While the tables were being folded and the chairs were being stacked inside the Horseshoe Events Center, Andrew Ostapchenko reigned victorious in Event #99: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em. The 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP) and what some call "summer camp" has come to an end after a gruelling seven weeks, and the 99th out of 100 WSOP gold bracelets was finally dished out.
Ostapchenko came so close to winning his first WSOP title earlier this summer but was the bridesmaid to Chang Lee in the $25,000 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller. Finally, with the doors closing on the biggest series of the summer, Ostapchenko was able to snatch his maiden WSOP gold bracelet and a payday of $606,849. In what was deemed to be a turbo structure for this buy-in level, Ostapchenko overcame a field of 735 entries in just two days to take home the biggest piece of the $3,381,000 prize pool.
"I've been coming here for over a decade, so it feels weird because this is the first year I've made a WSOP final table. I'm glad I could get a second and a first," Ostapchenko said after his victory regarding his final table finishes.
Ostapchenko accumulated the majority of his chips through a couple of large pots against David "ODB" Baker and credited just running good against him in recent history. "I've run really well against him, fortunately. Every time we're in a gigantic flip, I seem to win it against him. I feel kind of bad, but I'm also kind of happy I won."
With the summer of poker coming to an end, Ostapchenko had a full seven-week schedule grind that completely exhausted him. "I'm pretty tired because I've been moving around quite a bit. I'm kind of excited to take a break for a little bit."
Final Table Results
Place
Player
Country
Prize
1
Andrew Ostapchenko
United States
$606,849
2
Brandon Wilson
United States
$404,532
3
David "ODB" Baker
United States
$283,554
4
Vamerdino Magsakay
Philippines
$201,811
5
Joseph Sabe
Lebanon
$145,875
6
Sam Laskowitz
United States
$107,115
7
Pat Lyons
United States
$79,921
8
Marcos Skerl
United States
$60,608
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There were 68 players who returned to the felt for the second and final day of this event, and there was no shortage of action in the opening levels of the day. Over the first two hours, the field dwindled to just 22 players and the final three tables. Some of the early notables to hit the rail included Danny Tang, Chris Moorman, David Peters, and Alex Keating.
When the tournament was trimmed to its final three tables, the chip leaders started to distance themselves from the field. First, it was Joseph Sabe who cracked the pocket kings of Fabrizio Gonzalez blind versus blind in a five-bet pot. Sabe took over the chip lead at that time and locked up his spot at the final table.
Coming into the day, Connor Rash was one of the big stacks but had some troubles in the early going. Despite that, Rash had a healthy stack with just 12 players remaining. Unfortunately for him, he ran into a rivered two pair from Brandon Wilson, which led to another big stack locking up their spot. Joe McKeehen, 2015 WSOP Main Event champion, was also looking to add to his gold bracelet tally, but his tournament life fell short in 11th place.
Joe Mckeehen
Final Table Action
As the final table assembled, David "ODB" Baker held a commanding chip lead and did so nearly throughout its entirety. Baker was responsible for the elimination of Marcos Skerl after flopping trips and having Skerl shove into him. The chatter box at the table, and Mr. "World Famous" himself, Pat Lyons, misstepped with a suited queen when he ran into ace-king, leaving him on the short stack. Lyons got the last of his chips in the middle shortly after but ran into pocket aces.
Sam Laskowitz was the next to run into pocket aces, and it came at the hands of Baker, who increased his chip lead even further. Sitting on nearly half of the chips in play with five players remaining, Baker was in the driver's seat. On the very next hand, Sabe risked the last of his chips in the small blind but ran into Ostapchenko's big pair in the big blind. Despite hitting a flush on the turn, Sabe couldn't fade a full house on the river and bowed out in fifth place.
The chips started to be passed around among the final four players, with no eliminations taking place for over two levels. The chip lead exchanged hands on multiple occasions, but it was Baker who regained it. Vamerdino Magsakay was on the short stack and risked his stack on a coin flip with Baker. It was the pocket pair of Baker's that held up, and Magsakay was eliminated in fourth place.
How quickly the tides can turn, as Baker lost a massive all-in against Ostapchenko and saw his chip lead evaporate. Looking for his fifth WSOP bracelet, Baker was in an uphill battle, now sitting on the short stack. While most of his shoves got through, his last one was called by Ostapchenko, and they were off to the races. Baker flopped a pair to take the lead, but Ostapchenko came from behind to hit running cards for a flush, and Baker was dusted in third place.
David \"ODB\" Baker
That left Ostapchenko with a big lead going into heads-up action, but on the first hand, Wilson found himself a double-up to level the match. The chips went back and forth for nearly an hour, but it was the blinds that eventually caught up to the players. With only 36 big blinds in play, the chips eventually got into the middle when Wilson flopped middle pair against the overpair of Ostapchenko. There was no help for Wilson on the runout, and the Chicago native was forced to wait another day and another year to try and grab his first bracelet.
That wraps up the coverage from PokerNews with just two events winding down in the Horseshoe Events Center for the summer. A total of 100 WSOP gold bracelets were handed out this summer, and each of them had its own special storyline. Read about all of them here on PokerNews and many other events coming up in the near future.
