First PLO win equals a gold bracelet: Jason Zipfel wins the $1,500 PLO championship.

Jason Zipfel won his third PLO tournament, earning $441,560 and his first WSOP gold bracelet. He dominated the final day, eliminating five players.

After three days of grueling four-card poker battles in Horseshoe and Paris, a new World Series of Poker champion has emerged. Jason Zipfel emerged victorious from a massive field of 2,581 players to claim the title in the #35:$1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-max event.

In addition to his first gold bracelet, Zipfel also took home an incredible $441,560 champion's prize, the largest share of the total $3,426,277 prize pool created by the two Day 1 groups.

This prize is more than double his career high and pushes his total live winnings to nearly $700,000. According to TheHendonMob, he only has one live winnings record before 2025 and has never won any prizes in Pot Limit Omaha events.

Event #35: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed Final Table Results

Zipfel built a huge chip lead on Day 2 and maintained it from Day 3 to the end, making only one minor mistake in the heads-up stage. Nevertheless, despite Hokyu Lee briefly taking the chip lead in heads-up, Zipfel quickly rallied and secured the victory within minutes.

Runner-up Hokyiu Lee will undoubtedly be disappointed at failing to double his bracelet count, but the second-place prize of $294,420 will certainly ease some of the blow. He more than tripled his best live prize and is now less than $100,000 away from a seven-figure career total. He played the role of a silent killer, climbing the ranks and accumulating chips step by step to finally advance to heads-up play.

No one can say Zipfel's success was unfair—he played the role of the finisher on final day. During his victory, he eliminated a total of five players, including more than half of the final table members. As his chip stack grew steadily throughout the day, he made the most of it, putting maximum pressure on his opponents and eliminating them one by one. He made winning his first gold bracelet look effortless and let the table know he was having a blast.

Post-championship remarks

Zipfel told PokerNews that there is a reason for his lack of prize money in PLO tournaments – this is only his third attempt to compete for tournament glory in this format.

"I played a lot of private cash games, and then a few tournaments a year. So last year I probably played five or six tournaments."

"I've been incredibly lucky, so I should play more tournaments and fewer cash games."

Entering the final day as the chip leader, he knew that maintaining the lead was not a given, and he also showed respect for his opponents on the final day.

He specifically pointed out that Will Givens, who was ranked second in chips at the start of the day, was indeed a "strong player".

"I know he has a lot of chips. He's someone I'm particularly careful about, someone I don't want him to dominate me too much, because I know he's a very solid player. If he starts winning, his momentum can overwhelm you."

"I made a special effort not to target him, but to show that I would not back down and that I would take the initiative to attack him, so that he would not try to chase after me."

Reflecting on the transition from two cards to four, Zipfel said he felt just as comfortable—or even more comfortable—with having twice as many cards in front of him.

"Playing this PLO tournament feels much more comfortable than playing Texas Hold'em tournaments, even though I play more Texas Hold'em."

"It's hard to imagine a better feeling in my poker career. It's really surreal. It might take a little time to process. But I feel fantastic."

Final Day Results

Anthony Latona was the first player eliminated on the final day, losing his flush to Jochen Pfeifer and dropping out of contention for the title. Eliminations continued before the final table was set. Ray Dehkharghani was next, going all-in with a leading hand against Pfeifer, but a series of diamonds led to his elimination, finishing in 15th place.

Nick Yunis then went all-in with a pair of Aces on the flop against Givens, but a diamond on the turn gave Givens a flush, breaking the Aces and eliminating Yunis.

Philip Stark went all-in pre-flop, but ran into Ido Aboudi's Ace and was eliminated in 12th place. Shortly after, Sonny Lee was eliminated, facing Givens for tournament life. Givens held triplets of 10s, while Lee hoped to make a flush or a straight. Neither came, and Givens was eliminated, with Lee finishing in 11th place.

About ten minutes later, Ryan Wince became the next loser. Wince went all-in on the flop but needed to beat two opponents in a three-way pot to survive. Zipfel finished Wince off with two pair, eliminating him in 10th place and securing the unofficial nine-handed final table. The unofficial table became official when Aboudi went all-in with a pair of Kings, while Zipfel was drawing a straight. Zipfel made a straight on the turn, eliminating Aboudi and finishing in ninth place.

The final eight rounds lasted nearly two hours before eliminations occurred. When the eliminations came, Thanhlong Nguyen and Phillip Mighall faced their fates simultaneously. Givens hit a full house, completing a double kill. Mighall finished in eighth place, and Nguyen in seventh. Next, Zipfel once again played the executioner, this time sacrificing Michael Estes. Estes went all-in pre-flop, putting him in danger, but Zipfel's pocket kings saved him.

Maxx Coleman and Hokyiu Lee went all-in pre-flop. Lee's Q held, eliminating Coleman in fifth place. Coleman must now wait for his second WSOP bracelet. Pfeifer then became another victim of Zipfel—his trips on the flop were no match for Zipfel's flush, and Pfeifer couldn't complete a full house on the river, leaving him in fourth place.

Of the medalists, Givens was the first to fall. Zipfel opened pre-flop, Givens re-raised and was called, creating a swollen pre-flop pot. Givens went all-in on the flop, and Zipfel called, having already made a straight on the flop. Givens failed to complete a full house on the turn or river, finishing in third place.

The heads-up match didn't last long; Zipfel quickly established his dominance. Chips moved rapidly between the two, with Lee even briefly taking the chip lead. But when Zipfel's Ace held on and beat Lee's flush draw, the match was over, and Zipfel secured his first WSOP bracelet.

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