Mariano Balfagon Hits The Big Time Winning First WSOP Bracelet in $800 Deepstack for $252,386
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Event #95: $800 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack at the 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP) has concluded here at The Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas. The event attracted a field of 2,851 runners, generating a total prize pool of $1,995,700, with $252,386 being awarded to the champion.
162 players bagged up from Day 1 of the tournament to fight it out on Day 2 for the title and take home the coveted World Series of Poker bracelet along with the first-place prize.
Mariano Balfagon navigated his way through the day to capture the majority of the $1,995,700 prize pool and his first World Series of Poker bracelet along with a prize of over 20 times his previous best-ever live cash result according to The Hendon Mob. After entering heads-up play with a more than three-to-one chip lead, Balfagon was able to close out the victory against Andrew Ahn under the lights of the Horseshoe Las Vegas.
$800 NLHE Deepstack Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mariano Balfagon | Argentina | $252,386 |
| 2 | Andrew Ahn | United States | $168,122 |
| 3 | Nan Chen | United States | $122,705 |
| 4 | Alon Eldar | Israel | $90,413 |
| 5 | Jon Turner | United States | $67,262 |
| 6 | Wesley Fei | China | $50,526 |
| 7 | Kevin Choi | United Kingdom | $38,328 |
| 8 | Lei Yu | China | $29,364 |
| 9 | Gustavo Andolhe | Brazil | $22,722 |
Winner's Reaction
Balfagon has been playing poker for approximately 20 years and competing at the World Series for seven years. His largest previous score was $11,431, but today's win will be more than twenty times that amount.
"I’m feeling really good and really happy. It was a dream of mine to end up with a bracelet, and now I have fulfilled that dream."
“Now I will look at buying into some slightly higher buy-in events and the main event next year. I will now just enjoy the money and do some travelling, enjoy life, and keep on playing poker!”
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Balfagon didn’t have a set strategy for the final table, but is aware that a major hand against Alon Eldar set him up for the win, and he realised that it was within his grasp after winning this hand.
Balfagon would like to thank his best friend who was on the rail today for him to give him support and advice, and said, “I would not have been able to do this without him there on the rail for me.”
Day Two Play
Balfagon cruised through the day, gradually building his stack, and started to push on when fewer than 20 players were remaining. He got a huge boost to his stack by busting Mariyan Stoychev when his queen-nine cracked Stoychev’s jacks. He then eliminated Yang Li when his ace-seven held against Li’s king-seven.
Final Table Action
Balfagon started the final table in second spot and pushed on right from the off.
He took the chip lead in a massive pot against Jon Turner and never really looked back from this point. Balfagon busted Gustavo Andolhe in ninth spot when his king-ten outdrew Andolhe’s ace-six. He continued to build his stack at the final table and got an added bonus when he sniffed out Alon Eldar’s bluff.
With one of the top contenders at the final table in Jon Turner taken out in fifth spot, Balfagon continued to pile on the pressure and took a massive chip lead when he eliminated Eldar in fourth place.
This chip lead grew when he then took out Nan Chen in third place to take the tournament heads up with Andrew Ahn.
Heads-Up Play
Heads-up play was brief, with Balfagon entering the match at a more than three-to-one advantage. Ahn never got any momentum, and the final hand saw Balfagon’s five-two crack Ahn’s queens.
This concludes coverage of Event #95: $800 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack. Stay tuned to PokerNews for more from the 2025 World Series of Poker.
In this Series
- 1 Who Won $64K and the First 2025 WSOP Bracelet?
- 2 David Shmuel Wins First WSOP Bracelet in Omaha Hi-Lo for $205,333!
- 3 Furth Wins Second WSOP Bracelet; Denies Kabrhel in $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha
- 4 GTO Study Sees Antonio Galiana Win Second WSOP Bracelet in $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em
- 5 Persistence Pays Off: Dan Heimiller Wins $1,500 Seven Card Stud for Third WSOP Bracelet
- 6 Artur Martirosian Wins WSOP $25,000 Heads Up Championship ($500,000)
- 7 Benny Glaser Adds to His Legacy With Bracelet No. 6 in Event #8: $1,500 Dealers Choice
- 8 Michael Wilklow: Once a Mystery, Now a Millionaire (and WSOP Bracelet Winner)
- 9 Kenneth Kim Storms Back to Win His First WSOP Bracelet
- 10 Father-Son WSOP Bracelet Duo Made as Yosef Fox Wins $10,000 Mystery Bounty
- 11 Five Bracelets in Five Years: Brad Ruben Wins the $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw ($138,080)
- 12 Ryan Bambrick Denies Daniel Negreanu to Claim Second WSOP Bracelet
- 13 Christopher Staats Denies David Jackson in WSOP $1,500 6-Handed NLH for $414,950
- 14 Corey Thompson Nearly Wins Two WSOP Online Bracelets Right Off the Bat
- 15 Cristian Gutierrez Wins $600 PLO Deepstack For His First Bracelet and $193,780
- 16 Lou Garza Mounts Memorable Heads-Up Comeback to Clinch Second WSOP Bracelet
- 17 Benny Glaser Goes Back-to-Back (Again) for 7th Bracelet in $1,500 Mixed
- 18 Zachary Zaret Overcomes Stacked Final Table to Win First Bracelet
- 19 Michael Lavin Steamrolls the Competition on Way to a Second WSOP Bracelet
- 20 Ryan Hoenig Goes Wire-to-Wire to Win Event #18: $10,000 Dealers Choice Championship
- 21 Bohlman's Breakthrough: Mixed Game Vet Wins 2nd Bracelet in $2,000 NLH ($436,044)
- 22 Blaz Zerjav Wins Maiden WSOP Bracelet in $25,000 6-Handed High Roller
- 23 Aloisio Dourado Claims Redemption with First WSOP Bracelet in Record-Breaking Badugi Event
- 24 Mixed Game Maestro Xixiang Luo Bags $290,400 and Third WSOP Bracelet
- 25 Nick Guagenti Crushes Chino Rheem’s Triple Crown Bid in $10K Stud Victory
- 26 Beginner's Luck? Surely Not. Chang Lee Wins $25,000 High Roller ($1,949,044)
- 27 Penalized Poker Player Wins WSOP Bracelet Despite Color Up Controversy
- 28 LA Poker Player Outlasts 16,300 Opponents to Win 2025 WSOP's Colossus
- 29 Igor Zektser Scoops His First Bracelet in Event #27: $1,500 Big O
- 30 A Few Cocktails on the Road to First WSOP Bracelet for Mark Darner
- 31 Rising New Jersey Poker Star Captures First WSOP Bracelet
- 32 Jason Koon Moves to Third on All-Time Money List w/ WSOP $50,000 High Roller Win
- 33 Toy Charizard, Pink Slipper Carry Canadian Family Man to WSOP Victory
- 34 Nick Schulman Joins Poker's Immortals With Bracelet No. 7 in the $10K 2-7 Championship
- 35 Ukraine's Renat Bohdanov Spikes Gutshot to Win Second WSOP Bracelet
- 36 John Racener Claims Third WSOP Bracelet For His Third Son
- 37 Philip Sternheimer Tears Up After Ending 13 Year Bracelet Chase
- 38 Joao Vieira Avenges WSOP Paradise Loss to Win WSOP $100K High Roller ($2,649,158)
- 39 Andrey Zhigalov Wheels In Second Bracelet in Event #39: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. ($197,923)
- 40 Ian Johns Slays 'Isildur1' to Win WSOP Limit Hold'em Championship for a Second Time
- 41 Fourth Bracelet & $647K for Seniors High Roller Champ David "ODB" Baker
- 42 Carlos Leiva Defeats Weisman on Way to Winning WSOP $1,000 PLO Bracelet Event
- 43 A Father's Day Special: Allan Le Denies Shaun Deeb in $1,500 Razz
- 44 Seth Davies Wins $250K WSOP Super High Roller for First Bracelet and $4.75M Score
- 45 V for Vongxaiburana as 'Hobby' Player Beats Pros to $10k Big O Bracelet
- 46 Hellmuth Denied as Jason Daly Wins Second Bracelet in $2,500 Omaha/Stud Hi-Lo
- 47 Joey Couden Wins Second Bracelet in $500 SALUTE to Warriors ($187,937)
- 48 Tyler Patterson Grabs Second Bracelet in $3K 6-Handed NLHE for $574K
- 49 Klemens Roiter Finishes the Job for First Bracelet in Event #37: $1,500 MONSTER STACK
- 50 Brian Rast in Seventh Heaven w/ Miraculous Comeback in WSOP $10k Razz Championship
