Zachary Zaret Overcomes Stacked Final Table to Win First Bracelet

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Jun 06, 2025 4 min read

The final hand for Event #21: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better has been dealt here at the 2025 World Series of Poker hosted at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. Zachary Zaret came into the final table with the chip lead, but his path to get there was far from easy.

At the start of Day 2, just after the money bubble had burst, Zaret was one of the shortest stacks in the room with just 29,000, worth five big blinds at the time. A lucky triple-up in the first hand of that day gave Zaret some much-needed life and he made the most of the opportunity. Zaret came into the final table with the chip lead and overcame a final table full of multi-time bracelet winners and mixed game specialists, defeating Calvin Anderson heads-up to take home his first WSOP gold bracelet and the top prize of $248,245.

Final Table Results

Winner's Reaction

"Feels amazing," Zaret commented following his victory. "It's something I've always dreamed of. Hard to believe it's real life."

Zaret, who mentioned that he played recreationally online before giving live poker a shot five years ago, talked about his trajectory from short stack at the start of Day 2 to chip leading going into Day 3 before going on to win.

"I had 29,000 chips, the big blind was 6,000. I came in first hand on the big blind. I had pocket kings and tripled up to about 90,000. A few more triple-ups after that I had something to work with, and the rest was history.”

Despite going into the final table with the lead, Zaret still had a difficult task ahead of him with multi-time bracelet winners Christopher Vitch, Bryce Yockey, Andres Korn and Marco Johnson still in contention. Despite the difficult task in front of him, Zaret remained confident in his abilities.

"I came into the final table as the chip leader, and I feel like I played well yesterday. A lot of these guys are pros, and rightfully so, but I felt like I had a good chance."

Final Day Action

The final day began with 11 hopefuls returning from a field of 1,176. Yockey took the lead from Zaret early on after getting max value with the second-nut flush, while Yehuda Buchalter and Amnon Filippi were the first casualties of the day, making way for the nine-handed final table. Zaret had managed to win enough chips back to ensure he went into the final table with the lead, but Vitch and Yockey were right behind him with big stacks of their own.

Following Donny Rubinstein's elimination in ninth place, Vitch took a massive lead over the rest of the field after eliminating Korn with top set versus middle set. Zaret started closing the gap after winning two big hands off Yockey to leave the latter player short, and shortly after Johnson's elimination in 7th place Yockey was next to fall after Anderson left him drawing dead on the turn with a straight and the nut-low.

The pace of play slowed considerably with five players remaining. Darryll Fish and Ronnie Tate were extreme short stacks while the other three players were all close for the chip lead. Both Tate and Fish enjoyed double ups during this period but it wasn't enough and they were the next two players to fall, setting up a three-handed battle between Zaret, Vitch, and Anderson.

Vitch had over half the chips in play when three-handed play begun, but Zaret quickly took back the lead in dramatic fashion. Both players had flopped the nut-low draw Zaret had two pair while Vitch just had an overpair for the high. Zaret ended up taking three quarters, effectively swapping stacks with Vitch to take a dramatic lead. Vitch never recovered, doubling up Anderson soon after to be left short-stacked before Zaret finished him off.

Zaret came into the heads-up duel with a slight lead over five-time bracelet winner Calvin Anderson. Despite both players starting very deep-stacked, the heads-up battle was over in just two hands. A series of raises saw Anderson get his chips in with a flopped two pair and low draw, while Zaret had a superior low draw and flush draw. The flush came in on the turn and held on the river, forcing Anderson to settle for a runner-up finish while Zaret took down the final pot of the night.

That's a wrap for PokerNews coverage of Event #21: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better. Be sure to check out our live-reporting hub for continuing coverage of the 2025 World Series of Poker.

• Tags WSOP25 Amnon Filippi Andres Korn Bryce Yockey Calvin Anderson Christopher Vitch Darryll Fish Donny Rubinstein World Series of Poker WSOP Ronnie Tate Paris Las Vegas Marco Johnson
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• Related Players Amnon FilippiDarryll FishMarco JohnsonCalvin AndersonBryce YockeyAndres Korn