You know there’s something special going on at the WSOP when you see Phil Hellmuth getting his bag searched and holding his arms up for a sweep with a portable metal detector.
He looked bemused but did as he was told before taking his bag and heading in to play the $25K High Roller HORSE tournament.
He wasn’t being singled out. Everyone who wanted to enter the main tournament area at the Horseshoe today had to do the same thing.
And Hellmuth wasn’t the star turn for once. Nine other players, including Leo Margets and Michael Mizrachi, were about to start the biggest final table of the summer, with $10 million up top for the winner of the 2025 Main Event.
Margets and Mizrachi the star turns
Inside, the Bronze area of the room had been cleared, and a big screen and spectator seating set up. A small portable bar had been erected to keep them well oiled.
Friends and family had the wristbands that let them get on the rail. Then players started arriving, with Margets — the sole woman on the Main Event final table — surrounded by cameras.
A win for Margets or Mizrachi would see them enter the history books. Margets would become the first woman to win the Main Event. Mizrachi would become the first player to win the $50K Poker Players Championship and the Main Event in the same year.
The winner wouldn’t be decided today. Instead, we’d play until there were four players left, who then return on Wednesday to battle for the bracelet.
Fireworks from the start
We had a feeling that this final table might play more aggressively, with a player like Mizrachi pushing the action.
We weren’t expecting to lose a player on the very first hand. Poor Daehyung Lee. He’d spent all Monday preparing for the biggest final table of his life. He lasted five minutes.
Lee had entered as the second-shortest stack with 22 big blinds and raised from UTG+1 with 
. John Wasnock called from the big blind with 
and hit a dream set on the 
flop. Lee had flopped top-top and bet 3 million after Wasnock checked to him. Lee moved all-in, and Wasnock snap-called him with 96% equity.
The 
turn brought Lee some outs, but his equity was still only 9%. The river bricked out with the 
and Lee had to settle for ninth-place money — a cool $1 million.
Jarod Minghini was next out, and it was starting to look like small pairs would decide where the bracelet went. Kenny Hallaert wielded them this time, and his fours stayed ahead of Mingini’s 
through the 
runout.
Mizrachi soars, dream dies for Margets
It was hard to keep up with the action. Mizrachi pushed a lot of it, and he found the perfect spot to play another monster pot when he found
Wasnock had three bet with 
and Mizrachi four-bet to 30 million, committing himself. Wasnock shipped, and Mizrachi called with 
, creating a pot worth over 150 million chips.
The 
flop was clean for the kings. The 
turn brought some more outs for Mizrachi, but what he didn't know is that he only had three outs in the deck with other cards already discarded. The river was one of them and saw Mizrachi wheel away and celebrate wildly with his rail.
And then came the elimination no neutral wanted to see, and it was another small pair that did it for Margets. She called from the small blind with 
and, facing a shove, knew she couldn’t fold.
Hallaert had sixes, and Margets needed to improve to survive.
And she managed it, hitting an ace on the turn. Unfortunately, that ace had given Hallaert a flush draw.
Margets stood with her rail, not watching the runout. They held her close as the dealer prepared to deal the river. A six or any spade would now win him the pot and knock out Margets.
And the river was the 
. Margets asked her rail what had happened, but the sounds from the room would have told her it wasn’t good. Her elimination sucked the energy from the room, and the other players lined up to say their goodbyes.
Mizrachi goes on a tear
Mizrachi continued to hoover chips up. He took out Adam Hendrix with after betting and then shipping over a Hendrix three-bet. Hendrix had 
and was ahead, but he would also know how well Mizrachi was running.
Mizrachi hit on the turn this time, with the board running out 
.
Mizrachi won another huge pot with and didn’t have to see a flop. He four-bet to 40 million, and that was enough to see Hallaert’s 
and Braxton Dunaway’s 
hit the muck.
We had to wait almost two hours for the final elimination of the night, and it was Luka Bojovic who fell with the best hand.
He had and had a great chance to double against Wasnock's 
. Wasnock hit a straight flush draw on the 
flop but didn’t need it — he hit his jack on the turn, and just like that, we were down to four.
Incredibly, Mizrachi has over 75% of the chips in play. He’d predicted earlier that if he got a deep stack, everyone else would be in trouble. So far, he’s been good to his word.
The remaining four players return at 1.30pm Wednesday to see who will be crowned the 2025 Main Event champion.
2025 Main Event final four stacks and payouts
- Michael Mizrachi — 445,200,000
- John Wasnock — 94,500,000
- Braxton Dunaway — 25,300,000
- Kenny Hallaert — 19,400,000
- Luka Bojovic — $2,400,000
- Adam Hendrix — $1,900,000
- Leo Margets — $1,500,000
- Jarod Minghini — $1,250,000
- Daehyung Lee — $1,000,000
