The first featured table of the summer is a wrap after nearly five hours of play on Saturday at the 2025 World Series of Poker. Spaniard Antonio Galiana won his second WSOP bracelet in as many years, while two players from the $25K Fantasy world scored big points at the final table.
The $5K 8-Max drew 693 entries and five of them returned on Saturday to play for the meatiest chunk of the $3.1 million prize pool and the top prize of $582,008. Galiana picked up his second WSOP title after he came from behind in a heads-up battle with Fred Normand, who was looking for his first WSOP title.
Galiana sealed the deal after a big hand when he turned a flush with the same card that gave Normand a straight. Normand tossed out a big bet on the river and Galiana called, setting up a river shove from the runner-up that ended the tournament.
"It's been a tough tournament overall," Galiana told us after the win. "And at today's final table I played with great players."
"I tried to do my best and, you know, it's poker. Variance sometimes smiles to you and sometimes it doesn't. Today the luck was on our side."
Galiana earned his first bracelet in the $2,500 Freezeout at the 2024 WSOP. The second bracelet, Galiana says, is much easier than the first.
"The first one was so stressful. It was a long heads up. When you are here for second time, you got that experience and it's a lot more calm."
Galiana will be here for the rest of the summer. "From the first day to the last day. I'm going for the third (bracelet)."
Among the rest of the final grouping were two $25K Fantasy players, Christian Roberts and Renji Mao, the last of a group of nine who made up more than one-third of the final 25 players on Day 3.
2025 $5K 8-Max Day 4 results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Antonio Galiana | Spain | $582,008 |
| 2 | Fred Normand | Canada | $387,979 |
| 3 | Christian Roberts | Venezuela | $270,407 |
| 4 | Renji Mao | China | $191,550 |
| 5 | Gaetan Balleur | France | $138,948 |
Fantasy hopefuls run deep
The final two fantasy players survived to make the livestream after six of them reached the unofficial final table of nine. A fantasy-heavy final thinned out when Michael Moncek bowed out in ninth for 21 points, Justin Liberto in seventh for 36 points, and Uri Reichenstein scored 44 points for finishing sixth.
Outside the final nine, Justin Saliba and Ethan ‘Rampage’ Yau both picked up 14 points with a six-point field bonus for finishing in the top 18 players.
The tournament also had a number of ODB Bonus players who picked up points, starting with Blake Bohn and his 20th-place finish. Joining Bohn, Francis Anderson, Asher Conniff, and Eric Blair were the longest lasting players of a large group of bonus runners who each picked up two points for their ODB Fantasy teams.
$5K 8-Max top ten fantasy finishers
| Place | Player | $25K Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Christian Roberts | Girl Dads | 66 |
| 4 | Renji Mao | Splash Sports | 59 |
| 6 | Uri Reichenstein | DPMD | 44 |
| 7 | Justin Liberto | AJ's Eagles | 36 |
| 9 | Michael Moncek | Survivor Sweat | 21 |
| 15 | Justin Saliba | Team Noori | 14 |
| 17 | Ethan Yau | Girl Dads | 14 |
| 20 | Sam Soverel | Team Lang | 2 |
| 23 | Georgios Sotiropoulos | Glue Factory | 2 |
| 28 | Dong Chen | Lady Gaga | 2 |
