Lou Garza Mounts Memorable Heads-Up Comeback to Clinch Second WSOP Bracelet

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Jun 05, 2025 5 min read Last updated Jun 06, 2025

Another highly anticipated event here at the 2025 World Series of Poker has crowned its champion, with Lou Garza overcoming a stacked lineup and a huge heads-up deficit to claim victory in Event #14: $25,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha/No-Limit Hold’em inside the Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas.

Garza eliminated three of his four opponents on his path to securing his second WSOP bracelet and a career-best score of $1,302,233, which was the lion's share from the $5,757,500 prize pool. Over the course of two hours, Garza came back from being 4:1 down in chips heads-up to deny 2011 WSOP Player of the Year Ben Lamb his third bracelet and fourth seven-figure score.

Final Table Results

Winner's Reaction

Fresh off winning his second WSOP bracelet, Lou Garza took a moment to reflect with PokerNews after an emotional finish.

Asked how it felt to join the two-time bracelet club, Garza smiled, “It feels great, but we’ve got some more work to finish off. We’re not done yet.” Garza famously proposed to his now-wife after his first victory and was asked if there were any special celebrations planned this time around. “Not yet,” he said, keeping his focus on the grind.

Garza credits much of his success to his rail. “It means everything to have family and close friends here supporting me,” he said.

At one stage during the heads-up battle, eventual runner-up Lamb held nearly four times more chips than Garza. Garza mentioned how he went into the battle with nothing to lose. “Honestly, I kind of expected it. Once we got heads up, I knew I had to flip the switch, get aggressive, and just go for it with nothing to lose.”

When asked about his game preference, Garza was quick to answer, “I like PLO. I’ll play more of the bigger PLO events coming up.”

For now, Garza heads off to celebrate bracelet number two, surrounded by friends, family, and a whole lot of momentum.

Final Day Action

When the cards hit the air, Lamb held close to half the chips in play and immediately asserted his dominance, raising and winning almost every pot. Garza, sat comfortably in second but seated to Lamb’s right, was handcuffed by the huge ICM pressure.

Lamb extended his lead, but Garza found pocket kings at the right time after Brandon Mitchell committed himself with king-nine. With no help for Mitchell, he was the first out, and Garza picked up some valuable chips.

Soon after Mitchell’s exit, during the PLO round, Robert Cowen’s aces were cracked by Lamb’s wrap, leaving just three players with Chongxian Yang on crumbs. Garza then had an opportunity to send the tournament into heads-up when Yang moved all in from the button with his short stack. The flop ran out in Garza’s favor, and Yang was drawing dead by the turn, leaving only Garza and Lamb to battle for the bracelet.

Heads-Up Battle

When heads-up play began, Lamb held nearly a 4:1 chip lead, but Garza, cheered on by his lively rail just meters away, was not about to go down quietly. Early in the NLHE segment, Garza started closing the gap. First, he got a value bet with two pair paid, then turned a wheel and squeezed even more chips from Lamb. Suddenly, Garza found himself in the lead for the first time.


Still, Lamb had come back from just two big blinds on Day 3, so he was unlikely to be fazed by being behind in chips for now. While NLHE seemed to favor Garza, Lamb thrived once the action shifted to PLO, steadily chipping up, taking down pots, and even forcing Garza to fold the best hand a few times. Before long, Lamb had turned things around and reclaimed a 2:1 chip lead.


It looked like Lamb was back in control, but Garza fired back with a triple-barrel bluff on a four-flush board holding just nine-high, getting Lamb to fold top pair. Garza windmilled the bluff in Lamb’s face, showing he was not afraid to put chips in the middle.


With the stacks nearly even, PLO produced the hand that shifted the momentum. Not long after that bluff, Garza check-raised Lamb’s turn double-barrel with trips, forcing Lamb to fold. Lamb commented he was half-expecting to see another bluff, but this time Garza had the goods and the chip lead.


Lamb’s stack dropped into the danger zone a few hands later when he decided not to pull the trigger on a bluff after barreling the flop and turn, allowing Garza to extend his chip lead. At this point, Garza held 80 percent of the chips in play.


On the final hand, Lamb was down to around ten big blinds and jammed king-ten suited from the button. Garza snapped him off with pocket aces and had a chance to secure his second bracelet. Lamb picked up some outs on the flop, but the board ran out clean for Garza, and Lamb will have to wait a bit longer for his next bracelet.


Afterward, Garza gave Lamb a handshake and a hug before racing over to celebrate with his wife and friends who had cheered him on from the start. With his second World Series of Poker bracelet and a seven-figure payday, Garza was all smiles.

That wraps up PokerNews coverage of this event. With the 2025 World Series of Poker still in full swing, there is plenty more action to come, so be sure to tune into the coverage from other events currently in progress.

• Tags WSOP25 Ben Lamb Brandon Mitchell Chongxian Yang John Pannucci Lou Garza Michael Moncek Robert Cowen WSOP World Series of Poker Youness Barakat Zhargal Tsydypov
• Related Tournaments World Series of Poker
• Related Players Ben LambRobert CowenJohn PannucciLou GarzaMichael MoncekChongxian Yang