The American defeated Marco Johnson heads-up to bag a $206,982 prize and his maiden bracelet.
It took a full three days of play to decide a winner from the 458 runners who created a prize pool of $1,019,050.
While not the biggest field or prize pool, these mixed games events tend to attract plenty of big names, making them particularly tough.
Daniel Negreanu was one such name and it must have been stressful for Kupin to be challenging for his first WSOP title with the Canadian at the final table.
After the event was wrapped up, we learned just how nerve-racking the latter stages were and also the surprising news that Kupin and Johnson were online rivals from years gone by while they were still working their way up the stakes ladder.
“When you have the lead the whole day, you’re kind of already imagining winning. I’m in the car, I’m already thinking about what I’m going to say in the interview. And then when you get heads-up with a big lead, you almost feel like you have more to lose than you do gain.
“I’ve been coming to the World Series for a lot of years now and trying to win one of these. So it’s really great to try and achieve that goal.
“Marco and I have played a lot online together at the lower stakes a few years. A lot of people don’t play them. We’ve actually played a lot of heads-up together. He didn’t know that because we played under usernames, so he never knew who I was.
“Some of my experience with a couple of those games is only playing this tournament and then occasionally in a Dealer’s Choice, somebody calls them. The Pot-Limit Triple and the Five Card Draw High, I’ve never played them outside this tournament. So just relying on my poker knowledge and fundamentals and principles to try to navigate those games.”
Action Recap
There were 11 players returning for Day 3 but it wasn’t long before Hiroyuki Noda fell victim to Negreanu during a round of Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo.
Event #48: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha winner Christopher Vitch was also out at around the same time after he clashed with Kupin in a round of No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw. This left nine challengers, all hoping for a spot at the six-man official final table.
Next to leave was 2021 Main Event final tablist Hye Park, soon followed by Steve Billirakis and Robert Mclaughlin to set the final table which included Daniel Negreanu.
Bariscan Betil was first to leave once the final six assembled at a single table. A full house house over full house horror show reminding everyone what a brutal game PLO can be.
Jeff Madsen, the 2006 Player of the Year race winner, was out in fifth place after clashing with Marco Johnson in a standard coinflip.
And then it was time for Negreanu’s event to run out of steam as he ran into Kupin on a charge. A monster draw failed to materialise and he was out in fourth with a prize of $60,792.
It may be some consolation for Negreanu to have already made four final tables at the WSOP 2025, edging ever closer to the record of seven set by Phil Hellmuth in 2021 and Jeremy Ausmus last year.
Ofir Mor didn’t last much longer, leading the way to a heads-up match that didn’t look like a potentially long battle. Kupin already held a substantial lead and didn’t take any risks while steadily finishing the job .
Event #76: $2,500 Mixed Big Bet Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (USD) |
| 1 | Aaron Kupin | United States | $206,982 |
| 2 | Marco Johnson | United States | $134,345 |
| 3 | Ofir Mor | United States | $89,289 |
| 4 | Daniel Negreanu | Canada | $60,792 |
| 5 | Jeff Madsen | United States | $42,426 |
| 6 | Bariscan Betil | United States | $30,369 |
