Main Event Highlights: Discover key moments and highlights from the World Series of Poker Main Event, showcasing the excitement and drama that unfolded at the tables.
Latest WSOP Controversies: Learn about recent controversies that have stirred discussions within the poker community, including rule disputes and notable player incidents.
Back-to-Back Ladies Champion: Celebrate and explore Shiina Okamoto’s achievement of the first player to win the WSOP Ladies Championship two years in a row, breaking new ground in the tournament’s history.
Michael Mizrachi’s WSOP Success: Delve into Michael Mizrachi’s impressive performance at the WSOP, detailing his victories and the strategies that make him a standout player in the poker world.
The last week of the World Series of Poker saw some major feats including Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi finding yet another win in the $50,000 Poker player Championship and Shiina Okamoto scored a second-straight victory in the Ladies Championship.
The Main Event also got underway on Tuesday and some controversy developed around the Millionaire Maker.
Here’s a quick look at some of those stories and more from the Horseshoe and Paris casinos in Las Vegas.
WSOP Main Event Gets Underway
After five weeks of action, the $10,000 Main Event kicked off on Monday. The tournament features four starting flights with all players converging into a single field on Sunday. The entire event will be streamed on PokerGO with a winner crowned on June 16.
The event has seen record-setting fields in recent years, bringing in 10,043 entries in 2023 and 10,112 players in 2024, beating the previous record of 8,773 entries set in 2006 and won by Jamie Gold.
Last year, Jonathan Tamayo came out on top for a $10 million payday, although not without his own controversy.
A native of Humble, Texas, Tamayo also added to the number of players from the Lone Star State who have come out on top in the biggest tournament in poker.
Image Credit: Poker Go
“We always take our shot here, but it’s just a numbers game,” he told PokerGO after the win. “We never, ever, ever think this is reality and I’m just soaking it in right now. This perspective is kind of nice actually. Everybody plays this tournament. Everybody who’s great at poker plays this tournament, and I somehow won it and I still can’t believe it.”
Will this year’s Main Event set a new record? That remains to be seen, but GGPoker and WSOP Online have ramped up online qualifying opportunities. The effort to reach record numbers has carried over to the number of live qualifiers held around the world as well.
It’s a good bet that has paid dividends and the numbers may swell again.
Controversy Swirls in Millionaire Maker: Yaginuma Gets Payout But no Bracelet
The $1,500 Millionaire wrapped up on Friday with Jesse Yaginuma overcoming a 10-top-1 chip disadvantage to win the bracelet and score $1.3 million over poker pro James Carroll at the final table.
Image Credit: Poker Go
However, the unlikely ending wasn’t without controversy.
Many players took to social media to accuse Carroll of chip dumping and possibly having a deal with Yaginuma, which isn’t allowed under WSOP rules. The winner has won a ticket on the WPT Gold sweepstakes poker site that meant if a player won a WSOP bracelet, he or she was entitled to a $1 million bonus.
Some allege that throwing the heads-up battle may have occurred because of a potential payment from some of those extra winnings. Because of the controversy, WSOP officials paused paying out both players to look into the matter further.
On the first of June, WSOP released the following statement:
The investigation into WSOP Event 53 has been completed.
We have concluded that in order to uphold the integrity of the game and to uphold our official WSOP Tournament Rules, no winner will be recognized and no bracelet will be awarded for this year's tournament. The remaining… https://t.co/giL0Ij9Cwj
— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) July 1, 2025
Poker has been growing in popularity in Japan and that has been on display in recent years in the $1,000 Ladies Championship. The event saw a record 1,368 entries with Shiina Okamoto coming out on top for the second straight year.
Image Credit: Poker Go
The Japanese player collected $184,094 for her efforts after grabbing her first WSOP bracelet and $177,732 last year. If that weren’t enough, finished runner-up in 2023 for $118,768.
Okamoto has earned some major respect among poker players over the last few years and now has more than $1 million in live tournament winnings.
Okamoto proved to be a tough customer at the final table, pressing the action to take advantage of other players with much smaller stacks. She also made some big hands to help the cause. Winning back-to-back titles is no easy feat and she offered a short and sweet Tweet to commemorate her accomplishment.
Michael Mizrachi Makes It Four in PPC; Darren Elias Finds Some Redemption
A few other winners stand out from the last week of action. The biggest of those was Michael Mizrachi, who scored his fourth victory in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship.
The Poker Players Championship event features several poker variants and is one of the most-coveted events by high-stakes poker pros.
Michael Mizrachi is a poker pro from Hollywood, Florida and is now the only player in history to win the tournament four times after taking the title in 2010, 2012, and 2018.
He grabbed $1.3 million for his win at the final table and has seven career bracelets and about $19 million in live tournament winnings. Mizrachi may now be a likely consideration for the Poker Hall of Fame in the coming years.
“I probably played better than the last three I won,” he said afterward. “Everything went my way this tournament. I was always at the top of the leaderboard, never really got short, and probably played my best overall.”
Image Credit: Poker Go
Another big name also snagged a bracelet over the last week as well. Coming into the series, few players had as decorated a poker record as Darren Elias without winning a bracelet. His poker record includes four World Poker Tour titles and almost $14 million in live tournament winnings.
Earlier in the series, Elias, who is originally from Medford, New Jersey, came close in the $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship. He battled eventual winner Nick Schulman in heads-up play for almost eight hours, taking runner-up for $336,421.
However, the BetMGM Poker ambassador was able to cash in just a few days later in an online event, fitting for a player who cut his teeth in the online arena earlier in his career. Elias noted that the win was “WSOP redemption.”
After a heartbreaking heads-up loss to @NickSchulman from a 8-hour battle in the $10,000 NL 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship, @DarrenElias finally closed one out. Today he hoists his first-ever WSOP bracelet from Online Event #14: $888 NLH Crazy 8's for $170,208. Well done Darren! pic.twitter.com/kYdk4hrzGE
— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) June 29, 2025
Looking Aheadto More WSOP Events
The Main Event may be under way, but there are still numerous tournaments on tap in the coming week, including some nice events for low rollers. Here’s a look at a few tournaments to keep an eye on.
● Event 80: $800 Summer Celebration – July 3
● Event 83: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout – July 3
