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Flying High: Dimitar Danchev Fights Jet Lag to Claim $25,000 Heads-Up Championship Title
There is no known cure for jet lag, but winning a World Series of Poker (WSOP) gold bracelet wouldn't have made it worse.
Dimitar Danchev only landed in Las Vegas 48 hours ago, and, in the name of sleep, decided to hold off on playing until Event #7: $25,000 Heads Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship was open for registration. The Bulgarian pro had the event highlighted on his calendar and had no intention of missing it.
He will be thankful he found the energy to get out of bed. With three days of play inside the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas complete, and seven conquered opponents in his wake, Danchev has claimed his second WSOP gold bracelet, as well as walking away $800,000 better off, taking the lion's share of the $3,008,000 prizepool.
$25,000 Heads-Up Championship Results
It wouldn't be unfair to think of Danchev as a heads-up end boss. After all, his first and only other bracelet also came in a heads-up format, when he won the 2022 WSOP Online Heads-Up Championship after overcoming a star-studded field of 97 entrants.
This year’s edition of the Heads-Up Championship was the first to feature an additional starting flight, meaning the eventual champion had to win seven consecutive matches to take the title.
Danchev referenced his second-round match as one of his toughest, but by no means the only challenge he faced.
"They were all equally tough, but I would say I had a very tough second round against Christopher Nguyen, when I had to hero call for my tournament [life], that was a really tough spot. Also, Florian Pesce was a very tough opponent"
Following his victory over Pesce, Danchev was drawn against Biao Ding, who had previously eliminated Daniel Negreanu. The quarter-final had it all, from a river bluffing standoff in which Danchev refused to blink, to a decisive cooler, as he rivered a flush to leave Ding on the brink of elimination.
That victory booked Danchev a semifinal clash with Ryuta Nakai, and he was well aware that the deck had done its share of the work in getting him through it.
"Against Nakai, I was really in a tough spot, because he was really grinding me down; I couldn't win many hands. I was very lucky to win two of the biggest hands".
It was a humble nod to his opponent's quality, but also a fair assessment. Nakai began on the front foot and quickly put daylight between the two stacks. However, when Danchev flopped a set, and Nakai turned top two pair, the chips were destined to find their way into the middle, seeing Danchev claim the chip lead.
The match came to a head shortly after, a five-bet shove from Nakai was snap-called by Danchev, whose pocket queens then guided him through to the final.
The stage was set for the final showdown: Danchev versus Nikita Kuznetsov, who had already put together a stellar run of his own. He notably dispatched Adrian Mateos in the opening round before eliminating Thomas Eychenne and Justin Saliba en route to a semifinal victory over Alex Foxen.
The final match was no quick sprint, lasting just under three-and-a-half hours. Kuznetsov took an early lead, building a 2-to-1 advantage through a series of small pots in the opening levels. The momentum then shifted in a decisive hand where both players flopped big. Kuznetsov made trips but ran into Danchev’s flopped full house, flipping the chip lead.
From there, Kuznetsov never fully recovered. The two traded blows, but with no major swings, and Danchev consistently maintained control of the chip lead.
The final blow came in a second cooler, which once again fell in favor of Danchev. Kuznetsov rivered trips and called off a shove, only to discover Danchev had rivered a full house to secure the title, the bracelet, and the $800,000 first-place prize.
Heading into the night, Danchev's plan is to celebrate with a good night’s rest before enjoying dinner with friends.
“We will go for a nice dinner, I guess, maybe tomorrow. I'm still jet lagged, I just really wanted to play this event, so it feels amazing to actually win it.”
That concludes the coverage of this event. Check out the PokerNews home page to find more live coverage from the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP).