Ian O’Hara Turns Up the Heat to Capture First WSOP Bracelet in Event #89: $3,000 Mid-Stakes Championship

Copy link Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Jul 14, 2025 3 min read

The final day of Event #89: $3,000 Mid-Stakes Championship of the 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP) at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas crowned Ian O'Hara as the champion, and a first-time bracelet winner. On top of the prestigious achievement of winning the most coveted trophy in all of poker, O'Hara will also take home first-place prize money of $1,189,408.

After defeating Bahar Musa in a heads-up match that ended quicker than expected, now stands atop a start-studded field of 3,797 entrants who came together to create a prize pool worth a staggering $10,137,990.

O’Hara, who had previously finished second and third in WSOP events, finally captured his first gold bracelet. "It’s amazing. It’s nice to finally get the mockery off your back when you’ve been that close so many times," he said with a smile.

The heads-up match began with deep stacks but ended quicker than expected in O’Hara’s favour. "I thought we’d be playing for a while with those stacks, but I got lucky to make a big hand against a big hand, and that was pretty much the end of it," he explained.

As for the celebrations? "They’ll definitely happen, but I need some good sleep first!"
O’Hara, who had friends cheering him on from the rail, said their support meant a lot and confirmed he’ll be back next year to defend his title.

Final Table Results Event #89: $3,000 Mid-Stakes Championship

Start of the Day Action

The final day began with 26 hopefuls returning to the felt. Action kicked off quickly, with 25K Fantasy Draft pick Xixiang Luo and Andrew Hulme both eliminated in a double knockout. They were soon followed by Michel Molenaar, Gaston Catzman, and Inigo Naveiro, all of whom hit the rail in the first level for a payout of $48,190.

Eliminations continued at a steady pace into the next level, with Osmin Dardon becoming the last player to bust before the two-table redraw. He finished in 13th place, also earning $48,190. From there, the pace slowed as players tightened up, eyeing the next pay jumps. Yannick Jobin and George Tomescu were the next to fall, finishing 15th and 14th respectively, each collecting $59,615.

The action picked up again shortly after. Short-stacked Artem Tuliupa was eliminated in 11th place for $93,602 by Bogdan Munteanu. Then, start-of-day chipleader Eshaan Bhalla was eliminated by Ian O’Hara in tenth place, setting the stage for the official final table.

Final Table Action

Indian player Ankit Ahuja was the first to hit the rail after in 9th place for $118,785, and was followed only 10 minutes later by Mikhail Zavoloka (8th - $152,009) who was in the wrong side of a confrontation against O’Hara with queens against aces.

Maximiliano Castagnini (7th -$196,145) hit the rail just after the dinner break in unfortunate fashion, as his ace-jack was cracked by Achille’s ace-ten. O’Hara was also responsible for the elimination of Simon Wilson (6th- $255,186), who had been among the top stacks during the early levels of the day. However, Wilson tumbled down the leaderboard at the final table and lost his last few big blinds with jack-seven. ​​

Musa was responsible for the next three exits. He first dispatched Bogdan Munteanu (5th – $334,718), seizing a commanding chip lead. That knockout gave Andrew Robinson (4th – $442,604) a welcome pay jump before he, too, fell moments later, again at the hands of Musa. Musa struck again when he eliminated Jacopo Achille in 3rd place for $589,980, winning a lucky ace-five versus ace-queen confrontation.

The Bulgarian player appeared to be on a hot streak and began the final duel holding nearly twice as many chips as O’Hara. However, the battle ended much quicker than expected. O’Hara took down a few pots in a row before the turning point came when he flopped two pair with queen-nine to secure a massive double-up. Musa was left with just 15 big blinds, and the end came minutes later as O’Hara cracked his pocket eights with two pair to clinch the win and send him out in 2nd place.

That wraps up PokerNews’ coverage of this event, but stay connected. The WSOP action continues with the Main Event heading toward its final table.

Follow on

• Tags WSOP25 Andrew Hulme Andrew Robinson Ankit Ahuja Artem Tuliupa Bahar Musa Bogdan Munteanu Eshaan Bhalla Gaston Catzman George Tomescu Ian O'Hara Inigo Naveiro Jacopo Achille Maximiliano Castagnini Michel Molenaar Mikhail Zavoloka Simon Wilson Xixiang Luo
• Related Players Xixiang LuoAndrew RobinsonAndrew HulmeAnkit AhujaBahar MusaMikhail Zavoloka