Top Stories of 2025, #8: Benny Glaser's Summer for the Ages
Few accomplishments in modern poker resonate quite like winning three World Series of Poker bracelets in a single summer. In an era defined by massive fields, elite competition, and ever-growing variance, repeat success at the WSOP is difficult enough. Doing it three times in one series is a tall ask.
In 2025, Benny Glaser didn’t just achieve that rare feat. He did it in the space of three weeks and cemented his reputation as one of the greatest mixed-game players the game has ever seen.
Coming into the summer with five career bracelets, Glaser left Las Vegas with three more WSOP titles, after victories in Event #8 ($1,500 Dealers Choice), Event #15 ($1,500 Mixed Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better), and Event #56 ($2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball). Along the way, he defeated fields ranging from nearly 600 players to well over 1,200.
What makes the run even more impressive? Glaser nearly didn’t feel ready at all.
Grinding Into Form
Glaser arrived in Las Vegas directly off a grueling online schedule, having just completed more than a month of nonstop online play during PokerStars SCOOP. Rather than easing into the World Series refreshed, he landed in Nevada already deep in poker’s grind.
"Putting in the reps online helped me feel ready to play long hours of tournament poker."
“I flew straight from playing four-and-a-half weeks of SCOOP into Vegas, so I was already in grind mode,” Glaser said. “In a way, that was the preparation. Putting in the reps online helped me feel ready to play long hours of tournament poker.”
While the volume helped sharpen his instincts, it also created an immediate challenge.
“Honestly, the bigger challenge was not feeling burnt out. That was a real issue for me this time,” he admitted.
Managing energy, motivation, and focus became just as important as hand selection or game theory. Glaser acknowledged that, in hindsight, he may adjust that approach in future years, but for this summer, it was as much about survival as preparation.
Despite the fatigue, or perhaps because of the mental resilience built from it, Glaser found his rhythm quickly once the bracelets were on the line.
Bracelet No. 6: A Momentum Shifter
After bricking the opening stretch of the series, Glaser finally broke through in Event #8: $1,500 Dealers Choice, a tournament that drew 597 entries and required mastery across 21 different poker variants. Navigating everything from Stud to Draw games and obscure mixed formats, Glaser earned $150,246 and his sixth career WSOP bracelet, defeating Matthew Schreiber heads-up.
The win came at a pivotal moment for a player long accustomed to success. Despite holding the record for most online COOP titles, Glaser entered the summer without a victory.
“I didn’t win a SCOOP title for the first time in about eight years, so I wasn’t feeling great about how that went,” Glaser said. “Getting that win fairly early was genuinely really nice. After that, no matter what happened for the rest of the series, it was going to feel like a success.”
For a player who often carries high expectations into the summer, the victory lifted pressure and allowed him to play freely, which proved dangerous for the rest of the field.
That first bracelet did more than add hardware. It shifted momentum.
Back-to-Back Brilliance
Momentum quickly turned into history when Glaser followed up with another victory just days later, capturing Event #15: $1,500 Mixed Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better. The event attracted a massive 1,239-entry field, one of the largest mixed-game tournaments of the series, and paid $258,193 to the winner.
With the win, Glaser secured his seventh career bracelet and became one of the few players ever to win back-to-back WSOP events in the same summer, something he had previously accomplished in 2016.
“It’s happened to me before, when I won my two bracelets back-to-back in 2016,” Glaser said. “It felt surreal then, and it felt surreal again. It’s basically a week of not busting at all, which is a really crazy feeling.”
At that point, it was no longer just a strong summer. It was something bigger.
Bracelet No. 8: Entering Rare Air
Glaser’s third bracelet of the summer came later in the series, but it carried even greater historical weight. In Event #56: $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball, a tournament combining 2-7 Triple Draw, A-5 Triple Draw, and Badugi, Glaser outlasted 463 entries to claim $208,552 and his eighth career WSOP bracelet.
The format demanded precision, patience, and deep technical knowledge. It was exactly the type of event where Glaser has built his legacy. When asked whether the third bracelet or the financial reward meant more from a legacy standpoint, Glaser did not separate the two.
“It was really both, the money and the honor,” he said. “But it also felt like, ‘What the hell have I just done?’ It was really amazing.”
The achievement felt almost prophetic.
“I had joked with a couple of friends coming into the World Series that after having a terrible SCOOP I might have an amazing summer and win three bracelets,” Glaser said. “The fact that it actually came true was really amazing.”
With the third win secured relatively early, attention quickly shifted to another goal.
The POY Chase — and the Cost
Despite winning three bracelets, Glaser narrowly missed out on WSOP Player of the Year after Shaun Deeb edged him out, a result that proved more emotionally difficult than he expected.
“Sadly, it did really bother me,” Glaser admitted. “I knew it was the highest chance I’d ever have to win it.”
Determined to give himself every opportunity, Glaser went all in on the chase, playing nearly every remaining event on the schedule, including massive-field No-Limit Hold’em tournaments outside his usual comfort zone.
“I didn’t take any days off for the last three weeks. I played all the massive-field No-Limit events that I didn’t really want to play. I put my heart into trying to win it.”
When the title slipped away by the narrowest of margins, the exhaustion finally caught up with him.
Reflection, Legacy, and What Comes Next
It took time and distance from the grind for Glaser to fully process the magnitude of what he had accomplished.
“There was a week or two after where I was completely exhausted,” he said.
“But once I had time to reflect, I felt proud, not just of the three bracelets, but of giving it everything I could.”
Now sitting at eight career bracelets at age 36, Glaser finds himself firmly in conversations about all-time greatness. When asked whether he has considered chasing down Phil Hellmuth, who holds the record with 17 WSOP bracelets, Glaser acknowledged the temptation but emphasized balance.
“It’s definitely on my mind,” he said. “But it depends on how much I want to chase it. I don’t want to exhaust myself even more in pursuit of that.”
For Glaser, longevity and enjoyment of the game remain central.
“Longevity and legacy matter. I’m still going to keep showing up in a way that I feel like I’m playing well and hopefully playing the games I want to play.”
One Final Magical Run in 2025
Glaser’s strong run carried beyond the summer and into the World Series of Poker Paradise (WSOPP) festival in the Bahamas, where he posted another deep finish on a major stage in the $25,000 Super Main Event.
Navigating a stacked field of 2,891 entries, Glaser finished 10th, earning $665,875 and falling just one spot short of the official final table after his run ended following a brutal slow roll by Eric Wasserson.
Despite the frustrating exit, the result was a clear reminder that Glaser is one of the best players in the world, capable of excelling across all games and formats and consistently performing at the highest level.
