Michael Lavin Steamrolls the Competition on Way to a Second WSOP Bracelet

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Jun 06, 2025 4 min read

One of the most unique events at the 2025 World Series of Poker has come to a close, with New Jersey native Michael Lavin being crowned champion of Event #20: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em SHOOTOUT after three days of competition. Lavin overcame a field of 1,299 entrants inside the Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas.

Lavin was the last player standing on both of his Day 1 and Day 2 tables, and completed the same feat on the final table as he cruised to victory, earning himself a second WSOP bracelet and his career-high cash of $267,373 from a prize pool of $1,791,646. Lavin takes home his first live bracelet, after winning Event #7: $600 No-Limit Hold’em Monster Stack at the WSOP.com PA Online Bracelet Events 2021.

Final Table Results

Winner's Reaction

Shortly after wrapping up the victory, the bracelet, and the more than quarter million dollar score, Lavin spoke with PokerNews about how it feels to become a two-time bracelet winner

“Happy, satisfying, lost for words,” were the only comments Lavin could make when asked about how it feels to win a first live WSOP bracelet. He noted that he was extremely pleased to have a “winning summer in Vegas for the first time,” giving him the freedom to play in more events at this year’s Series. These events won’t be any time soon, however, as his rail will be joining him in celebrating tonight, and taking the day off tomorrow.

The very first hand of the final table saw Lavin’s ace-queen outflop Joel Vazquez’s ace-king, and this was the moment he knew the tournament was his. The sunrun continued, with some hands leaving him “feeling so guilty,” but the game we know and love wouldn’t be the same without its ups and downs, and Lavin made sure to “bring [him]self right back down” and carry on playing the cards as they were dealt to him.

“You can’t hide in a shootout” is how Lavin described the strategy difference between this winner-takes-all style and a traditional tournament, knowing that he couldn’t just “wait for good hands” or “fade players [he] thinks are good”. He had to play from ten-handed all the way down to heads-up, and his experience with online sit-and-go’s came in clutch time and time again as he just couldn’t stop climbing up the pay ladder.

After the victory and winner’s photos, the calls came flooding in for Lavin, as anyone and everyone watching on the PokerGO stream got to witness his dominant victory, and made sure to pay congratulations and get themselves in on the celebrations.

Final Day Action

The final day started with all 15 players who had outlasted their competitors on both Day 1 and 2, spread across two tables as the tournament became an MTT format. The official final table took place once we got down to nine players. It was at this point that Lavin became an unstoppable force.

Over the course of three and a half hours, Lavin took out his opponents one by one, as he busted a whopping seven of the other eight players on the felt, a run which included knocking out Jordan Westmorland with pocket nines, doing the same against Linyang Song, and holding in a huge flip against Jason Wheeler.

The only player not knocked out by a rampageous Lavin was Drew Oconnell, whose ace-jack came up short against Michael Rossitto’s pocket aces, leaving him to exit the table in eighth place.

Players had been dropping like flies, and this trend only continued as Luis Yepez Carmona got outflopped at the hands of Lavin, sending him home in sixth. The final elimination before we got down to our final table was a familiar face, Punnat Punsri, who came up short in the search for his first bracelet, as he shoved into the trip queens of Lavin.

Lavin’s chip stack simply never stopped rising, and he found himself in a heads-up battle against the experienced Rossitto, but powered on through, without ever losing the chip lead. He made a very impressive fold to avoid doubling Rossitto up, and took the whole thing down shortly after. He was supported avidly throughout the final table by his five-man rail, who unleashed a cacophony after every pot won, and seemingly willed a deuce into existence to seal the win. Lavin managed to keep his cool, shaking his opponent’s hand, before running off to celebrate his big win.

And that’s a wrap on PokerNews coverage of this event, however, there is plenty more to come as we offer live coverage of each and every remaining event, so make sure to stay tuned for the action on offer.

• Tags Drew Oconnell Jason Wheeler Joel Vazquez Jordan Westmorland Las Vegas Linyang Song Luis Yepez Carmona World Series of Poker WSOP Punnat Punsri PokerStars PokerGO New Jersey Michael Rossitto Michael Lavin
• Related Tournaments World Series of Poker
• Related Players Jason WheelerJordan WestmorlandMichael RossittoLinyang SongDrew OconnellMichael Lavin