Backgammon Pro Zdenek Zizka Denies Shaun Deeb Eighth Bracelet

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Jul 06, 2025 4 min read

After an unscheduled third day was added to decide a champion in Event #84: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em, it was Zdenek Zizka who rose to the occasion inside the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, capturing his first WSOP gold bracelet and a career-best payday of $232,498.

The 26-year-old from the Czech Republic returned to the table second in chips behind Shaun Deeb, who was chasing his eighth career bracelet and looking to extend his lead in the 2025 WSOP Player of the Year race.

After Jeffrey Thoney was eliminated in third place in the second hand of the day, Zizka and Deeb locked horns in a heads-up duel that had been building for over a day. They’d shared tables since the final 50 players, and it felt fitting that the title would come down to the two of them.

The event drew 1,873 entries and generated a prize pool of $1,648,240. Each of the top three finishers had locked up $112,413 heading into Day 3, but it was Zizka who walked away with the top prize. Though relatively new to poker’s biggest stage, he’s spent most of his life competing at the highest level, just not always in poker. Zizka is a professional backgammon player and has been for over a decade, having started playing at the age of five and traveling the world to compete since he was 16.

Event #84: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em Final Table Results

From Backgammon to Bracelet

“I mean, it's just amazing,” Zizka said moments after securing the win. “I mean, you always have deep runs, but you always think that you're gonna win a bracelet. Many times it doesn't come true, but this time it did, and it just feels amazing.”

Despite the significance of the moment, Zizka admitted he was still processing it all. “It's still a little... to be honest, it's still, like, inside me, so I don't express myself very well on the outside, but it feels amazing.”

He spoke about the heads-up match with Deeb, a player he’d been battling with for much of the tournament. “It's been amazing with Shaun. We've been basically battling since the last 50 players. We've been on the same tables every single time. He was my biggest competitor, definitely, and it was meant to be, I guess. I was extremely lucky in heads up, and it just went my way. [It was] anybody's game, but he's such a nice guy, pleasant to have my first heads up against him, and yeah, just feeling great, thank you.”

The win was the culmination of a competitive journey that began in a different game entirely. “I've been always into the games. I've been playing backgammon since I was five years old, and professionally traveling around tournaments all around the world since I was, like, 16. So quite a long time.”

Poker may not have been a full switch, but a natural progression for the multi-game enthusiast. “I wouldn't say it was a quite natural switch because, I mean, I like playing all the games. Backgammon is just a beautiful game. I just love it, of course.”

When asked what skills carry over from backgammon to poker, Zizka said, “I will say everything. I mean, like in all the games, you just meet with some nice implications, which you create. The competition is very similar and at the same time very much different. You can make a lot of philosophies about it for many hours.”

Zizka isn’t done yet either. “I'm playing just everything, yeah. Probably [play the Main Event] tomorrow. I need to rest a little bit.” And fans won’t have to wait until next summer to see him again. “In Rozvadov I will be there. It's cool. Fantastic.”

Final Day Action

The day started with a bang as just two hands in, Thoney shoved with ace-deuce and Deeb made the call with pocket threes. The runout changed nothing, and Thoney's day was cut short, though he did add $112,413 to his bankroll for the short day at the office.

Deeb started heads up with an over two-to-one chip lead but Zizka quickly took over the top spot when he flopped a pair of aces and got value on all the streets from Deeb.

The chip lead changed hands countless times with both players having chances to close it out. In one of the notable pots, Zizka min-raised and then called the shove of Deeb with pocket tens. Deeb held five-four suited and couldn't improve, which left Zizka on the brink as Deeb had just five blinds.

Despite managing to double up once again, Deeb's comeback dream came to an end when his king-three couldn't win a flip against the pocket deuces of Zizka.

• Tags Zdenek Zizka WSOP25 World Series of Poker
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