One moment you're chip leader in the biggest poker tournament on Earth. The next, you're out the door, shell-shocked and wondering how it all went wrong.
That’s the brutal reality Michael Hawker faced on Day 5 of the 2025 World Series of Poker Main Event. After going into the dinner break with a field-leading stack of 6,090,000 (152 big blinds), Hawker was eliminated within twenty minutes of returning, watching his dream unravel in sickening fashion.
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What. Just. Happened?
That’s what everyone at the WSOP Main Event feature table must’ve been asking after witnessing the biggest pot of the tournament so far in what was an absolutely wild hand that’s destined for future WSOP highlight reels.
Jeremy Kottler, an American player with over $2.5 million in live earnings, pulled the trigger on an audacious king-high bluff on Day 5 of poker's World Championship. Unfortunately for him, Yuchen Chen was holding fives full of jacks and made the call for his tournament life after spending some time in the tank.
The 4.55 million chip pot (152 big blinds) shipped Chen’s way, leaving the table and everyone else stunned. This is one hand you’ll want to read again and again.
Andrew Neeme and Brad Owen, two of poker’s most influential vloggers and co-owners of The Lodge Card Club, saw their impressive 2025 World Series of Poker Main Event runs come to an end on Day 5.
The popular content creators were among the final 522 players still in contention for the $10 million top prize, but both were eliminated within a few spots of each other. Neeme exited in 382nd place, followed shortly by Owen in 373rd. Each earned a $40,000 payday for their efforts.
For Neeme, a WSOP Circuit ring winner, it marked his second Main Event cash following a deep run to 164th place ($58,500) in 2023. Owen, meanwhile, celebrated his first-ever WSOP Main Event cash.
Whether you’re railing Daniel Negreanu or Phil Hellmuth at a final table, or checking in on a friend's deep run in a major tournament, there's now an easy way to follow the players that matters most to you.
Now live on PokerNews, MyPlayers is a free new feature that lets you track your favorite poker players across all our live-reported events, across all your devices. No more endless scrolling or missing crucial chip count updates.
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There’s no denying that Shaun Deeb is a future Poker Hall of Famer. Whether you know him from his online poker days, where he won more than a dozen COOP titles on PokerStars, or as the 2018 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Player of the Year, Deeb has amassed nearly $13 million in live tournament earnings dating back to 2006 according to The Hendon Mob.
Deeb, who in February 2024 accepted a buyout in his $1 million body fat loss prop bet against Bill Perkins, is also a six-time WSOP gold bracelet winner, but did you know that just like Phil Hellmuth, he’s made a habit of gifting them to those close to him?
PokerNews recently chatted with Deeb about why he gives away his bracelets, which ones he’d keep if he were to win them, and why giving away No. 6 to honor his good friend, the late Thayer Rasmussen, meant so much to him.
Have you heard about MyStack by PokerNews? It is a free-to-use tool built into the PokerNews website that puts you in control of your chip counts on our live reporting pages. MyStack directly connects you to PokerNews' live reporting pages, making you an even bigger part of the action in the events you play.
MyStack is a free poker tool and PokerNews activates MyStack for every event it is live reporting from, regardless of that tournament's buy-in. Once you have created a free PokerNews account, you can use MyStack to update your chip counts in real time; hopefully, your stack will continue increasing throughout the event!
In the 906th episode of the PokerNews Podcast, Chad Holloway, Kyna England, and Mike Holtz are back at Level 9 Studio in Las Vegas to discuss the latest news and highlights from the 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP), including Daniel Negreanu suggesting that poker players shouldn't hesitate to call the clock on other slow-acting players.
Other stories include Will Kassouf being back in the poker spotlight, for better or worse, as well as how the PokerNews Podcast crew did in the 2025 WSOP Main Event. Hint: Kyna, who is now representing Tilted Compass, did an interview with Jeff Platt while Chad got pulled up on the PokerGO live stream. They also highlight Shaun Deeb capturing his seventh bracelet and setting himself up to win POY, Nick Ahmadi taking down the PokerNews Deepstack Championship, PokerGO founder Cary Katz claiming his first bracelet, and Chris Moneymaker winning another Moneymaker Tour title.
Finally, Maria Ho talks about releasing Pokerriculum (viewers/listeners have a chance to win a free copy of the game), and an update on the PokerNews Podcast Fantasy League between Mike, Chad/Kyna, Joey Ingram, and Christina Gollins.
A new PokerNews Podcast will drop twice a week during the 2025 WSOP every Thursday and Sunday at 8a PT / 11a ET / 4p UK time. Remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you do not miss an episode!
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