Hand #79: John Wasnock raised to 5,000,000 on the button and Michael Mizrachi called.
Both players checked the A♦9♣7♣ flop. Mizrachi also checked the 4♣ turn and Wasnock bet 10,000,000.
Mizrachi then waved to his rail to begin cheering as he stood up, pointed upwards, and raised to 30,000,000. Wasnock instantly moved all in for 70,500,000, and Mizrachi called just as fast.
Wasnock showed A♠9♦ for two pair, but Mizrachi had 10♣3♣ for a flush. Wasnock needed to fill up on the river to prolong the Main Event, but he missed the 5♣ and Mizrachi secured the world championship.
Hand #72: Michael Mizrachi limped the button with 5♠2♦ and John Wasnock checked his K♠7♥ to the Q♠J♦10♣ flop, on which Wasnock led for 5,000,000 and won the pot right away.
Hand #73: Wasnock limped in with 10♠4♥ and Mizrachi raised to 7,500,000 with Q♠J♠. Wasnock folded.
Hand #74: Mizrachi limped J♦5♠ and Wasnock raised to 8,000,000 with another big hand in A♥Q♠. After checking his cards once more, Mizrachi folded.
Hand #75: Wasnock opened to 5,000,000 on the button holding 6♣5♠ and Mizrachi called with 9♠7♣ for the duo to see the Q♥J♠9♥ flop. Both checked to the A♣ turn, on which Mizrachi checked again, and Wasnock checked back. The river was the 7♥ and Mizrachi's bet of 9,000,000 won the pot uncontested.
Hand #76: Mizrachi raised to 6,000,000 with K♣6♠ and Wasnock called with his K♦2♣. The flop brought K♥8♦5♣ and both checked to the 4♥ turn, on which Wasnock bet 7,000,000 and Mizrachi called. The 7♦ followed on the river and Wasnock checked. Mizrachi fired a bet of 35,000,000 and was quickly called to win a substantial pot and reduce the stack of Wasnock to below twenty blinds.
Hand #67: John Wasnock raised to 5,000,000 on the button with A♦Q♥ and Michael Mizrachi called with his K♥3♥ in the big blind.
The flop came Q♣Q♠9♥ and Wasnock bet 5,000,000. Mizrachi called to the 6♠ turn, where Wasnock bet 10,000,000. Mizrachi folded this time.
Hand #68: Mizrachi raised to 6,000,000 on the button with A♦2♣ and Wasnock folded J♥6♦.
Hand #69: Wasnock raised to 5,000,000 on the button with A♦3♣ and Mizrachi called, defending 10♦4♦.
Both players checked the A♣7♠5♥ flop. Mizrachi then led out for 3,000,000 on the 6♠ turn, but Wasnock raised to 11,000,000. Mizrachi gave it some thought, but eventually folded.
Hand #70: Mizrachi raised it up to 6,000,000 with K♠10♠ on the button and Wasnock called with his K♥9♦.
Mizrachi bet another 6,000,000 on the J♥5♥4♦ flop, and Wasnock folded.
Hand #71: Wasnock raised to 5,000,000 on the button holding A♦3♥ and Mizrachi called with Q♣6♣.
The flop came K♠7♦4♣ and Wasnock bet 6,000,000. Mizrachi folded as Wasnock took the pot to climb over 100,000,000.
Hand #62: Michael Mizrachi raised to 5,000,000 on the dead button with K♠4♥ and John Wasnock called in the big blind with 8♥2♥. On the A♣J♥7♦ flop, Wasnock checked and Mizrachi bet 3,000,000 to win the first pot of heads-up play.
Hand #63: A walk for Mizrachi with 8♠8♦.
Hand #64: Mizrachi limped the button and Wasnock checked his option to the 10♠4♦3♦ flop with J♥7♥. Both players checked to the 7♦ turn on which Wasnock bet 3,000,000. "Let's go Wazz," his rail shouted while Mizrachi called. The J♦ fell on the river and both checked for Mizrachi to win the pot with the 9♠6♦ for a flush.
Hand #65: Wasnock limped in with 8♣6♥ and Mizrachi checked with 5♥3♠, leading them to the 6♠6♦3♦ flop. Both quickly checked to the 2♦ turn and Mizrachi bet the minimum for 2,500,000, Wasnock raised to 9,000,000 thereafter. Mizrachi moved over a little further with his chair to look at his opponent while making up his mind.
After a while, they started some chatter back and forth and Mizrachi glanced at his cards again before folding. It was the first hand he lost on the final day.
Hand #66: Mizrachi limped the button holding J♠6♦ and Wasnock checked his A♣2♥ to the A♥5♣3♣ flop. Both checked once more quickly to the turn, which was the Q♣. Wasnock bet 6,000,000 and Mizrachi folded.
Hand #61: John Wasnock folded his button and Michael Mizrachi moved all in from the small blind. Braxton Dunaway called for his last 23,000,000 in the big blind.
Braxton Dunaway: 10♥6♥
Michael Mizrachi: A♦10♦
Mizrachi had Dunaway dominated and was poised to collect a knockout for the second straight hand. The Q♦4♦K♣ flop gave him an even bigger lead with the nut flush draw. The 4♠ turn left Dunaway looking for only two outs on the river, but he missed as the 3♦ made Mizrachi his flush to send Dunaway to the rail in third place.
Mizrachi and Wasnock are taking a short break while the table is prepared for the start of heads-up action.
Hand #60: In the very first hand of the day, Kenny Hallaert pushed all in first to act for 19,000,000 and it folded to Michael Mizrachi in the big blind. He peeked at his cards for a brief moment and then snap-called.
Kenny Hallaert: A♥Q♣
Michael Mizrachi: K♦J♦
The 10♠5♠4♠ flop changed nothing, but the J♣ turn vaulted Mizrachi in the lead. Hallaert needed a queen, king, or ace to double up, otherwise he would be out. The 9♠ river did bring another seat open in the very first hand, just like on the previous day.
Hallaert bowed out in fourth place for $3,000,000 and Mizrachi extended his lead over his final two opponents.
Christian ZetzscheThe Final Four: Braxton Dunaway, Kenny Hallaert, Michael Mizrachi, and John Wasnock
Will history be made today inside of the Horseshoe Event Center? For the first time, the title in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship and the WSOP Main Event could belong to the same person during the annual summer poker activities in Las Vegas. It is the final day of the 2025 World Series of Poker and all eyes will be set on Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi who holds more than three quarters of the chips in play with four players still in contention.
If it was up to the runaway chip leader, the tournament may have very well concluded yesterday when Mizrachi stormed to the top of the leaderboard as he jokingly replied, "One hour," when asked what it takes to win during the interview after a very short-lived first part of the final table. By then, the third-largest WSOP Main Event in history had seen a field of 9,735 entries cut down from nine to four in just one and a half levels and it would be a massive upset if Mizrachi weren't to claim WSOP bracelet number eight and the $10 million top prize out of the gargantuan prize pool of $90,535,500.
Seat Assignments for the Final Day
Seat
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Kenny Hallaert
Belgium
19,000,000
8
2
Braxton Dunaway
United States
25,500,000
10
3
John Wasnock
United States
94,500,000
38
4
Michael Mizrachi
United States
445,500,000
178
His 445,500,000 in chips represent 178 big blinds out of the 234 big blinds in play, but anything can happen. After all, that is the beauty of the game of poker. Mizrachi has already surpassed his fifth place finish from 2010 and the same also applies for the only other contender with a previous Main Event final table appearance. Belgian poker pro and tournament director Kenny Hallaert was the chip leader on Day 6 and 7 but plummeted to the bottom of the final four after paying off Mizrachi in a big pot to bag up a mere 19,000,000 - eight big blinds worth.
"Bit of a weird feeling because obviously, you are prepared for the long haul. You are prepared sort of for like not the worst case scenario but you know, it could be a 12 hour day if nobody gets eliminated for whatever reason or the pace of play is a little slow. But it was a bit of a mayhem today," Hallaert said after the early end of play yesterday evening.
The Belgian was second in chips with five players remaining, but then lost a big pot to the very aggressive Mizrachi with top pair against two pair, which further shifted the momentum towards Mizrachi. Hallaert will bring eight big blinds into the final day and a ton of experience from more than 20 years of poker under his belt.
"Unfortunately it didn't go my side, but it is what it is, that's poker. I am still in, I am still one of four people that will fight for the Main Event title. I mean, I might not be the favorite, but I'm never gonna doubt myself. I have always believed that it is possible. I have been in this situation multiple times where I am a short stack four-handed or where I have seen it happen where somebody down to almost nothing still managed to come out on top, so why could history not repeat itself?"
Kenny Hallaert
The other short stack is Braxton Dunaway from Texas, who will have a large crowd for support and is aware that he will, "Need a few Hail Mary's," for the final showdown to overcome the big chip deficit. Dunaway was among the big stacks for many tournament days prior, but will find himself on ten big blinds with his stack of 25,500,000.
"It's been a tough day for me personally. I'd like to have more chips obviously and maybe made a pair or two but you know, overall I am just happy to still be here. There have been some crazy hands happening, and big hands ... so, ultimately, I am gonna get some rest tonight and regroup and try to come in firing away tomorrow."
Second in chips by some margin with 94,500,000 is John Wasnock, who was the chip leader heading into the nine-handed final yesterday. He increased his tally at the start of yesterday's action and had the opportunity to reach half of the chips in play when he had Mizrachi at risk with pocket kings versus ace-king preflop. However, the ace on the river set the stage for what is now a commanding lead for Mizrachi instead, and that shapes the entire scenario for the four-handed finale.
All four hopefuls have locked up at least $3 million for their efforts and each elimination will secure a seven-figure pay jump all the way to the top prize of $10 million and a spot in WSOP history.
2025 WSOP Main Event Final Table Results and Remaining Payouts
Rank
Winner
Country
Prize (in USD)
1
$10,000,000
2
$6,000,000
3
$4,000,000
4
$3,000,000
5
Luka Bojovic
Serbia
$2,400,000
6
Adam Hendrix
United States
$1,900,000
7
Leo Margets
Spain
$1,500,000
8
Jarod Minghini
United States
$1,250,000
9
Daehyung Lee
South Korea
$1,000,000
The final day is set to commence at 2 p.m. on the main feature stage inside of the Horseshoe Event Center and the returning blinds for Level 41 will be 1,000,000/2,500,000 with a big blind ante of 2,500,000. Whether or not the prediction of Mizrachi will come true and the conclusion of the 2025 WSOP Main Event is a short affair remains to be seen, but all of the action can be followed right here on PokerNews. The hand-for-hand coverage will follow the one-hour delay of the cards-up coverage and commentary on the PokerGO stream.