- 51 Texan Punches Ticket to WSOP Main Event with $1.5K Freezeout Bracelet Win
- 52 Dennis Weiss Claims Victory in $25K PLO High Roller for $2,292,155
- 53 After 3 Runner-Ups, Matt Vengrin Finally Gets His WSOP Bracelet in $1.5K PLO
- 54 Mateos Makes History as 5th Youngest to Win 5 WSOP Bracelets
- 55 Emotional Kristopher Tong Uses Inspiration to Capture First WSOP Bracelet
- 56 Brett Lim to Sail Off into the Sunset After Senior's Championship Win
- 57 Benny Glaser Wins Three WSOP Bracelets in Three Weeks w/ Mixed Triple Draw Triumph
- 58 Dylan Linde Takes Down the $50k PLO High Roller for Third Bracelet and Career-Best Score
- 59 Welshman Wells Roars to Victory in $3K 9-Game Mix for Maiden Bracelet
- 60 Sebastiaan de Jonge the Sole Survivor in WSOP Battle of the Ages
- 61 Gavrieli Denies Bohlman Second Bracelet of the Summer in $3K Limit Hold'em
- 62 Craig Savage Bides His Time to Triumph in WSOP $500 No Limit Hold'em Freezeout
- 63 Yaginuma Overturns 9:1 Deficit to Win Millionaire Maker & 4th Bracelet
- 64 It's Déjà Vu as Aaron Cummings Goes Back-to-Back in $1,500 2-7 Triple Draw
- 65 Nedelcu Dominates Final Table to Win First Bracelet in $1,500 Eight Game Mix
- 66 Queen of the Felt: Shiina Okamoto Wins Back-to-Back WSOP Ladies Championships
- 67 Michael Mizrachi Makes History with Fourth $50K PPC Title at 2025 WSOP
- 68 Yilong Wang "Lucky Enough" To Win Bracelet In $3k No Limit Hold'em
- 69 Runs In the Family: Alex Wilkinson Finally Wins The $10k 2-7 TD Event
- 70 Rainer Kempe Speedruns First Bracelet In $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty
- 71 Zerjav Wins Second Bracelet of Summer as Huck Seed Narrowly Misses Out
- 72 Brazil’s Kerber & Patricio Win WSOP Tag Team Bracelet After 14-Year Journey
- 73 Andjelko Andrejevic Wins Maiden Bracelet in $5,000 6-Handed NLH ($855,515)
- 74 Lucky Eight for Lonny Weitzel as He Wins $1,000 Super Seniors Event
- 75 Ian Pelz Wins Gladiator Off One Hungover Bullet ($420,680)
- 76 Negreanu Denied as Aaron Kupin Wins First Bracelet in Mixed Big Bet
- 77 Michael Wang Completes One of WSOP’s Greatest Comebacks in $10K PLO
- 78 Just Like That! Martin Kabrhel Wins Fourth Bracelet in Mini Main Event
- 79 Qinghai 'The Terminator' Pan Comes Back for Extra Day & Wins $10K Stud Hi-Lo Championship
- 80 Shaun Deeb Wins Seventh WSOP Bracelet; Overtakes Player of the Year Lead
- 81 Fireworks in Las Vegas as Nick Ahmadi Wins PokerNews Deepstack Championship For $302,165
- 82 Mike Gorodinsky Wins Fifth WSOP Bracelet in $10K 8-Game Championship
- 83 Backgammon Pro Zdenek Zizka Denies Shaun Deeb Eighth Bracelet
- 84 WSOP Glory at Last: PokerGO Founder Cary Katz Wins $2,500 NLH Freezeout
- 85 Giuseppe Zarbo Wins $504,180 For $800 Summer Celebration Victory
- 86 "A Win with the Help of God" for Netanel Stern in Event #87: $5,000 Super Turbo Bounty ($618,377)
- 87 No Leaks in Fawcett's Game After WSOP Ultra Stack Triumph
- 88 Ferenc Deak Keeps Promise to Son With $1K PLO Mystery Bounty Bracelet Win
- 89 Slow and Steady, Khoi Le Nguyen Wins WSOP $50,000 High Roller
- 90 Kasparas Klezys Claims His First WSOP Bracelet in 6-Handed $1,500 PLO
- 91 Ian O’Hara Turns Up the Heat to Capture First WSOP Bracelet in Event #89: $3,000 Mid-Stakes Championship
- 92 Ryutaro Suzuki Ends Summer Grind With Victory in $3,000 T.O.R.S.E.
- 93 Joshua Boulton Bags Bracelet Before Boarding Flight Home With $311,349
- 94 Legends Never Fold: Nelson Mari Sanchez Strikes Gold in WSOP $777 Lucky 7’s
- 95 Mariano Balfagon Hits The Big Time Winning First WSOP Bracelet in $800 Deepstack for $252,386
- 96 Sam Soverel’s Speedy Sweep Secures Third Bracelet in $10k NLHE 6-Hand
- 97 Chad Eveslage Claims Fourth Bracelet in the $25,000 High Roller H.O.R.S.E.
- 98 Andrew Ostapchenko Wins Event #99: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em for $606,849
- 99 Lukas Zaskodny Wins Second Bracelet in the $1,500 The Closer Event
- 100 Mitchell Hynam Wins First Bracelet in Final Event of 2025 World Series of Poker
