2025 WSOP Day 18: Ridiculously Stacked Limit Hold'em Championship Final Table Set

Copy link Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Jun 14, 2025 7 min read

After the WSOP floor staff and players in Event #36: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better agreed to play the scheduled ten levels on Day 3, the tournament paused at the heads-up stage. Philip Sternheimer and Bruno Furth returned to action at 1:00 p.m. local time on June 13, and an emotional Sternheimer came out on top. He took home $763,087 and his first bracelet after 13 years of attempting to capture one.

Joao Vieira left 102 top-tier poker players in his wake on his way to becoming the champion of Event #38: $100,000 High Roller. Eight players, led by Aram Oganyan, returned to their seats for the final day, but this event belonged to Vieira. The Portuguese superstar took home $2,649,158 plus his fourth WSOP bracelet, and he now has almost $21 million in live poker tournament earnings.

The third bracelet-awarding event that concluded on Day 18 was Event #39: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. The third and final day saw 18 players get back in the saddle, but it was Andrey Zhigalov who rode away with the $197,923 top prize and his second career bracelet.

Only Nine Remain in the $10K Limit Hold'em Championship; Viktor Blom Leads

Sweden's Viktor Blom is best known for playing ultra-high-stakes No-Limit Hold'em and Pot-Limit Omaha cash games online, but here is is leading the final nine players in Event #41: $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship with 1,875,000 chips. It has been quite the summer for Blom, and everything points to it getting even better because "Isildur1" is only eight eliminations away from becoming a WSOP bracelet for the first time.

Standing between Blom and poker immortality are eight talented individuals with 19 bracelets between them. Ryan Bambrick (1,465,000) is Blom's closest rival at the restart, while Ian Johns (810,000), Anthony Zinno (790,000), Pedro Neves (510,000), Daniel Negreanu (420,000), and Scott Bohlman (165,000) are all looking to add to their WSOP hardware collection.

Aside from Blom, only Max Hoffman (575,000) is missing some WSOP gold from his mantlepiece.

This star-studded crew returns to their seats at noon local time on June 14, and PokerNews' live reporting team will be on hand to provide live and exclusive coverage.

Event #41: $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship Final Day Chip Counts

Christopher Leach Bags Overall Chip Lead on Day 1c of the Monster Stack

Another 2,681 players jumped into Event #37: $1,500 Monster Stack, but only 671 made it through 11 levels on Day 1c. Christopher Leach (965,000) shone the brightest, bagging up not only the Day 1c chip lead but he currently finds himself top of the overall standings. Leach's monster-sized stack is worth 322 big blinds when Day 2 shuffles up and deals.

Plenty of well-known players punched their Day 2 tickets from this flight. They included Martin Zamani (310,500), Bin Weng (285,500), Keven Stammen (256,500), Andrew Hulme (238,500), Jason Wheeler (230,000), Angela Jordison (179,000), Brett Shaffer (148,000), Andrew Kelsall (138,000), Eric Baldwin (112,000), and Brian Hastings (103,500).

Day 1d is scheduled for a 10:00 a.m. start on June 14, and a field upwards of 3,000 entrants is expected. PokerNews' traditional coverage of this event starts in earnest on Day 2 on June 15.

Event #37: $1,500 Monster Stack Day 1c Top Ten Chip Counts

David "ODB" Baker Finds Himself Toward the Top of the Seniors High Roller Chip Counts

Day 2 of Event #40: $5,000 Seniors High Roller started with 325 players returning to their seats, and ended with only 47 of them bagging up chips. Though David "ODB" Baker didn't finish top of the chip counts, he did bag and tag 1,380,000 betting tokens, enough to see him return on Day 3 eighth in chips.

Baker already has a trio of bracelets to his name, having won the $2,500 Eight Game in 2012, the $1,500 Limit Hold'em in 2019, and the $1,500 Razz in 2023. Baker, a 25K Fantasy pick, had five 2025 WSOP cashes before this event; he's now looking hot for his first final table appearance of the summer.

Ramana Epparla (2,625,000) is the man to catch going into Day 3 on June 14; he is one of three players who bagged at least two million chips. Denmark's Theo Jorgensen (2,245,000) and David Stamm (2,060,000) are the other two.

Look out for the likes of Julio Belluscio (1,215,000), John Esposito (915,000), Mike "The Mouth" Matusow (735,000), Steve Jelinek (610,000), and Matt Glantz (230,000) on Day 3. Each of those players is looking to add to their bracelet collection.

