After four grueling days of action on the felt here at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, only seven players returned for the fifth and final day of Event #37: $1,500 MONSTER STACK. When the dust settled, it was [Removed:548] of Austria who accomplished what all of his competitors set out to do - take home the seven-figure payday and the bracelet.
In what proved to be one of the most popular events at the 2025 World Series of Poker thus far, [Removed:549] navigated his way through an enormous field of 9,920 entries to capture the first-place prize of $1,204,457. He defeated David Uvaydov in a fierce, back-and-forth heads-up match to claim the bulk of the massive $13,148,390 prize pool.
After hitting the biggest score of his life and winning his maiden WSOP gold bracelet, [Removed:549] mentioned that it may take some time for the magnitude of the moment to really sink in.
"I cannot describe how good it feels after I've tried so long. It's a big dream come true, to be honest. It's such a massive field, hard to describe, I can't even grasp. I think it will need some days."
He continued, "As I said, it means everything. I mean I had some runs, but I had one other final table in the Bahamas. But I think it's my first final table actually in Vegas. It's unbelievable to scoop [this] one."
Event #37: $1,500 MONSTER STACK Final Table Results
Place
Winner
Country
Prize
1
[Removed:548]
Austria
$1,204,457
2
David Uvaydov
United States
$802,346
3
Ashish Gupta
Australia
$604,277
4
Ivan Ruban
Russia
$458,090
5
Daniel Lei
United States
$349,562
6
James Leonard
United States
$268,520
7
Dylan Linde
United States
$207,647
8
Mario Colavita
Italy
$161,656
9
Jeremy Dan
United States
$126,705
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Being on the Right Side of Variance
Coming into the final day second in chips with a tough lineup to get through, [Removed:549]'s mindset and approach never wavered.
When asked about his game plan he said, "You know, how I approach every final table. I mean, try my best, try to prepare, do my best, and see how it goes. "[With] seven people left, there's still so much variance in the game. You need good cards. I had this hand against Dylan [Linde], aces versus kings, super lucky for me. If this hand doesn't happen, you know, it's just pure variance in the end. Absolutely the variance was on my side."
[Removed:549] described this as a key turning point for him at the final table - finding the dream spot against a well respected player to ascend to the top of the counts.
"Sorry Dylan, setup hand," [Removed:549] said as the two shook hands following Linde's elimination.
Heads-Up Battle and Comeback
The heads-up duel between [Removed:549] and Uvaydov turned out to be an emotional whirlwind for both players, with the lead changing hands multiple times in the back-and-forth match.
After being down to about ten big blinds and finding consecutive double-ups to nearly even out the stacks, [Removed:549] pinpointed this shift in momentum as the moment he thought he could win it.
"From then on I thought, yeah, I think I can do it now."
[Removed:549] went on to win a series of small to medium sized pots to chip away at Uvaydov and extend his lead until the final hand where [Removed:549] open-shoved on the button with jack-trey and the short-stacked Uvaydov made the call with king-deuce. [Removed:549] was fortunate enough to pair his trey on the flop, and the turn and river bricked out for him to win the tournament.
David Uvaydov
When asked if his heads up match in the first round of Event #20: $1,500 SHOOTOUT helped him here today, [Removed:549] commented "I think so, yeah, it helped a little bit. It was a four-hour heads-up match in the shootout. I think it was good to have good preparation."
As for his plans for the rest of the summer, [Removed:549] said "I'm gonna play the rest and try to catch more bracelets. That's it."