TOP 7 Live Poker Events in 2025

Michael Mizrachi: PPC, Main Event, Hall of Fame

Few would argue that Michael Mizrachi's most memorable achievement of the year was his performance in Las Vegas.

In the space of a month, the American:

• Became the first player to win the Poker Players Championship four times;
• Won his eighth WSOP bracelet by winning the $10,000,000 Main Event;
• Was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame as an exception. The Hall of Fame rules only accept one player per year, and Nick Schulman will be inducted in 2025.

Interestingly, back in 2010, Michael came close to winning both tournaments, but only finished fifth in the Main Event.

Millionaire Maker: Winner Didn't Receive a Bracelet

Our top list wasn't without controversy. For the first time in WSOP history, the winner didn't receive a bracelet at the end of the tournament.

Jesse Yaginuma was so motivated to win the $1 million bonus from the American poker room ClubWPT Gold as a special online ticket holder that he violated the series rules.

He struck a heads-up deal with James Carroll in Event #53: $1,500 Millionaire Maker and, under extremely dubious circumstances, won the tournament, starting with a stack of 7 big blinds against 121 big blinds.

The WSOP organizers paid out the prize money, but Yaginuma never received a bracelet.

Ossi "Monarch" Ketola's Heads-Ups

The new Onyx Poker Club celebrated the most expensive public heads-up in poker history.

American professional Dan "Jungleman" Cates and Finnish businessman Ossi "Monarch" Ketola played for approximately 12 hours. Ossi later posted on social media that he lost approximately $19 million in one sitting.

The Finn's dream was to play against Phil Ivey, but the American declined the match. Perhaps the two sides will be able to reach an agreement next year.

Shiina Okamoto: Two Back-to-Back Wins at the WSOP Ladies Event

In 2025, Japanese poker player Shiina Okamoto cemented her status as the face of the WSOP Ladies Event, reaching heads-up for the third year in a row and winning it for the second time in a row.

In 2023, she finished second in the $1K Ladies Event, earning $118,768, while the title and $192,167 went to American Tamar Abraham. A year later, Shiina returned to the WSOP and, before registering, tweeted, "I'm back for what I left here last year," referring to the bracelet.

In 2024 and 2025, the Japanese player won tournaments that featured over a thousand women.

High Stakes Poker: The Biggest Pot in Show History

Players on the iconic show High Stakes Poker set a new pot size record in 2025. For the first time, more than $1 million was played at the show's tables.

Show regular Alan Keating won a $1,412,500 pot against businessman Peter Wang.

Keating is known for his unconventional hand selection and loose image, which led to his opponent paying him off with top set. It's worth noting that Keating was lucky on the final street—Wang's flush draw failed to hit either of the two rivers.

WSOP Reform

Phil Hellmuth initiated two major debates surrounding the future of the World Series this year.

The record-holder for most bracelets called for increasing the value of WSOP wins by drastically reducing the number of bracelets, and also criticized the current Player of the Year formula.

The social media discussion attracted the attention of the organizers, and several points were resolved:

• The POY standings no longer include results from online bracelet tournaments;
• In addition to the Las Vegas leg, the rankings now include WSOPE and WSOP Paradise tournaments;
• The top 100 players in the rankings will share $1,000,000 in ticket packages to series events.

It was also announced that WSOP Europe will move to Prague and be held in the spring of 2026.

Bernhard Binder's $10 Million

Besides Mizrachi, another player managed to win an eight-figure sum in a single tournament in 2025.

Bernhard Binder took first place in the $25,000 Super Main Event at WSOP Paradise and won $10,000,000.

The tournament attracted 2,891 entries, making it the largest buy-in event in poker history.

Binder was the youngest player at the final table, and he played heads-up against 78-year-old Jean-Noël Thorel. It's worth noting that before this victory, the Austrian's highest live tournament winnings were only $64,500.