button in Safari
Justin Smith Rises From the Canvas to Win Event #34: $500 COLOSSUS
Justin Smith, from Yakima, Washington, stood alone after he navigated a massive field of 16,269 players in Event #34: $500 COLOSSUS to take down the title.
Smith, a quality engineer, was in a state of shock after scoring the $550,000 first place prize, which easily represents the highest score of his poker career as he entered the final day with just under $60,000 in career earnings.
Stunned by capturing his first World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet, Smith explained he began to play poker when he was younger and has played ever since. It isn’t hard to imagine that nothing could match his experience at the 2026 WSOP, where he will forever now be known as a WSOP champion for the rest of his playing days.
“I can’t believe it yet,” Smith said to PokerNews. “I don’t know what to say.”
Final Table Payouts
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Justin Smith | United States | $550,000 |
| 2 | Myles German | United States | $367,000 |
| 3 | Victor Chong | Malaysia | $278,000 |
| 4 | Yuefan Wang | United States | $212,000 |
| 5 | Jose Orozco Gomez | Mexico | $163,000 |
| 6 | Karabet Keshishyan | United States | $125,000 |
| 7 | Andrew Sanchez | United States | $98,000 |
| 8 | Eric Baldwin | United States | $76,000 |
| 9 | Min Ji | United Kingdom | $60,171 |
Smith came into the final table fourth in chips, but he hit his stride as the day went on to rise up the chip counts. By the first break of the day, he was tied for the chip lead with Yuefan Wang.
However, Smith’s time in the sun was not a sustained experience, as he would hit a roadblock when he sank to as low as four big blinds with four players left.
Smith found a second wind after he won with an ace-jack versus Wang’s ace-six to get back in the match, a turning point for the eventual champion.
“I actually thought I was going to win it before that because I was chip leader for a while, and then I took some hits. Took some races that I didn’t win,” Smith said. “I doubled up on that one, and I took the other player out, so it was three of us. I figured I could probably get it done.”
His ascension to a title is the beauty of the COLOSSUS event. Smith only had one five-figure cash to his name, and it came back in 2014, according to the The HendonMob. Smith had cashed in his last two attempts at the COLOSSUS event, but it turned out third time was the charm and it was to the tune of his first six-figure score.
Smith circled the COLOSSUS on his calendar, as it is one of the more accessible tournaments on the WSOP schedule.
“It’s just a fun tournament to play. A lot of people, it’s an easy buy-in,” said Smith. “I saw a lot of people coming and going all day long the last four days.”
Smith stated that today turned out to be his last day at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, as he is scheduled to return home to Washington tomorrow. The newly minted champion was noncommittal on whether he would return to play any of the events this summer.
Smith could never play a tournament again, and it won’t matter, because he is now a WSOP bracelet holder, and that is not a title that can be taken away from him.
Final Table Action
Wang entered the final table with the most chips, but it was Smith who would score the first knockout when he eliminated Min Ji from contention when his ace-queen held. Ji was followed by two-time bracelet winner Eric Baldwin in eighth place before Andrew Sanchez hit the rail in seventh.
Myles German would prove to be tough to eliminate at this final table as he escaped from busting out time and time again. This trend began when he managed to spike a two outer on the river to double through Karabet Keshishyan.
Smith spoiled German’s momentum when he doubled through him to rise in the chip counts.
Wang took the chip lead off Smith, but it did not last long. German’s survivability was on display when he doubled again by overcoming Wang’s bigger ace to drop Wang back down to earth.
Jose Orozco Gomez scored a knockout when he extinguished Keshishyan in sixth place, but it was Gomez himself who would be next to fall in fifth place a half hour later.
German landed his third double up of the final table; this time, it was Victor Chong’s turn to pay the man as German won a flip.
Chong then dealt a major blow when he cracked Wang’s pocket kings. This was a harbinger of things to come for Wang as he was sent out in fourth place at the hand of Smith. Chong was next to fall in third, setting the stage for the heads-up match between German and Smith.
The heads-up match only lasted one hand, as Smith finished the pesky German once and for all to capture the title.
This concludes coverage of Event #34: $500 COLOSSUS. Check back here at PokerNews for continued coverage of the 2026 World Series of Poker at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.