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Road Trip Turns Special as Brayden Lou Wins Event #25: $500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold’em
Brayden Lou managed to improve on an already outstanding year with some remarkable play in Event #25: $500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold’em at the 2026 World Series of Poker.
After weeding his way through a field of 4,100, the inexperienced Lou wrestled the crown away from Jason Hoffman heads-up to claim the $196,066 winner’s share of a $1,701,500 prize pool at the Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas.
“It’s pretty amazing,” Lou said. “I guess I can scratch this off my bucket list. I ran well, played well. That’s how it usually goes for tournament winners.”
Not that Lou would know, considering he won a gold bracelet in just his fourth ever live tournament.
The 21-year-old from San Diego took care of a bucket list item with the stop in Las Vegas on his way home from school in Boston, where he recently graduated from Gordon College.
He and his father, Damon Lou, scheduled their drive to California around the WSOP, with the idea that Brayden would play in one event.
Lou's victory turned their road adventure into a father-son trip for the ages.
"We figured we’d stop off here, maybe pick up a bracelet or something,” the elder Lou quipped.
Event #25: $500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold’em Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brayden Lou | United States | $196,066 |
| 2 | Jason Hoffman | United States | $130,441 |
| 3 | Stephen Ma (CH) | China | $93,368 |
| 4 | Aaron Hendi | United States | $71,806 |
| 5 | Sam Ruha | New Zealand | $53,969 |
| 6 | James Wong | United States | $40,916 |
| 7 | Chris Hunichen | United States | $31,294 |
| 8 | Alexander Ho | United States | $24,148 |
| 9 | Edgar Antezana | South Africa | $18,101 |
What A Trip
Lou hadn’t planned on playing in the $500 freezeout. His first tournament was Event #18: $1,500 Monster Stack, where he got what he thought would be the thrill of a lifetime. Not only did he sit at a table with Michael Mizrachi, he also busted The Grinder.
“I’m already nervous at my first WSOP and all of a sudden he comes in, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s over,’” Lou said. “Then he went all in and I knocked him out. I thought that would be my great accomplishment from this stop... to be able to say I took out the world champ.”
When Lou failed to cash in that tournament, he decided to enter the freezeout just to see what might happen. The plan was to be back home Monday in time for his father to go to work. They even checked out of their hotel before Day 2 play began.
Then Lou put together his impressive run that including overcoming Hoffman in his first ever head-up play.
Final Table Action
The morning featured nearly a hundred eliminations in the first two hours of play. The mash continued through the afternoon.
In one three-minute stretch, there was a double elimination and three other exits from the last two tables, with Bill Bringold and Brad Sailor getting knocked out together on the final table bubble.
The final table mirrored the rest of day, with action galore, including a double knockout by third-place finisher Stephen Ma, who sent Chris Hunichen and Alexander Ho home thanks to a higher kicker to go with his ace.
Ma entered the final table as the chip leader, but Lou took command early on with a sneaky two-pair hand and held the lead until heads-up play.
Ma had an impressive run into the top three, overcoming a questionable call which dropped him to three big blinds.
But Hoffman, who hails from Minnesota, proved to be the toughest out, battling his way to the final twosome with a boisterous rail cheering on his every move.
At one point, Hoffman brought a little levity to a tense situation, as with just three players left, he pulled off a nice bluff on Brayden, who applauded the move, laughed and saluted his competitor, "Six high like a boss!"
Hoffman took over the chip lead with a full house and was primed for victory.
But the young Lou, who started playing poker at 17, but has done more studying than playing of late while he earned a political science degree, was undeterred.
“For a moment there, I thought I had done so well, but since I don’t know heads-up, that was where it would end,” Lou said. “But I settled down and, as good as he was, I treated him like any other player."
"And my dream came true."
Stay tuned to PokerNews for all the action from the 2026 WSOP, with information on tournaments and the bracelet winners, exclusive interviews, and more.