It took nearly two decades and three agonizing runner-up finishes, but Matt Vengrin is finally a World Series of Poker champion.
Vengrin outlasted a field of 1,564 entries in Event #54: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed to claim his long-awaited first bracelet and a career-best $306,791 payday. The final day began with 11 hopefuls, but by night’s end, it was Vengrin standing tall at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, having defeated Bryce Yockey heads-up for the title.
The victory pushes Vengrin’s lifetime earnings past the $2 million mark and erases years of near misses dating back to his first WSOP cash in 2007. After nearly two decades of grinding, the 2025 WSOP finally delivered Vengrin his crowning moment.
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Jason Lang and Giuseppe Pantaleo both made the final day, but couldn’t hang on to make the unofficial final table, as they busted in 11th and 10th respectively. Pantaleo lost out to a rivered flush to send the remaining nine to the event’s first and only feature table.
It took an hour for the official final table to be sorted, as Jason Stockfish bowed out in ninth after his stack had dwindled down and down. It would be yet another hour to get down to seven, with Vengrin recording his second elimination of the day to send Tomer Daniel home.
Table shortstack Antti Marttinen was next to head home, as Yockey came from behind on the flop to send him packing, just one place shy of a career-high score.
Punnat Punsri
Yet another 60 minutes of intense battling took place before the final five were confirmed, but from that point on an onslaught ensued, as eliminations were coming thick and fast. Yockey and Vengrin were almost already in a heads-up battle of their own, as they kept one-upping each other by taking turns in busting out rivals.
Yockey’s pair of eights held against the deuces of Matthew Beck, as Beck headed home with his best ever live score. Yockey’s counterpart then did the same to Jacob Snider, whose kings couldn’t crack Vengrin’s aces.
The podium was confirmed as Yockey got it in good against Qiaonan Liu, and unnecessarily improved on the river to fully lock up the pot. Just missing out on heads-up for a second time this series was Punnat Punsri, who is still on the hunt for his and Thailand’s first bracelet at the WSOP.
Journey to the Final Table
Vengrin has become somewhat of a specialist in mixed games, as he “gave up on Hold’em about ten years ago” and has dedicated himself to them ever since. Despite his biggest live cash before today coming in Hold’em, his three WSOP second-place finishes have all come outside of the game’s most common format.
The first came back in 2015, in the $3,000 H.O.R.S.E event, before placing runner up in 2020’s $400 PLOSSUS, and doing the same in the $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or better in 2022.
It wasn’t an easy ride to victory, as plenty of PLO crushers were in the mix, and had their eyes on what is now Vengrin’s. Bruno Furth and Igor Zektser are two players who already have Omaha bracelets to their names this summer, but Zekster fell at the first hurdle, and Furth was unable to make it to Day 3.
Last year’s champion Dylan Weisman failed in his defense attempt, and Main Event Champion Joe Cada also crumbled early, departing after just a number of hours.
Winner’s Reaction
Matt Vengrin
Speaking with PokerNews Vengrin had nothing but the utmost respect for his heads-up opponent. “He’s definitely better than me at the game,” he remarked humbly, and that fact made it “truly special” to win the event against such a top player.
He recalled one of the final hands of the tournament, in which both he and Yockey rivered a full house, and Yockey was facing a potentially bracelet-deciding decision as Vengrin was all in. Vengrin revealed that his opponent ended up “making a really big fold,” adding that “a lot of people would’ve called there, and he didn't. It’s really impressive to me.”
Bryce Yockey
Despite the respect he clearly had for his adversary, Vengrin had a one-track mind and was aiming to win no matter what. “I didn’t care who was in front of me, I just wanted to win my first bracelet.” He threw any and all respect out the window until the job was done, with his competitive side “wanting to face” a competent opponent, whom he got the better of through his flopped set in the winning hand.
In his past runner up finishes, he lost out to stellar competition each time, in Daniel Idema, Yuri Dzivielevski, and Amnon Filippi, meaning defeating a two-time bracelet winner was all the sweeter.
After three grueling days of competition, Vengrin’s main plan of celebration is rest. “Time is slipping away from me right now,” he said when asked about his plans. “I’ll just be so happy to go home and rest.”
Moving forward, Vengrin plans to participate in the upcoming nine-game event, as well as some additional mixed game events that will take place before the end of the series. After an extended wait for the first bracelet, maybe momentum can carry him to a second without having to wait for another summer.
