When we talked to Nick Schulman after his seventh WSOP bracelet in 2025, he was ready to fully embrace his End Boss status at the WSOP.
Schulman had just beaten Darren Elias in a heads-up slugfest to close out the $10K 2-7 Single Draw Championship. It was an emotional win after an intense battle, and the fourth in a string of victories over first-time bracelet hopefuls.
"It's all kind of crazy," Schulman said at the time. "It became very crap-shooty at the end, but that's real End Boss territory. I'm honored to somehow come out on top against him."
Schulman's place at the end of the rugged path to a WSOP bracelet started in 2023, when he beat Andrew Hasdal in $1,500 Stud. Hasdal, a real estate whiz from Chicago, had Schulman on the run at the end, but the End Boss prevailed.
Schulman would do it again in 2024, blocking Noel Rodriguez in the $25K High Roller, and then again later that year at WSOP Paradise in the $5K Closer against Ren Lin.
End Boss returns
Schulman would finally give one up last year in the $10K 2-7 Triple Draw Championship, when Alexander Wilkinson beat him for a first bracelet. Schulman would join the Poker Hall of Fame later that summer, and he's now added some extra validation to that decision.
Nick Schulman's WSOP bracelets
- 2009 - $10K 2-7 Championship - $279,742
- 2012 - $10K 2-7 Championship - $294,321
- 2019 - $10K PLO8 - $463,670
- 2023 - $1,500 Stud - $110,800
- 2024 - $25K High Roller - $1,667,842
- 2024 - $5K Closer (WSOP Paradise) - $145,000 + Bounties
- 2025 - $10K 2-7 Championship - $497,356
- 2026 - $1,500 HORSE - $183,366
On Friday night, the WSOP's End Boss returned in the $1,500 HORSE event. This time, it was the final day's chip leader Clayton Mozdzen, a Canadian mixed games grinder from Winnipeg. Mozdzen has already enjoyed a deep run at the 2026 WSOP with a fifth-place finish in the $1,500 Dealer's Choice, but this was his first shot at a WSOP bracelet.
It wasn't meant to be, especially after Schulman scored two late knockouts. Mozdzen had managed to hang tough with the champ through four-handed play, but that's when the newly-branded eight-time champ turned on the jets.
Schulman would enter heads-up with a big chip advantage, and it was over quickly.
2026 $1,500 HORSE final table results
- Nick Schulman - USA - $183,366
- Clayton Mozdzen - Canada - $122,206
- Jonathan Nebbout - France - $84,397
- Joe Brindle - UK - $59,324
- Mike Wattel - USA - $42,455
- Raymond Smego-Barranco - USA - $30,944
- Kent Gugelman - USA - $22,978
Lead image courtesy of World Series of Poker.
