Event #45: $500 SALUTE to Warriors
Day 3 Completed
2025 World Series of Poker
Event #45: $500 SALUTE to Warriors
Day: 3
Event Info
2025 World Series of Poker
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 3
Buy-in
$500
Prize Pool
$1,614,170
Entries
3,937
Level
41
Blinds
1,500,000 / 3,000,000
Ante
3,000,000
Entries
32
Players Left
1
Players Left 1 / 3937
Filter
Level 41
: Blinds 1,500,000/3,000,000, 3,000,000 ante
This year’s Event #45: $500 SALUTE to Warriors No-Limit Hold’em at the 2025 World Series of Poker saw a staggering 3,937 entrants, generating a huge prize pool of $1,614,170 and a first-place prize of $187,937.
Alongside the enormous sum of money amassed to compete for, $40 of each entry was earmarked to be donated to United Service Organizations (USO) and other charities dedicated to supporting veterans. All said, a very significant sum of over $155,000 will be donated. An amount that will no doubt have a huge impact on the charities helping those who served their country.
It took three days to reduce the huge field down to a champion, and when the dust settled from a hectic final table, it was Joey Couden who emerged victorious.
Vice President of the World Series of Poker, Jack Effel, gave a warm speech to open the event, and it was he who closed the event too, handing the winner an oversized check as they snapped some photos to mark the achievement.
Final Table Payouts
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joey Couden | United States | $187,937 |
| 2 | Richard Buckingham | United States | $125,034 |
| 3 | Ofer Saha | United States | $92,221 |
| 4 | Yu Hsiang Huang | Taiwan | $68,619 |
| 5 | Alexander Savchenko | Russian Federation | $51,511 |
| 6 | Brandon Sowers | United States | $39,015 |
| 7 | Roger Hendren | United States | $29,818 |
| 8 | Tim Caziarc | United States | $22,998 |
| 9 | Luciano Melo | Brazil | $17,901 |
Winner's Reaction:
“I couldn’t be more happy, good timing for me, for sure”, were Couden's immediate thoughts.
A humble response, but it would be understandable if Couden hadn’t yet soaked in his achievement; it all happened so fast.
No sooner had Couden eliminated a player in sixth place, he had eliminated every other player at the table and had his second WSOP bracelet in his hands.
On His Slow Start:
It wasn’t smooth sailing from the off, but things did improve, as Couden recalled.
“To start the day, I had a bad first 30 minutes, maybe even 20 minutes, I lost like half my stack in the first 20 minutes. I started with 14 [million], and got all the way down to 5 million”.
“I won a couple of hands, doubled up to 25 [million], and it was pretty smooth from there. I didn’t have any real big pots until the final table, and at the final table, I kept winning small pots, and the field got shorter and shorter with their stack depths. Once it got sub 20 big blinds, it really just opened it up for me where I could more pressure on everybody.”
On Remaining Focused:
With just five players left, Couden had a huge chip lead and looked unstoppable, especially as each of his opponents had similarly short stacks.
“At that time, me personally, I am just high on the moment. I’m not thinking about what is happening, just making the best decision I can in the moment. It was easy to be happy and have fun, I mean, this is why we do this, that’s as fun as it gets out here.”
Final Table Action:
Couden entered the final table with the lion’s share of the chips in play, and, consequently, many of the other players were playing with extremely short stacks. This, alongside the ever-increasing blinds, set the stage for chips to fly.
First to depart was Luciano Melo in 9th place, falling at the hands of Ofer Saha. His queen-ten was unable to improve against Saha’s king-seven, when all the money went in preflop.
Next out was Tim Carziarc, who got his chips in the middle in good shape, his ace-king dominating Alexander Savchenko’s king-four suited. Unfortunately for Carziarc, the deck favoured his opponent on this occasion, sending him home in 8th.
The remaining players all fell to the eventual champion.
Roger Hendron departed in 7th when his ace-king couldn’t hold against ace-ten. Brandon Sowers was next to head to the exit, as Couden rivered a pair, sealing his fate.
Couden then went on the offensive and removed Alexander Savchenko, Yu Hsiang Huang, and Ofer Saha within 15 minutes of each other.
Last to fall was Richard Buckingham. Buckingham had done well to ladder up the prizes, having entered the final table with just eight big blinds, but his chip deficit proved insurmountable when the heads-up lasted just a few hands.
All said, Couden steamrolled his final six opponents in less than one hour, and in doing so, secured himself the top prize and a second WSOP bracelet.
