Stud Games: 300,000-600,000 600,000-1,200,000 Limits, 200,000 Ante
Seven years ago, Andrey Zhigalov won his first-ever bracelet in the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. Today, after a twelve-hour day of limit poker, Zhigalov captured his second bracelet in the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas by taking down the record-breaking edition of the same tournament at the 2025 World Series of Poker. Zhigalov conquered the 867-entrant field of Event #39: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. and added $197,923 to his tournament winnings, the largest share of the $1,150,943 prize pool.
During a back-and-forth heads-up battle with Thomas Taylor, Zhigalov gained a huge edge when he made the nuts in razz, a wheel. Taylor had made the second nuts in the big pot, causing the majority of the chips to go in. Not much later, Zhigalov closed things out, leaving Taylor to make do with $131,916 and his second runner-up finish in as many years.
Event #39: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrey Zhigalov | Russian Federation | $197,923 |
| 2 | Thomas Taylor | Canada | $131,916 |
| 3 | Marcel Vonk | Netherlands | $91,545 |
| 4 | Tal Avivi | Israel | $64,607 |
| 5 | Travis Kubota | United States | $46,384 |
| 6 | Joseph Santagata | United States | $33,885 |
| 7 | Sachin Bhargava | United States | $25,198 |
| 8 | Stanislav Ivanov | Bulgaria | $19,078 |
Winner's Reaction
"This is my favorite tournament, and I was so proud to play on this final table again. I won the tournament in 2018 and tried to defend my title in 2019, but couldn't do it. It's a very special tournament for me, and it's a very good tournament with a very friendly atmosphere," Zhigalov shared after his victory.
Characteristic of the atmosphere Zhigarov cherished so much, both Zhigalov and Taylor were cheered on by sizable crowds during the epic heads-up match that lasted several levels. "I've had such nice friends," Zhigalov noted. "Actually, the guy who was third in 2018, he was railing for me here."
Zhigalov is somewhat of a poker anomaly, opting to focus solely on mixed games, stating that he finds no-limit hold'em "boring" and likes the variety that mixed games bring with them.
Poetically, Zhigalov won his favorite tournament in his favorite game: "I prefer all stud games, and feel most safe in razz, I've got a lot of experience [in it]." Regarding the deciding hand, he noted: "In a cash game, I would've played it differently. I think I will raise on fifth, but here I decided to save some chips and see what's going on on sixth. On sixth, we had the exact same hands. Then we both caught perfect on seventh, and that's the cooler."
Zhigalov's Road to Victory
Zhigalov started the day as the chipleader of the 18 returning players, but got off to a rough start. After Blaz Zerjav (18th - $7,562) and Ari Engel (17th - $7,562) were eliminated, Zhigalov had dropped to fifth in chips at the two-table redraw. At the final two tables, where the field lost Alex Livingston (15th - $9,260), and Hall of Famer Linda Johnson (10th - $11,561), Zhigalov chipped back up a bit, and he started the unofficial final table of nine players third in chips.
With eight players remaining, Zhigalov became the shortest stack at the table after leaving himself with two big bets after folding on sixth street in Razz. "I paired my seven, and I was too short to pay," Zhigalov shared regarding this vital moment.
Shortly after, Zhigalov was all in and at risk, drawing to a naked gutshot. He hit his gin card, however, staying alive in the tournament and kickstarting a meteoric rise up the ranks. Zhigalov eliminated Joseph Santagata in sixth place, and former chipleader Tal Avivi in fourth.
During the lengthy three-handed phase of the tournament, Zhigalov lost his chip lead, and Taylor started dominating. After knocking out Marcel Vonk in third, Taylor started the heads-up with over three-quarters of the chips in play. However, Zhigalov fought back, and the two exchanged the lead plenty of times over the next two and a half hours.
Eventually, as all other tournaments in the Horsehoe Event Center had already wrapped up, Zhigalov made his fateful wheel. Taylor was left with the stack Zhigalov had started the heads-up with, but with the high limits, he could not recover. A couple of hands after their final break, Zhigalov eliminated the final hurdle between him and his second bracelet, and immediately started celebrating his latest victory with his rail.
What's next for Zhigalov? "Mostly cash games, but I will play some more tournaments for sure," he answered. "Actually, I wanted to play the $1,500 Razz today, but ran too deep in this one so I could not register anymore."
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