Event #37: $1,500 MONSTER STACK Day 4 | 2025 World Series of Poker

Jun 17, 2025

Sergio Da Silva Veloso Eliminated in 25th Place ($51,211)

Gabrielle Barredo

Level 35 : Blinds 300,000/600,000, 600,000 ante

Sergio Da Silva Veloso opened under the gun for 1,200,000 and got a caller in small blind James Leonard. The flop came 5♦9♥4♣.

Leonard check-called Veloso's bet of 1,750,000. On the turn 3♠, Leonard checked once again. Veloso took his time to think of what his move will be. He decided to go all-in for 6,300,000. Leonard snap-called.

Sergio Da Silva Veloso: 9♦8♦ All in
James Leonard: 5♠5♥

Leonard caught a set on the flop which Veloso's top pair couldn't beat. The river 6♣ was a formality. Veloso's deep run ended as Leonard scooped the pot.

Tags: James Leonard Sergio Da Silva Veloso

Jun 17, 2025

Dan Jumps Into the Chip Lead After Huge Pot Against Uvaydov

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Kai Cocklin

Level 35 : Blinds 300,000/600,000, 600,000 ante

Big pot alert!

Nicholas Funaro opened from middle position to 1,200,000 and Jeremy Dan called from the cutoff. David Uvaydov was in the small blind and shoved around 30,000,000, which got Funaro to fold, but Dan snap-called!

Jeremy Dan: A♣A♦ All in
David Uvaydov: K♥Q♠

Uvaydov didn't seem to know how much Dan had behind, but seemed stunned to find out that his opponent had almost 26,000,000 in his stack. A board of 9♣2♠9♠6♣A♥ left Dan with a full house, and Uvaydov was forced to send over the majority of his stack across the table.

Tags: David Uvaydov Jeremy Dan Nicholas Funaro

Jun 17, 2025

Sergei Petrushevskii Eliminated in 26th Place ($51,211)

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Gabrielle Barredo

Level 35 : Blinds 300,000/600,000, 600,000 ante

Santiago Montes open-shoved for 5,700,00 in hijack and got another all-in announcement from the man on his left, Sergei Petrushevskii, who was covered. After action folded around, the two headed to showdown.

Sergei Petrushevskii; A♠Q♦ All in
Santiago Montes: K♣J♠

Montes spiked a pair on the 6♦K♥9♣ flop making Petrushevskii prepare for his exit. The runout 10♥9♠ sealed Petrushevskii's fate and he left as the dealer pushed the chips towards Montes' direction.

Tags: Santiago Montes Sergei Petrushevskii

Jun 17, 2025

Lei Building

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Robert Jones

Level 35 : Blinds 300,000/600,000, 600,000 ante

Nicholas Funaro raised from the hijack to 1,200,000 and was re-raised by Daniel Lei to 2,500,000. In the big blind, David Uvaydov raised it once again to 5,600,000. Funaro folded and Lei called.

The flop came J♥9♥3♣ and Lei check-called the 2,400,000 chip bet from Uvaydov.

Both players checked on the 5♣ turn card.

On the 5♦ river, Lei bet 2,000,000 and Uvaydov folded.

Tags: Daniel Lei David Uvaydov Nicholas Funaro

Jun 17, 2025

Chen Has Kicker Problems

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Kai Cocklin

Level 35 : Blinds 300,000/600,000, 600,000 ante

Ashish Gupta opened from the hijack and Zhen Chen called from the big blind.

On the 9♦7♣Q♦ flop, Chen check-called a bet of 1,100,000 from Gupta to the 5♠ turn, where both checked.

A 2♥ hit the river and Chen led with a bet of around 2,000,000, which Gupta snap-called.

Chen flipped K♥Q♠ for top pair, but he had kicker problems as Gupta showed A♥Q♣ to take the pot.