That concludes the PokerNews coverage for this event, but stay tuned for our continuing coverage of the 2025 WSOP.
Level 41
: Blinds 1,500,000/3,000,000, 3,000,000 ante
Richard Buckingham moved all in on the button to put himself at risk and Joey Couden asked for a count. The dealer confirmed that the bet was 16,200,000 and Couden thought for a brief moment before making the call.
Richard Buckingham: 3♠3♥ 
Joey Couden: Q♥J♠
The Q♠ was the window card, with Couden pulling ahead instantly by pairing his queen. The 2♠ and J♦ completed the flop, and Buckingham would need a three to keep his tournament hopes alive.
The 8♥ turn and 7♦ river offered no help to Buckingham and he finished runner-up to earn an impressive six-figure payday.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
196,850,000
33,850,000
|
33,850,000 |
|
||
|
Busted | |
Level 41
: Blinds 1,500,000/3,000,000, 3,000,000 ante
Action folded to Ofer Saha in the small blind, and he moved all in for 3,400,000. Joey Couden called in the big blind, and the players turned their cards over.
Ofer Saha: 2♥2♣
Joey Couden: A♦5♣
The Couden show continued as the flop came down 10♦6♠A♠, giving him the lead.
The turn J♣ and river 8♣ didn't do anything to save Saha, as he congratulated the remaining players and headed to the exit.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
167,000,000
4,000,000
|
4,000,000 |
|
|
||
|
Busted | |
|
||
Level 41
: Blinds 1,500,000/3,000,000, 3,000,000 ante
Yu Hsiang Huang moved all in on the button for 4,700,000 and Joey Couden called in the big blind with the covering stack.
Yu Hsiang Huang: K♥2♦
Joey Couden: J♠9♥
Huang remained in the lead on the 7♣2♣3♦ flop but Couden pulled ahead on the 9♠ turn, pairing his nine. The 5♥ river offered no help to Huang and he was sent to the payout desk.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
163,000,000
19,500,000
|
19,500,000 |
|
|
||
|
Busted | |
Level: 41
Blinds: 1,500,000/3,000,000
Ante: 3,000,000
Level 40
: Blinds 1,000,000/2,000,000, 2,000,000 ante
Joey Couden opened to 4,000,000, and next to act, Alexander Savchenko, moved all in for 7,700,000. Action folded back to Couden, who snap-called and turned his cards over.
Alexander Savchenko: A♦J♦
Joey Couden: A♠A♣
There was some hope on the flop for Savchenko when the dealer fanned out K♦K♥Q♥.
The 9♠ turn and 8♦ river were no help to him, though, and he vacated his seat as Couden pulled in yet another pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
143,500,000
7,500,000
|
7,500,000 |
|
|
||
|
Busted | |
Level 40
: Blinds 1,000,000/2,000,000, 2,000,000 ante
Yu Hsiang Huang raised to 4,000,000 on the button and Joey Couden defended in the big blind.
The flop came A♣2♠K♠ and Couden check-called a bet of 2,500,000 from Huang.
The 9♦ turn went check-check, bringing the K♥ river. Huang checked and Couden fired out a bet of 5,800,000.
After taking some time to think though his decision, Huang called and saw the bad news when Couden tabled K♣6♣ for trip kings.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
136,000,000
22,800,000
|
22,800,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
9,700,000
100,000
|
100,000 |
Level 40
: Blinds 1,000,000/2,000,000, 2,000,000 ante
Joey Couden opened the cutoff to 4,000,000, and only Alexander Savchenko, on the button, chose to call.
Couden fired out a bet of 2,700,000 on the 8♦5♠9♠ flop, and Savchenko came along.
The turn brought the 10♠, and after taking a second look at his cards, Couden moved all in, covering his opponents' stack.
Savchenko wasted little time in folding, and Couden pulled in yet another pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
113,200,000
1,800,000
|
1,800,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
7,700,000
18,000,000
|
18,000,000 |
Level 40
: Blinds 1,000,000/2,000,000, 2,000,000 ante
Action folded around to Joey Couden in the small bind who moved all in to put Brandon Sowers at risk who started the hand with 9,600,000. Sowers slowly squeezed his cards to take a look and made the call.
Brandon Sowers: A♠3♦
Joey Couden: J♠4♦
The flop came 2♣K♠K♣ with Sowers still out in the lead. The Q♣ turn was safe as well, but the 4♠ on the river ended his impressive tournament run.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
115,000,000
8,500,000
|
8,500,000 |
|
|
||
|
Busted | |