Day 3 starts at noon local time on June 14, and PokerNews is where you'll find all of the official live updates from the $5,000 Seniors High Roller.

Event #40: $5,000 Seniors High Roller Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts

$1,000 PLO Event Attracts 1,932 Players; John Riordan Leads

John Riordan entered Event #42: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha and embarked on a quest to capture his third WSOP bracelet. Riordan navigated his way through the first stage, bagging up a tournament-leading 1,293,000 chips at the close of play. Riordan goes into Day 2 leading the 102-strong crowd, who are all vying for a bracelet and $237,852 in prize money.

Riordan bagged a pair of bracelets in online events in 2023, taking down the $3,200 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller 6-Max and the $777 No-Limit Hold'em Lucky 7's. The closest he has come to winning a live bracelet was in 2022 when he finished 11th in a $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha event and 11th in the $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Bounty tournament.

Despite this event's buy-in being at the more affordable end of the scale, there are some elite players among the Day 1 survivors. Benny Chen (1,161,000), Robert Cowen (1,155,000), Mike Leah (859,000), and Dylan Weisman (845,000) all have bracelets in their collections and all bagged up top ten stacks.

Frank Brannan (522,000), Josh Reichard (232,000), Danny Wong (160,000), Calen McNeil (124,000), and Hanh Tran (89,000) also punched their Day 2 tickets.

Speaking of Day 2, it starts at 12:00 p.m. local time on June 14. Join PokerNews then for all the PLO action you can handle.

Event 42: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Day 1 Top Ten Chip Counts

Matt Savage Gets Off to a Flying Start in First Razz Event of the Series

The first Razz tournament of the series, Event #43: $1,500 Razz, saw a 472-strong crowd whittled to a more manageable 97 on Day 1. Tom McCormick (343,000) bagged up the largest stack in the room, but it tournament director extraordinaire Matt Savage (324,000) is hot on the leader's heels.

Most people are used to seeing Savage sporting a dashing suit as he wanders the tournament floors of major live events around the world. Savage cut a more casual figure today, as he found himself on the other side of the table. Savage is a regular in WSOP mixed game events, with his cashes including the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E in 2019 and 2023, and in this very event in 2022.

Joining McCormick and Savage on Day 2 are players such as Phillip Hui (235,000), Matthew Vengrin (232,500), Allan Le (220,000), Calvin Anderson (212,500), Lawrence Brandt (178,000), Shaun Deeb (159,000), James Collopy (122,500), Jeff Lisandro (118,000), Yuval Bronshtein (99,000), Sean Troha (96,500), Daniel Idema (96,000), and Huck Seed (87,000).

Phil Hellmuth, whose 14th of his 17 bracelets came in the $10,000 Razz Championship in 2015, has 63,000 chips at his disposal.

It is a 1:00 p.m. local time start for these ladies and gentlemen, with PokerNews' coverage starting from the moment the first cards are pitched.

Event #43: $1,500 Razz Day 1 Top Ten Chip Counts

What to Expect on Day 19 of the 2025 WSOP

Day 19 of the 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP) is one of the quieter days on the schedule, although there are still six events in play on June 14.

The fourth and final flight, Day 1d, of Event #37: $1,500 Monster Stack gets things underway from 10:00 a.m. local time, with PokerNews' industry-leading traditional coverage starting on Day 2 on June 15.

Players in Day 3 of Event #40: $5,000 Seniors High Roller return to the action from noon local time, with the third and final day of Event #41: $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship shuffling up and dealing at 12:00 p.m. local time.

Event #42: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha kicks off at noon with John Riordan leading the 102 field back into battle before Day 2 of Event #43: $1,500 Razz commences at 1:00 p.m. local time.

The only new bracelet-awarding tournament to start on June 14 is Event #44: $10,000 Big O Championship. This is only the second time this event has run. Last year, John Fauver came out on top of a 332-strong crowd, including defeating Calvin Anderson heads-up, to capture the $681,998 top prize and a shiny gold bracelet.

Matthew Pitt hails from Leeds, West Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom, and has worked in the poker industry since 2008, and worked for PokerNews since 2010. In September 2010, he became the editor of PokerNews. Matthew stepped away from live reporting duties in 2015, and now concentrates on his role of Senior Editor for the PokerNews.

Follow on

• Tags WSOP25