Almost half a lifetime ago, Juan Rodriguez was fearfully folding pocket kings in a $45 daily tournament at the old O’Shea’s here on the Las Vegas strip.
Fast forward to Monday night, and it was a king on the river of the 2026 WSOP $5,000 Seniors High Roller that gave him his first WSOP bracelet in front of a huge rail of friends that he’s collected over his 19 years of poker since that day at O’Shea’s.
The Peruvian-born grinder, who now lives in the Tampa Bay area, sent his rail (and himself) into jubilation when he finished off runner-up Mariman Yaghmai with that dramatic river card that gave him a winning pair and the bracelet.
The champion told us that collecting a circle of support during his time in the game has meant a lot to him, culminating in this moment.
“I’ve been playing poker for a long time, and I really just have a lot of friends. It's so important to me that whenever you’re at the table, win or lose, that you always have a good presence and you gain respect from your opponents. I feel like I’ve done that throughout the years. It’s basically people that I’ve accumulated throughout the years.”
A third bracelet for Peru
The now-52-year-old Rodriguez came to the United States to play tennis at Butler University at age 20, and hails from Peru, a nation with just two previous WSOP bracelets won by Diego Ventura in 2023 and Ewald Mahr Olivera in 2022.
While he had a Peruvian flag on his chair at the final table and waved it proudly in victory, the national significance of his win was information he wasn’t initially aware of.
“No way! Amazing, amazing. I may have lived in the United States [most of] my life, but I’m still 100% Peruvian. I go back often. I was there not long ago. I love my food, I love my people, I love my music, I love everything.”
The bracelet for him, the money for his family
Rodriguez’s win came with a massive $673,011 first prize, by far eclipsing his previous best score of just over $47K.
He says the bracelet will be for him, but the money is for his family, notably his young son Max who, among other things, will be getting a whole lot of new Toy Story swag when daddy gets home.
“Before, when I was playing, I may just have been playing more for final tables and rings or whatever, but now that I have a family, that’s all I had on my mind: my little boy and to make sure he has a happy future ahead of him.”
It’s real, and it’s spectacular
As for that bracelet, in his first moments as champion, Rodriguez couldn’t believe it.
“Is this real?” he asked, as he first picked up the trophy that he couldn’t even glance at minutes before.
“It’s absolutely gorgeous. It’s more beautiful than I thought it was going to be. I didn’t want to look at it because I didn’t want it to be one of those situations where it feels like a mirage and not real, but once I saw it, I was astonished. I thought it was beautiful.”
$5,000 Seniors High Roller final table results:
- Juan Rodriguez (Peru) - $673,011
- Nariman Yaghmai (Iran) - $448,634
- Qing Lu (USA) - $314,158
- Chad Lipton (USA) – $223,439
- Marc Rivera (Philippines) - $161,446
- Arie Kliper (USA) - $118,541
- Kenneth Kim (USA) - $88,469
- Luke Graham (USA) - $67,130
Images courtesy of WSOP.
