WSOP 2025 Round-Up: Third Time Lucky for Brit Robert Wells

Day 29 of the WSOP 2025 saw the finale of the new $1,000 Battle of the Ages event where Sebastiaan de Jonge outlasted  a field of 3,074 entrants to claim the biggest share of the $2,815,784 prize pool.

Other winners last night were Moshe Gavrieli, who denied Scott Bohlman a second bracelet this summer, and Craig Savage who topped a monster field of 5,082 to win the $500 Freezeout.

Robert Wells Finally Gets Over the Line

Anyone who stumps up the buy-in for a WSOP event dreams of winning a bracelet, but most likely don’t feel that it is going to happen.

Robert Wells probably fitted into that category some years ago. Prior to 2022, he had only registered two live tournament scores — a £190 event in 2009 and a £25 event in 2011.

But then the bug bit him really hard. A single score at the WSOP 2022 was followed up a year later with eight, including a pair of five-figure results.

2024 saw six WSOP cashes — two of them second places — along with his first score at an EPT event, nicely done in the confines of the Monte Carlo Casino.

And then all of a sudden, at the start of 2025 he’s in the PokerGO studio competing against some of the best in the business for up to $25,000 buy-ins!

So, we think it’s fair to assume that the 42-year-old is not fazed in the slightest about who he goes up against.

Some part of that might be down to his friendship with Brazilian crusher Yuri Dzivielevski, who won this exact event last year.

Somehow when Well’s was just a low-stakes mixed games player, he was introduced to Dzivielevski and the pair became good friends over discussion of hands.

“I feel tiredness mostly, not really feeling like it’s real. It’s amazing. I came second twice last year, so I know that pain on the other side, so being on this side of it is amazing. If I could have picked any tournament to win, this would probably be two on the list, besides the PPC.”

Action Recap

Event #58: $3,000 Nine Game Mix had 409 entries, some of them seeing this as a warm-up for the $50,000 Poker Players Championship which started yesterday.

The field was whittled down to only 18 come the start of Day 3, and quickly further reduced, including Dzivielevski heading to the rail in 11th place.

By now there was only a single clearly short stack, leading to a slower pace of play until Ari Rabin-Havt and Philip Sternheimer, and exited the event to leave the eight-man final table settled.

Yueqi Zhu was first to go, falling foul of Fu Wong’s pat six.

Jonathan Glendinning had started Day 3 as the chip leader but it all went horribly wrong in 2-7 Triple Draw and he was the second player to leave the final table.

2-7 Triple Draw also took out David Bach, another victim for Wong.

Nicolas Barthe and Anthony Ribeiro didn’t last much longer and then it was Fu Wong’s turn.

The cash game specialist went for a three-bet jam against Wells’s button open in No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw and both players stood pat. Wong’s jack lost to Wells’s nine and it was off to the heads-up battle.

Canada’s Thomas Taylor started the match with a slight lead, but both players looked particularly cagey with no wild swings in the chip stacks. But just before the break we saw Taylor take a 2-1 chip lead, threatening to make a run for glory.

The break was timely for Wells, who came back reinvigorated to initiate a tough, back-and-forth fight.

It was during a round of Stud Hi-Lo that the tide really turned, with Well’s now commanding a significant lead, but Taylor wasn’t done.

The Canadian fought back into contention valiantly, before a switch to No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw ended the event in a single hand.

Taylor opened with an eight and called off his stack against the pat ten of Wells and then hit a pair on his draw to hand the trophy straight to Wells.

Event #58: $3,000 Nine Game Mix Nine Game Mix Final Table Results

Sebastiaan de Jonge Beats the Young and the Old

Dutchman Sebastiaan de Jonge has claimed a prize of $335,390 after winning Event #59: $1,000 Battle of the Ages.

This unique novelty event attracted 3,074 entrants to build a prize pool of $2,815,784 — but the real attraction for this tournament was that the players would be separated into over and under 50 categories.

When Day 1a and Day 1b had sorted out who would be continuing in the event, there were 461 players ready to fight in a combined field on Day 2. So many, in fact, that an unscheduled Day 3 was needed to decide a champion.

All in all, the event took around 20 hours for Sebastiaan de Jonge to win his bracelet, including a spell  at the start of Day 3 where he had only five big blinds.

Speaking after his win, he said:

“Incredible run, actually really lucky, ridiculously lucky. It’s funny how many rivers, how many good rivers, you need to win the tournament. If you think back on all the rivers you had, it’s really insane.”

Event #59: $1,000 Battle of the Ages Final Table Results

Moshe Gavrieli Denies Scott Bohlman Second Bracelet

Moshe Gavrieli was the last man standing in Event #60: $3,000 Limit Hold’em (6-Handed), topping a field of 343 entries to bag a prize of $200,303.

Gavrieli did the job in style, defeating WSOP 2025 Player of the Year leader Scott Bohlman heads-up to earn the biggest prize of his live tournament career.

“I’m very excited. It’s a dream come true. I feel I was just dominating him, I had it almost every time, except once when I bluffed and he caught me but 99% of the time I had real hands because of card distribution. He’s an amazing player, but everything just went my way today.

“I never dreamed I’d win a bracelet. I came out for five days just to play this tournament. I don’t even have a hotel or a flight home right now. I’m a house painter. I’ve got a job, a girlfriend, and employees. I’ll come out here maybe once or twice a year to play, but that’s it. I’m going back to work.”

At the start of Day 3, there was only a single player with a smaller stack than Moshe Gavrieli. This was going to be a real slog, but a healthy dose of discipline and patience was the medicine needed and it worked a treat.

By the time of the heads-up battle, it was clear that Gavrieli was not going to be denied. He played his strategy to perfection and made life for Bohlman as difficult as possible. Every time Bohlman came up with a counter-strategy, Gavrieli was ready for him. A well-deserved victory.

Event #60: $3,000 Limit Hold’em (6-Handed) Final Table Results

Ali Eslami Leads the Way in $50,000 Poker Players Championship

Yesterday afternoon local time saw a real who’s who of poker lining up to play in the $50K Poker Players Championship.

Chief among them was three-time winner Michael Mizrachi, fighting hard for a fourth trophy and ending the day in third place.

Ali Eslami leads the way, followed by Jeremy Ausmus in second place.

Other names to keep an eye on are Phil Ivey (380,500), Benny Glaser (392,500), Daniel Negreanu (662,000), and John Hennigan (438,000).

Event #66: $50,000 Poker Players Championship Top Ten Chip Counts

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]