With the final table of the $26K Super Main Event playing to a conclusion on Thursday, the Caribbean sun will soon have set over the 2025 World Series of Poker Paradise festival.
But before the matter of who will take down the epic $10 million first prize is settled, there were two other tournaments crowning champions of their own: the $25,000 Single Day Turbo and the $2,500 Closer Turbo Bounty. And both would see WSOP bracelets awarded to first-time winners.
Johan Guilbert cleans house at the $25K final table
The final 8 players returning to see out the Super Main Event will be coming back for a fifth day of play, capping a rewarding if exhausting week of poker. Part of the appeal of a turbo, on the other hand, is the chance to play a tournament to completion from start to finish in a lot less time.
But these things don’t always go as planned. The $25,000 Single Day Turbo proved too much for one day, with a field of 287 thinned down to six before time was called.
A second day was hastily scheduled, flights home were changed, and the final six players — led by Brazil’s Iago Sturzeneker — returned to see it through.
With under 5bb at the start of the final day, Johan 'YoH ViraL' Guilbert of France was one of the very shortest stacks. The semi-retired pro — who some may recognize from his appearance in 2023’s Game of Gold — was named the Breakout Player of the Year at the 2021 Global Poker Awards, but has in recent years taken a more relaxed approach to the game.
Now based in Dubai, and spending more time DJing than playing poker, he sees poker more as a hobby than the full-time grind he lived for a decade or more.
But a dominant final day display proved he still has the chops to go all the way.
Guilbert quickly ran up his Day 2 stack in the most impressive of fashions: by eliminating every one of his opponents, including the Finnish phenom Eelis Pärssinen, who ran Guilbert the closest on the day.
With a little luck on his side — including hitting a timely 3-outer to stay alive — Guilbert managed to build a stack and play a game capable of taking on and beating several WSOP bracelet winners, eventually picking up one of his own.
His first World Series gold bracelet comes over a decade after his debut WSOP cash, and at $1,534,645 is close to double his previous biggest tournament score — a 2nd place finish at WSOP Europe in 2021.
GGMillion$ $25K Single Day Turbo - final table results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johan Guilbert |
$1,534,645 |
| 2 | Eelis Parssinen |
$1,043,400 |
| 3 | Ramiro Petrone |
$724,500 |
| 4 | Iago Sturzeneker |
$512,800 |
| 5 | Michael Moncek |
$370,200 |
| 6 | Andrija Robovic |
$272,600 |
| 7 | David Chen |
$205,000 |
| 8 | Eric Yanovsky |
$157,300 |
| 9 | Denys Chufarin |
$123,400 |
Love, supreme
At 509 runners, the $2,500 Turbo Closer Bounty had a field almost twice the size of the $25K turbo, but in this case a Day 2 was all part of the plan.
86 progressed to the final day, with 77 making the money, and by the time the final table of 8 was set it was notorious online crusher Blaz ‘Sc4rm4k3r’ Zerjav of Slovenia who led the pack.
Imari Love may be more familiar with the cold winters of the American Midwest than a sunny December in The Bahamas, but the Illinois native heated up when it mattered most.
Having negotiated a final table that saw Zerjav maintain his early lead, Love made it to heads-up play against the Slovenian at a significant chip advantage, down 5 to 1. He soon evened the score, however, and the pair eventually played a pot for all the marbles.
As it often does, the right river card made all the difference as Love hit a straight to topple Zerjav's top pair and, like Guilbert, picked up his first WSOP bracelet, along with $145,725 — more than double his previous best live tournament cash.
$2,500 The Closer Turbo Bounty - final table results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Imari Love |
$145,725 |
| 2 | Blaz Zerjav |
$95,400 |
| 3 | Sergi Reixach |
$65,800 |
| 4 | Robert Pollmeier |
$46,200 |
| 5 | Daniel Neilson |
$33,100 |
| 6 | Theodore Doukas |
$24,100 |
| 7 | Agustin Naranja |
$18,000 |
| 8 | David Orlando |
$13,700 |
WSOP Paradise will come to a close with the finale of the Super Main Event, starting Thursday at 12pm.
Check out who is still in with a shot at the $10 million up top.
