David Coleman Wins the $125K NLHE 7-Handed Event ($3,113,000)
Every year, PokerNews compiles an article discussing the best poker players without a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet. The next instalment of that particular piece will not feature David Coleman because he captured his first piece of WSOP hardware on December 11 after taking down the $125,000 Triton No-Limit Hold'em 7-Handed at the 2025 WSOP Paradise.
Coleman came agonizingly close to capturing a bracelet in 2024, finishing fourth in the $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed event in Las Vegas. Now he is the proud owner of a gold bracelet and a new career-best prize worth $3,113,000.
While Coleman was delighted to come out on top, you get the feeling that Martin Kabrhel will be quite disappointed with his third-place finish, despite it adding $1,367,000 to his bankroll. This is because the polarizing Czech grinder had the chance to win a WSOP Triple Crown, having won bracelets in Las Vegas during the summer and at the WSOP Europe festival.
Stars Fight For a Share of the $12,375,000 Prize Pool
This event's $125,000 buy-in did not deter plenty of poker's superstars from entering the mix. Including re-entries, 99 players entered, creating a $12,375,000 prize pool that the top 17 finishers shared.
Stephen Chidwick was the first player to bust in the money, his 17th place finish coming with a $194,000 payday. Alex Foxen, Paulis Vaitiekunas, Kristen Foxen, and Chris Hunichen joined the list of busted players before Emilien Pitavy, Ren Lin, and Pedro Padilha crashed out to leave only nine players in the hunt for the bracelet and top prize of more than $3.1 million.
Austria's Daniel Rezaei, who won the $50,000 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller Turbo over the weekend, bowed out in ninth, with poker legend Patrik Antonius falling in eighth, setting the official final table.
Final Table Action
Daniel Dvoress was the first of the seven finalists to fall by the wayside. The talented Canadian was left in a desperate situation when his pocket tens lost to the aces of Dominykas Mikolaitis. Dvoress was forced all-in for only a small blind with jack-eight and ultimately lost to Kabrhel's pocket kings.
Thailand's Punnat Punsri, who has won almost $9.9 million in 2025 alone, was the next high roller to find himself void of chips. Punsri, down to eight big blinds, three-bet all-in with pocket eights from the big blind after Mikolaitis had opened from the cutoff. The Lithuanian put in calling chips and turned over a pair of queens in the hole. Mikolaitis improved to an unnecessary full house on the river to send Punsri to the rail one hand after Dvoress exited.
Another all-in preflop hand, as the final day's action reached the 10-hour mark, resulted in Bryn Kenney heading to the cashier's desk to collect fifth-place prize money, or $913,000 if you prefer. Kenney's tournament life hinged on his ace-jack coming from behind to best the dominating ace-king in Mikolaitis' hand, but that didn't happen because a king landed on the flop. Kenney was drawing dead on the turn.
The first seven-figure prize went to Brandon Wilson, who banked $1,132,000, representing a new career high for the Illinois native. Wilson's final participation in this event saw him clash with Coleman in a three-bet pot. Wilson held queen-jack of hearts, Coleman a pair of red kings, and the flop fell queen-queen-king! All the chips went into the middle on the river, and Wilson was gone.
The final three became two when the talkative Kabrhel busted for a $1,367,000 score. Coleman min-raised on the button with king-jack, Kabrhel three-bet jammed for 15 big blinds also with king-jack, only for Mikolaitis to wake up in the big blind with ace-king. Mikolaitis isolated Kabrhel, and Coleman folded. A queen-high board was safe for Mikolaitis, and Kabrhel was gone.
Coleman held a 10,475,000 to 9,325,000 chip lead over Mikolaitis going into heads-up. With 99 big blinds in play, the players and rail settled in for the long haul. Coleman never relinquished his chip advantage throughout the heads-up battle and ultimately came out on top.
The final hand saw Mikolaitis limp with ten-eight from the small blind, and Coleman check in the big blind with queen-seven. Coleman check-raised a 250,000 bet to 875,000 on the queen-six-ten flop, and Mikolaitis called. Coleman led for 1,500,000 after pairing his seven on the turn, and Mikolaitis stuck around. On the four of spades river, Coleman bet 4,000,000, setting Mikolaitis all-in. Mikolaitis found a call but was shown two pair, which sent him to the rail in second place for $2,104,000, leaving a delighted Coleman to become a WSOP bracelet winner.
Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Coleman | United States | $3,113,000 |
| 2 | Dominykas Mikolaitis | Lithuania | $2,104,000 |
| 3 | Martin Kabrhel | Czech Republic | $1,367,000 |
| 4 | Brandon Wilson | United States | $1,132,000 |
| 5 | Bryn Kenney | United States | $913,000 |
| 6 | Punnat Punsri | Thailand | $720,000 |
| 7 | Daniel Dvoress | Canada | $551,000 |
That concludes PokerNews' coverage of this event. Keep your browsers locked to the PokerNews Live Reporting pages throughout the 2025 WSOP Paradise festival.