Dimitar Danchev Wins WSOP Heads-Up Championship for the Second Time

17th bracelet for Bulgaria

Dimitar Danchev defeated Nikita Kuznetsov in the final of WSOP Event #7: $25,000 Heads-Up Championship, winning the $800,000 top prize.

The victory secured the second WSOP bracelet of Danchev's career. Coincidentally, his first bracelet also came in a heads-up event, the $10,000 WSOP Online Heads-Up Championship on GGPoker in 2022.

This year's live championship in Las Vegas featured a significantly expanded field, growing from 64 to 128 entrants. On his path to the title, Danchev overcame the following opponents:

• Ian Bromfield (USA)
• Chris Nguyen (Germany)
• Killian Denault (France)
• Florian Pesse (France)
• Biao Ding (China)
• Ryuta Nakai (Japan).

In other words, Dimitar managed to avoid encounters with Adrian Mateos or Alex Foxen. Meanwhile, two of his opponents, Nguyen and Ding, are high rollers with eight-figure career winnings.

Danchev's victory brought his country's total to 17 bracelets, moving Bulgaria ahead of the Netherlands and into a tie with the Czech Republic in the overall standings.

Heads-up against Nikita Kuznetsov

The heads-up battle against Nikita Kuznetsov was highly competitive, with the chip lead changing hands multiple times. Many observers noted that both players made the right decisions in the key spots, but Danchev consistently found himself on the stronger side of the deck in the biggest confrontations.

The tense finale was characterized by numerous small-pot exchanges before being ultimately decided by two major coolers: a full house versus trips, both in Danchev's favor.

In the final hand of the tournament, the players entered the pot after limping and checking. Nikita had Q♦7♥, Dimitar had Q♦8♣, and once again the dealer dealt a very dangerous board: 7♠J♥Q♠. On the flop and turn (3♣), the Russian called his opponent's bets, and on the river (Q♣), he put his last chips in the pot.

"One Time," Nikita asked before the final call, but his opponent had the better hand. In the end, it appeared that luck had exacted its price for the Russians' quick wins against  Puustinen and Foxen. 

Who is Dimitar Danchev?

Dimitar Danchev is a professional poker player who specializes in high-stakes tournaments, both live and online. He is 40 years old. He has over $11 million in live tournament winnings and is second in the rankings of Bulgaria's best players.

Danchev was born in Plovdiv and began playing poker seriously at the age of 20. He built up a bankroll playing cash games, but quickly switched to MTTs.

Damitar first tested his skills live in 2010, and the following year, he won his first WSOP cash, earning $827,232 for finishing second in the EPT Sanremo Main Event. His best result, $1,859,000, came three years later, when he took first place in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event.

Danchev's latest major final table at the World Series of Poker was in 2024. In December, he finished eighth in the Triton brand's latest Main Event at the WSOP Paradise series. In the $100,000 buy-in tournament, Dimitar won $475,000.