Most people go to the Bahamas for the sunshine and warm temperatures, especially this time of year. For poker denizens, however, they are in the Bahamas to try to take their share of the millions of dollars offered by the World Series of Poker. The 2025 WSOP Paradise is in full swing with several events reaching their end stages and bracelets (and rings) being prepped for awarding.
Eighteen Remain in WSOP Circuit Championship
Event #1, the $2,500 WSOP Circuit Championship, drew a monstrous 2,396-entry field to the tables at Atlantis on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. That was important because the WSOP and GGPoker placed a $5 million guarantee on the tournament. The final table is in sight for the survivors of this tournament, as eighteen men will make the trek back to the tournament battleground on Monday to determine the eventual champion.
Not only was the WSOP Circuit Championship crowning the end-of-season champion, but they also ran the tournament as a “mystery bounty” event, with half the buy-in going to bounties. The big winner of the $250,000 bounty was Jack Germaine, who reached into the treasure chest and picked out the right card to make his trip to the Caribbean much more enjoyable. Germaine certainly made the most out of the bounty reveal, displaying each digit of the $250,000 one number at a time as a crowd sweated out the reveal along with him.
On the tables, Christopher Nguyen was the dominant force throughout Day Two action. He even absorbed the loss in a four-way all-in situation, which saw Mark Darner quadruple up with pocket Jacks after Rod Ward (pocket nines) and Kevin Bass (pocket Aces) were eliminated, and Nguyen (pocket Kings) saw his chips slide away on a 2-5-6-2-J board. As an example of Nguyen’s dominance, he’ll still hold over a three-million-chip lead over second-place Johnny Bromberg when play resumes on Monday.
1. Christopher Nguyen, 12.505 million
2. Johnny Bromberg, 9.4 million
3. Yi Li, 8.68 million
4. Tomas Jozonis, 8.56 million
5. Eun Sommatino, 8.545 million
Pros and Amateurs Come Together in Invitational
This is not a tournament for the faint of heart. The $250,000 Triton Poker Series Invitational featured “two tournaments in one,” with pros and amateurs playing separately on Day One. 126 entries have been received in this event, with 71 runners still alive, although final numbers in the tournament won’t be known until the close of late registration at the start of Day Two.
So far, the leader is Ye Wang, one of the invitees for the tournament, who has bagged up 1.643 million in his quest for WSOP gold. The pros were topped by Norway’s Kayhan Mokri, who has already paid for his trip to the Caribbean by cashing in Event #3 of the 2025 WSOP Paradise. Here is how they will line up for the start of action on Day Two:
1. Ye Wang, 1.643 million
2. Kayhan Mokri, 1.522 million
3. Charles Hook, 1.453 million
4. Dejan Kaladjurdjevic, 1.375 million
5. Vinny Lingham, 1.25 million
Jonathan Little atop the Leaderboard in Paradise COLOSSUS
The $5000 WSOP Paradise Super COLOSSUS has already seen 527 entries come to the felt, and several top pros are looking to capture the gold…and the green. After Day One, Jonathan Little soared to the top of the leaderboard with his 1.285 million chips, but he is being chased by a cadre of professionals who are moonlighting in this event. WSOP bracelet winner Alex Keating is lurking in the Top Five, as Kevin MacDonald, Joe Serock, Ebony Kenney, and Benny Glaser are in the Top 30. The top prize in this tournament is the WSOP bracelet and a $504,950 payday for the eventual champion.
1. Jonathan Little, 1.285 million
2. Jun Obara, 1.11 million
3. Armin Rezaei, 975,000
4. Alex Keating, 860,000
5. Leonard Maue, 840,000
Three Bracelets Already Awarded
A trio of bracelets has already been awarded since the start of the tournament last Thursday. In Event #2, the $75,000 Triton Poker Series Six-Handed Pot Limit Omaha tournament, Matthias Eibinger emerged victorious over runner-up Mike Watson to capture the first bracelet of the 2025 WSOP Paradise. The final table was difficult, with six WSOP bracelet winners among the seven players.
1. Matthias Eibinger (Austria), $1,570,640
2. Mike Watson (Canada), $1,459,360
3. Dylan Weisman (USA), $809,000
4. Richard Gryko (United Kingdom), $655,500
5. Stephen Chidwick (United Kingdom), $526,500
6. Biao Ding (Hong Kong), $412,000
7. Ben Lamb (USA), $324,000
Event #3 at the 2025 WSOP Paradise was one of the “high roller” tournaments on the roster. The $100,000 Triton Poker Series Pot Limit Omaha Main Event drew 103 entries to the tables, and nearly every one of those players was an expert in the game. Coming up a bit short of the final table were 2025 Player of the Year contender Jesse Lonis and Poker Hall of Famer Daniel Negreanu, who finished in eleventh and tenth places, respectively, and took $211,000 for their efforts.
The final table would see Phil Ivey back in fine form before leaving the event in ninth place. Meanwhile, ‘Nacho’ Barbero, Ben Lamb, and Gryko all would grind their ways to big finishes. In the end, Sam Soverel would earn his fourth WSOP bracelet and over $2.5 million in cash by defeating Andras Nemeth for the title.
1. Sam Soverel (USA), $2,594,000
2. Andras Nemeth (Hungary), $1,751,000
3. Dan Dvoress (Canada), $1,138,000
4. Richard Gryko (United Kingdom), $943,000
5. Phillip Sternheimer (United Kingdom), $760,000
6. Ben Lamb (USA), $599,000
7. Joni Jouhkimainen (Finland), $458,000
8. ‘Nacho’ Barbero (Argentina), $345,000
9. Phil Ivey (USA), $257,000
Finally, Daniel Rezaei defeated a 151-entry field to pick up his first bracelet in Event #4, the $50,000 No Limit Hold’em High Roller Turbo. Rezaei defeated several notable names, including Thomas Boivin, Hui Chen, Triton Poker Series co-founder Paul Phua, and eventual runner-up Mustafa Kanit on the way to his title. It was truly a turbo tournament, as the only one-day event on the schedule wrapped up in just over two hours of action at the final table.
1. Daniel Rezaei (Austria), $1,900,000
2. Mustafa Kanit (Italy), $1,215,000
3. Paul Phua (Malaysia), $815,000
4. Joao Simao (Brazil), $570,000
5. Hui Chen (China), $405,000
6. Matthew Wakeman (Australia), $300,000
7. Thomas Boivin (Belgium), $235,000
8. Tyler Moncek (USA), $189,000
9. Michael Moncek (USA), $157,500
Still on tap are several high-dollar tournaments. A trio of Triton No Limit Hold’em events, with buy-ins of $100,000, $125,000, and $150,000, is on the agenda. They will lead up to the 2025 WSOP Paradise Super Main Event on December 10, the $25,000 buy-in tournament that features a brain-baffling $60 million guaranteed prize pool. After missing the guarantee of $50 million in 2024 for this event, can the 2025 WSOP Paradise meet a higher standard? We will learn that by this point next week.
The post Action Aplenty as 2025 WSOP Paradise Rolls Onward appeared first on Poker News Daily.
About The Author
