“This is the only thing I’ve really wanted, like WANTED.”
And with that statement, scratch another name off the list of greatest players to have never won a WSOP bracelet.
After no less than a dozen final tables at the World Series of Poker, longtime mixed-game star Matt Vengrin has finally reached the mountaintop to claim his first WSOP hardware, winning Event #54: $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha.
The win also comes with a career-best $306,791, but it’s the bracelet that Vengrin clutched with such love and pride during his winner’s photoshoot that was what mattered most to him after so many near misses, including three previous heads-up losses.
“I’ve been coming here for a long time. I’ve had very good competition when I’ve been heads-up. I’ve been heads-up three times. I lost to Yuri (Dzivielevski - 2020 $400 Online PLOssus), I lost to Dan Idema (2015 $3,000 H.O.R.S.E.), and I lost to Amnon (Filippi – 2022 $1,500 Omaha 8 or Better), and they’re all very good. Today, I faced maybe the toughest heads-up I’ve had so far in his own game, so to do it like that is special.”
Vengrin: 'Game on, let's go'
Vengrin defeated two-time bracelet winner Bryce Yockey in a short but eventful heads-up match. Vengrin entered heads-up play with just over a 2-1 chip lead, but only a few hands in, Yockey was able to chip away at the lead and then actually overtake the eventual champion, who entered the day with the lead and steadily extended it until facing Yockey in the final duel.
While many players before him who had been in complete control all day but then saw their lead evaporate would have a moment of pause, hesitation, or concern, not so for Vengrin. In fact, it was a point in the match he relished.
“You know what? I actually enjoyed that moment, weirdly enough. I smiled. I remember smiling and thinking, game on, let’s go. I just love the competition of poker. Just being able to come back and not let it faze me and move on to the next hand and get the win is special.”
Hand of the tournament
Vengrin quickly rebuilt and never relinquished the lead again, leading to a massive hand, which shockingly wasn’t the end of the match, when it easily could have been.
With 3,500,000 in the pot at blinds of 125,000 / 250,000 (250,000) and a completed board of 
, Vengrin potted it following a Yockey check, which was met with a re-pot check-raise from Yockey.
That bet left Yockey with just 5,000,000 behind, which he would have to put in to get to showdown as Vengrin moved all in over top.
Yockey thought for a couple of minutes before eventually tossing his cards into the muck. While the hands weren’t revealed at that moment, as the duo embraced after the match, Yockey told Vengrin he folded jacks full of sixes. Vengrin said he had jacks full of sevens.
Just a few hands later, Vengrin completed his victory with a full house of sixes full of tens versus Yockey’s trip tens.
Next up, POY?
With the win, Vengrin moves into the top ten of the WSOP Player of the Year race, having already earned five cashes, including a 5th-place finish in the $10,000 Dealer’s Choice Championship.
Now with that elusive bracelet under his belt and a bunch of points on the POY leaderboard, does that become the next goal on his agenda?
“Definitely yes. I was going to anyway, but this will make it easier to wake up every morning.”
A full-on celebration for his triumph may have to wait until after the series, as he continues chasing that Player of the Year title, with plans to hop right back into the mix Saturday, likely in the $3,000 9-Game event.
But the champ and co-owner of Yohama Noodles, a popular (and, from personal experience, outstanding) restaurant in Las Vegas’ Spring Valley area, didn’t deny that a special or two could be on the menu in the near future. Though he did pass the ultimate call on that to his partner in their business and in life, Nutcha.
“You’re going to have to ask my boss over there — she’s the one in charge of all that. Yeah, maybe we’ll figure something out. For poker players, yeah.”
