in this year’s World Series of Poker.

• Highlights of Key Performances: Learn about Daniel Negreanu’s impressive deep run in the Omaha Hi-Lo event, showcasing his enduring skill and strategy.

• Event Insights and Standout Moments: Gain insight into the first week of WSOP events, including notable hands and the intense competition at the Horseshoe and Paris casinos.

• Player Profiles and Backgrounds: Explore the backgrounds and playing styles of the top contenders, including Glaser’s journey to victory and Negreanu’s strategies.

• Future Implications for the Poker Scene: Understand how these results might influence the dynamics of the poker circuit for the remainder of the year and beyond.

The first week of the World Series of Poker is in the books at the Horseshoe and Paris casinos in Las Vegas with a few names standing out and some first-time winners as well.

England’s Benny Glaser is the biggest of those and scored his sixth WSOP bracelet. Plenty of eyes were also on the $25,000 Heads-Up Championship, which saw Russia’s Artur Martirosian come out on top for his third bracelet. Here’s a quick look at some of the action so far.

Multi-Bracelet Winner Shine

The early series action has seen several players adding additional bracelets to their collection. Glaser scored the win in the $1,500 Dealers Choice for $150,246.

The English poker pro has added to his legacy after winning six bracelets in several different formats that don’t include No Limit Hold’em (NLHE). He topped Matthew Schreiber in heads-up play and Glaser said his opponent was a tough customer at times.

“I was so relieved,” he said after the win. “He was all in like 10 or 11 times, I generally lost count. It was insane. He was down to 45,000 three-handed at big blind 120,000 and then won six or seven all-ins in a row. And then, heads-up he was down to 125,000 and then survived like five all ins in a row. I was getting concerned again. So just that relief after the real battle and, honestly, just joy. I’m very happy to win a bracelet this summer.”

A few other players picked up their second and third bracelets. American Bruno Furth scored his second bracelet after winning the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) event for $620,696.

This event was notable for showing how popular PLO has gotten. A $5,000 NLHE event also began just a day earlier, but surprisingly drew 64 fewer entries at the same price point. That event saw Spain’s Antonio Galiana grab his second bracelet and a $582,008 payday.

Another player collected career bracelet No. 3 in the first week of play. Dan Heimiller rose to the top in the $1,500 Seven Card Stud for a payout of $106.840. His last bracelets came in 2002 and 2014, and  Heimiller credited his persistence with getting to the finish line this time.

“Stubbornness. I wouldn’t quit poker when I should have,” Heimiller said. “I could have quit a long time ago, but I was persistent.”

In the $25,000 Heads-Up Championship, the field was capped at 64 players and saw a host of big-name pros getting in the action. In the end, Russia’s Artur Martirosian snagged his third bracelet for a payout of $500,000. In 2024, he came up just short in the event, finishing fourth for $180,000. His previous bracelets both came in 2023.

“It’s my favorite tournament, so I come earlier to play this event,” he said. “Last year I was unlucky in the semifinal, so I’m happy to finally win it.”

Three Players Cash in for $1 Million

The $1,000 Mystery Millions features five starting flights and finally came to a conclusion on Tuesday with Michael Wilklow, a software engineer from Minneapolis, Minnesota, finding the winner’s circle for a cool $1 million. That eclipsed the biggest win of his career by about $952,000.

The tournament has become popular with players because of the mystery bounty feature. Instead of players winning a certain amount when eliminating another player, a random draw can reward players with much higher totals. That included another two $1 million bounties up for grabs.

This year, Tyler Montoya was the lucky winner of one of those, more than doubling his lifetime tournament winnings. Thomas Zanot, of Phoenix, Arizona, may have been even luckier. He not only won a $1 million bounty, but also scored the largest Pai Gow progressive jackpot in history two years ago for more than $6.4 million. That’s quite a hot streak.

“I’d rather be lucky than good,” he told PokerGO after his lucky pull. Watch his complete reaction below.

Negreanu Scores Final Table Appearance

As events played out on Tuesday, many poker fans were focused on Daniel Negreanu as he made a huge run in the $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship. He finished Day 1 among the chip leaders and then sat third in chips with just five players remaining.

Negreanu added his seventh bracelet in 2024 after winning the $50,000 Poker Players Championship and had a good shot to win No. 8. PokerGO was set to stream the final table and Negreanu discussed his run on his popular daily WSOP vlog.

“I’m playing bonkers right now,” he said. “I was just rolling. I’ve been getting screwed in a lot of big pots, especially to one guy, who’s the chip leader.”

That chip leader was none other than Viktor Blom, the Swedish online poker legend with millions of dollars in winnings in live and online poker. Securing the title with Blom at the table certainly wouldn’t be easy. In his vlog, Negreanu offered some insight on the matchup and his chances at winning.

Hellmuth Backtracks on Main Event Participation

As noted in the last edition of WSOP Weekly, 17-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth was wavering on whether to go through with his boycott of the $10,000 Main Event or to play in the tournament he won in 1989 at age 24.

After conducting a Twitter poll, it looks as if Hellmuth will once again be taking his seat in the event. He previously planned on skipping after labeling the championship event an “endurance contest” that favors younger players. Hellmuth says the change is meant to allow WSOP officials some time to make some changes.

“We want to effect change, but we want to give the World Series of Poker a fair chance, a little extra time to make those changes,” he noted in a video on Twitter.

Other Winners & Looking Ahead

A few other players locked up a win in the first week of action in Las Vegas.  Southern California poker dealer Phovieng Keokham came out on top in the $500 Industry Employees event with a payday of $64,369.

Florida’s David Shmuel secured his first bracelet in a $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better event for his first bracelet and a career-best cash of $205,333.

“Omaha Hi-Lo is my favorite game,” Shmuel said. “It’s the game I actually started playing back in 1994. It’s a more relaxing game than hold’em and more fun to play. Two cards can get a little boring. Don’t get me wrong, hold’em is a great game, but I think mixed games are more fun.”

As the action continues into the second week, here are a few events to watch in the coming days.

• Event 18: $10,000 Dealers Choice 6-Handed Championship – June 3
• Event 19: $500 Colossus – Several starting flights beginning on June 4
• Event 22: $25,000 S-Handed High Roller – June 5
• Event 25: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship – June 6
• Event 26: $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller 8-Handed – June 7
• Event 30: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship – June 8
• Event 32: $50,000 High Roller– June 9
• Event 36: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Championship – June 10

Several of these events will be streamed on PokerGO, so check out Casino.org’s complete streaming guide to the WSOP.