Naseem Salem Claims First Bracelet After Epic GGMillion$ Victory

Naseem ‘Nick’ Salem last cashed in any tournament a year ago at the World Series of Poker. Today’s latest WSOP bracelet winner might be tempted to visit the Horseshoe and Paris tournament tables more often after conquering one of the toughest WSOP events of the summer so far. Winning the $1,089,964 top prize in the $10,000 GGMillion$ Live event, Salem claimed his first WSOP bracelet in spectacular fashion in the Paris ballroom in Las Vegas.

Bumper Field in GGMillion$ Live Event

Often a hugely successful online poker tournament, the GGMillion$ has made the switch to the live arena before. Previously awarding a big win in Northern Cyprus, the GGPoker event has also hosted online as a WSOP event in 2024, when the Spanish poker professional Sergio Aido won the top prize of over $1.9m.

With 627 total entries, this year’s WSOP live version of the event would award $1,089,964 up top as part of a $5,831,100 prize pool, the first seven-figure prize of the World Series of Poker so far in Las Vegas this year. Eight finalists did battle for the gold bracelet and million-dollar result, with legends of the game such as Chris Brewer and John Racener both in the field.

The WSOP Main Event finalist Cliff Josephy was hoping that his experience would tell once he reached the final table, but he ran dry on luck at the worst possible time. All-in with pocket eights, he was way behind Alex Cruz Martinez’s pocket tens but even further back from Chad Lipton’s pocket kings. An eight arrived on the flop but with it came a king and when another landed on the turn, Josephy’s event was over for a score of $105,178 in eighth place.

Brewer and Racener Outrun

Joey Weissman had come into the final eighth in chips but laddered one place to seventh for a score of $138,802 in a three-way hand that also saw Czech player Roman Hrabec depart for $186,562 in sixth place. All-in with pocket sevens, Weissman was flipping against Hrabec’s ace-king of spades but way behind Chad Lipton’s pocket queens. Lipton had both the stack and the hand, and both held as he hit a set of queens and eliminated both of his opponents.

The former Main Event runner-up John Racener was eliminated in fifth place for $255,306. On a board showing 8-6-5-6-7, Naseem Salem moved all-in and Racener had a decision to make with pocket nines which had rivered the upper straight. Calling, Racener was stunned to see Salem turn over pocket sixes for turned quads and play moved four-handed.

Chris Brewer was the next player to go, as Martinez took care of his chances courtesy of a coinflip. All-in for just under 10 big blinds, Brewer needed to hit with his ace-queen of spades against the pocket tens belonging to Martinez. The nine-high board was no help to Brewer and with only one spade in sight, he was taken out of the tournament for $355,610 just before the podium places.

Lipton Iced as Salem Gets the Lot

With just three players remaining, Chad Lipton ran out of luck and cards. Twice winning with monster hands before, Lipton went from chip leader to the rail in a brief period of time and after two cataclysmic hands. In the first, Martinez got a full double-up when his bold bluff with just a pair of threes. Martinez made the right call with two-pair, and as he saw the cards, he jumped out of his seat and celebrated wildly with his friends.

Lipton was finally defeated, and while he went to collect $503,997 for his third-placed finish, Martinez took a lead into heads-up. If thought it was going to be easy, however, he was sorely mistaken. The poker saying that no-one is more than two hands from the door in No Limit Hold’em came back to haunt Martinez as he first lost to a flopped straight for the eventual winner Salem, then with the chips against him, lost with a weaker full house than opponent to hold just 13% of the chips in play.

A few moments after that hand took place, the tournament was over. All-in with ace-jack, Martinez was against Naseem Salem’s pocket sevens. The flop was K-8-5 with two clubs. The turn gave Salem a set of sevens but came a club too, meaning a club on the river would save the at-risk Martinez. The river was a king, however, filling up Salem’s hand as he became a WSOP bracelet winner for the first time in his career and relegating Martinez to a runner-up finish worth $726,598.