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Daniyal Gheba Awarded First Bracelet in WSOP's Mothership Arena for $502,985
Daniyal Gheba has won Event #2: $5,000 8-Handed No-Limit Hold’em at the 2026 World Series of Poker, capturing his first WSOP gold bracelet and a career-best score of $502,985 at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas. Gheba bested a field of 570 entries to claim the second bracelet awarded of the summer, and the first handed out on the WSOP’s new Mothership stage inside the Paris Ballroom.
The event generated a prize pool of $2,622,000, with Gheba defeating Chenxiang Miao heads-up after a short back-and-forth match. Miao earned $335,290 for his runner-up finish, while Xiaohu Liu took third place on the podium for $234,432.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniyal Gheba | United States | $502,985 |
| 2 | Chenxiang Miao | China | $335,290 |
| 3 | Xiaohu Liu | China | $234,432 |
| 4 | Ren Lin | China | $166,448 |
| 5 | Peter Mugar | United States | $120,035 |
| 6 | Ivan Ruban | Russian Federation | $87,945 |
| 7 | Anatoly Nikitin | Russian Federation | $65,479 |
| 8 | Casey Hatmaker | United States | $49,556 |
Winner's Reaction
For Gheba, the win marks the biggest score of his poker career and comes after already making a notable televised final table appearance earlier this year. This time however, the American closed it out, and took home a gold bracelet.
“It’s obviously life-changing money, it’s a lot of money,” Gheba told PokerNews. “But coming into the final table, the pay jumps I wasn’t really concerned about. I don’t think anyone at this table really cared about the pay jumps, they were all wealthy.”
Gheba also credited high-stakes pros Chance Kornuth and Alex Foxen for helping keep him focused throughout the final table.
“I think I was so focused on every hand, every spot, that I didn’t feel the pressure of the situation,” Gheba said. “Having them there at the end on the rail and for the picture was really good. It’s important to stay focused in these spots, think of the strategy, and play each hand at a time.”
Playing For the Bracelet
The final day began with Miao holding the chip lead over the remaining five players, while Gheba was second in chips after spending much of Day 3 around the top of the counts. Peter Mugar was the first player to hit the rail after Liu cracked his pocket aces with a turned flush.
The ever-popular and vocal Ren Lin then sprang to life for the first time at the final table after picking off a huge river bluff from Miao with just a pair of eights, before bellowing to the table and his fans, “Who is the best? Tony the Tiger!”
Lin continued to battle throughout four-handed play and did manage to climb out of the danger zone for a while, but after a few hands didn't go his way, he ended up hitting the rail in fourth. Lin jammed his eight big blind stack into the middle from the button with pocket tens, but ran directly into Miao's two aces.
The chip lead exchanged hands several times between Gheba and Miao when it was three-handed. Gheba managed to pull ahead by getting Miao to fold preflop following a five-bet jam. Liu eventually exited in third place, getting his pocket fives in preflop against Miao's suited connector. Miao paired his seven on the flop and that was enough to set up a heads-up match versus Gheba.
Although Miao entered heads-up play with the chip lead, Gheba quickly turned it around after winning a big three-bet pot by jamming the river. Not long after, the final hand of the tournament saw Miao get it in with an overpair on a paired board against Gheba’s combo draw with four-high. The turn was a blank, but the river brought a diamond to give Gheba the win and his first WSOP bracelet.
The win also changes Gheba’s plans for the remainder of the summer.
“Yeah, it does change it,” Gheba said when asked about his WSOP schedule now. “It means I’ll play some of the higher buy-ins, 25Ks and things, which is great overall.”
That concludes PokerNews coverage of Event #2: $5,000 8-Handed No-Limit Hold’em, but stay tuned for continued coverage from the 2026 World Series of Poker throughout the summer.