WSOP: Weekend Winners Celebrate Gold at WSOP in Las Vegas

The latest bracelet winners included a chess phenom, a long-time professional and a debut winner as Las Vegas hosted some thrilling WSOP poker this weekend. With wins for James Cheng, Daniyal Gheba and Michael Casella among others, it was a golden weekend for poker in the spotlight of the gambling capital of the world.

Gheba Wins Debut Bracelet in Brand New Mothership

“Having them there at the end on the rail and for the picture was really good.”

Daniyal Gheba won his first-ever WSOP gold bracelet in the second event of the series, the $5,000 8-Handed No-Limit Hold’em event. Taking home a career-high top prize of $502,985, Gheba finished ahead of 569 other entries as he won the first bracelet to be awarded inside the WSOP’s new ‘mothership’ stage in the Paris Ballroom.

Hugely impressive, the new set incorporates a video wall, extensive presenting set and of course the all-important WSOP tables at which the action is played. Unveiled by broadcast lead Jeff Platt on Friday, the set is almost the length of an NFL football field, and includes not only five feature tables but a dozen outer tables, with non-stop action now able to be streamed throughout the summer.

The set is also home to WSOP Countdown, the pre-game show that is hosted by Jeff Platt, and Joe Stapleton, and also features WSOP commentator and poker legend Norman Chad. This event ended slightly too early to be covered by the team but Gheba won’t mind one but as he defeated Chinese player Chenxiang Miao heads-up for over half a million dollars, with Miao receiving $335,290 as runner-up.

Asked what it meant to him to have his coaches, Chance Kornuth and Alex Foxen on the rail to help him celebrate, Gheba was full of praise.

“I think I was so focused on every hand, every spot, that I didn’t feel the pressure of the situation. Having them there at the end on the rail and for the picture was really good. It’s important to stay focused in these spots, think of the strategy, and play each hand at a time.”

Here’s how all the finalist finished in the WSOP’s second event of the summer:

Daly Wins Bracelet Number Three

“It was great to see him play. We all hope that we can still be doing what he was doing at 90 years old.”

American pro Jason Daly landed his third WSOP bracelet as he bagged the first non-Hold’em title of the summer in Event #4. That was the $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo Eight or Better event, which started its final day with the possibility of a huge record being set.

In 2018, Farhintaj Bonyadi became the oldest bracelet winner when she took down the Super Seniors No-Limit Hold’em at the age of 83. Technically, Johnny Moss won the last completely open WSOP event in 1988 when he claimed gold in the $1,500 Limit Ace-to-Five Draw event at almost 81, but in this event, 90-year-old Perry Green had the opportunity to set a record which may never have been broken.

Making the final table in his bid to win a fourth WSOP bracelet, Green got oh so close, running all the way to sixth place before his luck ran out and he lost to Daly’s set for a score of $30,973. Green’s record at the World Series of Poker is an entertaining one, with the veteran also having another claim to fame, finishing runner-up to Stu Ungar in 1981 when the prodigious talent won the second of his three Main Event titles. Ungar’s legendary back-to-back win in Las Vegas in 1981 was the first time since Doyle Brunson in 1977 that a player had achieved such a feat.

The Texas player Daly didn’t care about making any poker history other than his own as he went on to beat Venezuelan Dorian Rios heads-up for his third WSOP title, drawing level with Green in the process. Winning three bracelet in just three years, Daly is a man in form.

“It is nice to get a win at the beginning of the summer, rather than spending $100k chasing the losses,” he smiled. “I’ve been fortunate enough to get back those losses the last two summers, so at least this time we’re starting out ahead. I’m going to be firing away.”

Asked about playing with Green at the final table, Daly said it was ‘really cool’.

“A couple of guys in my hometown know him,” he said. “[They] talked about him being an old-school legend. I did talk to Perry about it, and it was great to see him play. We all hope that we can still be doing what he was doing at 80 or 90 years old.”

Wang Wins First Bracelet

Three more winners took down WSOP events over a red-hot weekend in Las Vegas. In Event #5, the $5,000 entry Pot Limit Omaha event, Yang Wang took home $595,388 in winning his first ever WSOP bracelet after beating legendary U.S. pro Jesse Lonis heads-up. The Chinese player Wang, no stranger to big-field events, or major wins, now has over $6 million in live tournament earnings alone.

Winning his first-ever WSOP bracelet was a source of relief as much as it was pride for Wang, who came second in the $50,000-entry PLO bracelet event in the Bahamas which netted him a career-high score of $1,006,680 when he came second to Stephen Chidwick. This time around, he got the job done and took home gold, though Lonis was OK with his runner-up result.

“Thanks for all the support! Good start to the summer! Can’t be mad any time you turn $5,000 into $400,000.”

Cheung Beats “End Boss” Yoon to Claim First WSOP Title

“He was the end-boss when I first played in the WSOP.”

British player James Cheung became a WSOP winner for the first time as he conquered one of his Seven Card Stud heroes to do it. Winning the $1,500-entry Seven Card Stud Event #6 for $103,185, a delighted Cheung said that to beat the five-time bracelet winner Brian Yoon heads-up for his own first bracelet was the stuff of dreams.

“It feels so right to be able to play him heads-up and be able to win the title,” he said.  “He was the end-boss when I first played in the WSOP. To overcome him and win my first WSOP bracelet is a great tournament narrative for me.”

Casella Seals Latest Chess and Poker Crossover Crown

Michael Casella was used to playing with royalty for years in games, moving kings and queens along the way. The poker star, who sealed his first bracelet win just last night with a victory over the seven-time champion and Poker Hall of Famer Nick Schulman was ecstatic as transferring his chess skills to the poker felt. Winning $141,963 up top, Casella paid tribute to the supe-experienced Schulman after a gutsy heads-up battle.

“I’m relieved, he [Schulman] was all-in so many times, and he’s such a good player so anything can happen. Each time he won, I felt like I could lose at any time.”

Schulman has previous for denying a potential debut bracelet winner is similar circumstances. Only last year, the American toppled Darren Elias after seven hours to prevent the four-time WPT winner from adding a WSOP bracelet to his collection, although the New Jersey sealed an online win a fortnight later.

“I’ve been competing my whole life in chess,” Casella went on. “It’s very demanding – physically and emotionally – so I can handle heads-up poker better.”

Plying his poker trade in mixed games in Los Angeles, the chess champion paid tribute to those rooting him on from his ‘home’ casinos.

“[To] the guys and girls at the Bike and Commerce who have been rooting me on,” he said. “In their mixed games they always have Badugi, and everybody loves Badugi.”

Could Phil Hellmuth Win Bracelet #18 Tonight?

Phil Hellmuth is the record 17-time WSOP champion, and he is just 14 players away from winning his 18^th in Las Vegas tonight. Down to the last 15 players of 204 total entries in the $10,000 buy-in Event #9, the Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship, Hellmuth busted Brian Yoon on the bubble to bag up a sixth-place stack of 665,000 chips by the end of Day 2.

With legends of the game such as Scott Clements (1,980,000), Dylan Weisman (1,940,000) and Josh Arieh (1,120,000) all ahead of him, Phil won’t find it easy, but who’d bet against the Poker Brat winning yet more gold and the top prize of $450,176 in the series he loves more than any other?

Photography by Eloy Cabascas and Jess Beck for the WSOP.