WSOP 2025 Round-Up: Adrian Mateos and Benny Glaser Etch Their Names into Poker History

Last night also saw British MTT crusher Benny Glaser win his third title of the WSOP 2025 after a dominating performance in the $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball.

Kristopher Tong must have been feeling a little bit shoved to one side after his maiden WSOP victory in Event #55: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship. 

It’s not every day we see a relatively unknown player break his duck in one of the $10K championship tournaments, but having Benny Glaser and Adrian Mateos crushing on the other tables naturally stole all of the attention.

Adrian Mateos Makes it Five

This latest achievement of Adrian Mateos comes while still at the relatively young age of 30. That’s five bracelets by an age that only four players can beat — Phil Ivey (28), Phil Hellmuth (29), Allen Cunningham (30), and Daniel Alaei (30).

This interesting hybrid format attracted 444 entrants with Mateos and Bulgarian crusher Alex Kulev the clear favourites when it came to final table time.

And that’s the way it played out with the two big names squaring off against each other for the plaudits.

Kulev began with a massive 4-1 chip advantage but it was just never going to be his day. Mateos won pot after pot and before long he was a five-time champion.

History was also on the Spaniard’s side as he still remains undefeated in WSOP heads-up matches.

$3,200 NLH High Roller Final Table Payouts

Benny Glaser Cements Legend Status

Benny Glaser is one of the greatest online MTT players of all-time. Now he has turned his attention to the live scene with proper attention we are seeing what a legend he is becoming.

Eight bracelets is an achievement that only six players before him have to their names, but to do this with three in three weeks is something special indeed.

Incredibly, Glaser still has less than $10 million worth of live tournament cashes on his record. Not what one would think is representative of a player of his status in the game.

Since June 2, Glaser has taken down the $1,500 Dealers Choice, the $1,500 Mixed PLO8 and now the $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball (2-7, A-5, Badugi).

Although these weren’t the largest events in the series, each win still meant dealing with a field of more than 400 players.

“It feels outrageous, honestly. Three in one series. That’s so many in one series and it’s not even over yet. It’s unreal.

“In a way it’s kind of funny that it’s happening in the lower stakes buy-ins where the fields area bigger as opposed to the 10k’s which are normally more winnable. Like the second bracelet had 1,239 runners. It’s honestly crazy. Such a grind, such a battle.”

Schuyler Thornton did what he could to maintain his challenge. Glaser began heads-up play with a slender lead but Thornton was out of the trap like lightning, building a 2-1 lead of his own.

It took an impressive hero call from Glaser to turn the tables and after that there was only a single double-up for Thornton to keep hold of any hope. That hope then evaporated when a pat ten was outdrawn and Glaser wrote himself into history.

$2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball Final Table Results

Kristopher Tong Takes Down $10K H.O.R.S.E. for $452,689

Kristopher Tong came out on top of a field stacked with big names and mixed games specialists to capture his maiden WSOP bracelet.

Tong was up against a final table that boasted no less than 21 bracelets, but he had been close himself before.

After getting the job done he was full of emotion, telling reporters:

“I’m like super blessed in life. But I had kind of like a family tragedy like eight, nine months ago, and honestly it kind of messed me up for a little while. 

“I’ve like grown so much, learned so much, really special people have come into my life more from that situation and it’s just like crazy.

“Calling my parents, who’ve always been there for me and have really helped me through the last nine months, and then my kids. That’s what I do everything for, my two motivations in life are them, so it was incredible.”

It’s been a long time coming for Tong. He’s played poker since the tender age of five with his family and set out to win bracelets before moving into the cash game scene.

Now he’s talking about trying to compete with the best players in the world.

“I want to definitely compete with all the best players and see where I’m at and get better, because there’s a ton of better players that played this tournament, but it’s a tournament so anyone can win.”

This event of 207 players with a prize pool of $1,925,100 was certainly good practice for that.

Event #55: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship Final Table Results

Mark Patrickson

Professional Poker Journalist

Mark Patrickson is a poker journalist with over ten years of experience. He writes for VIP-Grinders.com, sharing his deep knowledge of poker. He creates interesting content about poker strategy, trends, and news for poker fans worldwide. [more]