Tags: Ashish Gupta Zhen Chen

Jun 17, 2025

Carlos Saez Martinez Eliminated in 27th Place ($41,548)

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Gabrielle Barredo

Level 35 : Blinds 300,000/600,000, 600,000 ante

[Removed:548] opened for 1,200,000 under the gun. With action folded to the button, Carlos Saez Martinez mulled over his situation and decided to put in 6,000,000 leaving 50,000 behind.

With action back to him, [Removed:549] announced all-in sending Martinez to the tank. Martinez took considerable time prompting [Removed:549] to call for the clock and complain to the floor that Martinez always took so much time to act.

After the 30 second warning, Martinez threw in the last 50,000 for a call.

Carlos Saez Martinez: K♥Q♠ All in
[Removed:548]: A♣J♠

The board ran 2♥2♣3♠8♥9♣ with no one hitting the board. [Removed:549] won the pot with ace-high sending Martinez to the payout counter.

Tags: Carlos Saez Martinez

Jun 17, 2025

Song Picks Up Aces

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Kai Cocklin

Level 35 : Blinds 300,000/600,000, 600,000 ante

Linyang Song took some time preflop before he made it 7,200,000 from the hijack, leaving himself 200,000 behind. It got to Sergio Da Silva Veloso in the big blind, and he called.

The flop came 3♥9♥2♣ where Veloso bet, and Song called off his last 200,000.

Linyang Song: A♣A♠ All in
Sergio Da Silva Veloso: A♥Q♠

Song was in a huge favorite to score the double-up and the 3♣ turn locked up the pot for him. A meaningless 7♣ landed on the river, and the chips were pushed in Song's direction.

Tags: Linyang Song Sergio Da Silva Veloso

Jun 17, 2025

Leonard Shows Deuces

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Robert Jones

Level 35 : Blinds 300,000/600,000, 600,000 ante

James Leonard raised from under the gun to 1,200,000. He was called by [Removed:548] in the hijack, Sergei Petrushevskii on the button, and Remy Murcia in the big blind.

The flop came A♥7♥7♠ and the action checked to Petrushevskii. He bet 1,500,000 and Leonard raised it to 6,500,000. Petrushevskii decided he did not want to call off his tournament life and showed the A♣ as he folded. Leonard showed 2♦2♣ in exchange.

Tags: James Leonard Remy Murcia Sergei Petrushevskii

Jun 17, 2025

Holland Flops a Nine

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Kai Cocklin

Level 35 : Blinds 300,000/600,000, 600,000 ante

Michael Ruane opened to 1,350,000 in early position and Maxx Holland called from the big blind.

They both saw a flop of 6♥9♠4♣, where Holland checked, Ruane bet 1,350,000, and Holland called.

Both then checked to showdown after the K♠ turn and 4♦ river, where Holland flipped 9♥7♥ for a pair of nines to take the pot.

Tags: Maxx Holland Michael Ruane

Jun 17, 2025

The SCOTUS Lawyer Who Won $50m Playing Poker—And Got Indicted

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Connor Richards

Level 35 : Blinds 300,000/600,000, 600,000 ante

For two decades, Tom Goldstein was at the top of the legal world. He argued more cases before the United States Supreme Court than almost any private attorney and founded SCOTUSblog, a legal blog that quickly became the go-to source for Supreme Court analysis. He lectured at Stanford University and Harvard University and regularly appeared on national news programs.

But Goldstein had another life. When he wasn’t arguing before Supreme Court justices, Goldstein was flying to Hollywood or Hong Kong and winning or losing millions in ultra-high-stakes poker matches. He played heads-up against California businessmen and foreign gamblers, at one point allegedly winning over $50 million in just a few sessions.

Goldstein’s luck turned in January 2025 when the US Department of Justice a federal grand jury initiated a 22-count indictment accusing the attorney of failing to report millions in poker winnings and diverting law firm funds to pay his personal poker debts.

In a new PokerNews video essay, we take a look at the life of Tom Goldstein and the high-stakes poker game that led to his federal indictment.

Watch the Video Essay Here!

Tags: Tom Goldstein