Ian Pelz wins first WSOP bracelet in second-largest live tournament ever

Across a multitude of Day 1 starting flights, Event #67: $300 Gladiators of Poker at the 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP) drew a combined field of 24,629 entrants – making it the second-largest live poker tournament ever held. 

The historic turnout generated a total prize pool of $6,457,723, with a $420,680 first-place prize for the player able to navigate their way through the massive minefield. 

On Monday, June 30, the final 13 players returned to the Horseshoe to play down to a winner. Ian Pelz, fresh off a third-place finish in Event #60: $3,000 Limit Hold'em, entered the final day of play second-to-last in the chip counts, but when the final card was dealt, he had them all and his first WSOP bracelet. 

"It's wild. I would never go in with the expectation of something like this happening," Pelz told PokerOrg after his huge win. "Coming into today I was twelve of thirteen and just tried to play my cards right and do the best with the situation I was given.

"This is smaller than my normal buy-in, but I just hopped in because I felt like it – and it all worked out!" 

Pelz's path to the win

With the field whittled down to a final table of seven, Sang Sim held the chip lead, and, with the blinds already so high, players fell by the wayside in quick succession. It took less than an hour for play to reach the heads-up stage – with Sim holding a greater than 2-to-1 chip advantage over Pelz. 

Over the course of the next half hour, Pelz chipped away at his opponent's stack and eventually took command of the chip lead. 

Sang Sim let the chip lead slip through his fingers and couldn't recover it.

Omar Sader

After that, it took just a few hands for the two players to collide in the tournament-deciding pot. Pelz kicked off the action with a raise, holding . Sim looked down at in the big blind and opted to three-bet. Pelz made the call and the dealer spread the flop. Undeterred by his whiff on the flop, Sim continued to fire, and Pelz came along with second pair. 

The turn was a juicy one as Sim picked up an inside straight draw and Pelz added a flush draw to go with his pair of eights. Despite picking up outs, Sim slowed down with a check and Pelz took the initiative, firing a nearly half-pot sized bet. Sim made the call and the dealer rolled over the on the river – gin for Pelz and disaster for his opponent. 

Sim, having made his straight on the river, opted to move all-in and Pelz immediately made the call, tabling his flush to win the pot and the tournament. 

$300 Gladiators of Poker final table results