The 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP) began on Tuesday 27th of May 2025, and so far, there have been interesting updates coming out from the two-month-long tournament. Coming into this year’s edition, fans expected nothing but fun, action and drama, and just a few days into the tournament, it has lived up to expectations.
The 2025 WSOP started in the biggest way possible as Tyler Montoya shocked everybody in Event One. Event One was the $1,000 Mystery Millions, and Montoya pulled out the one-million-dollar mystery bounty envelope, making history not just for himself but also in mystery bounty history.
During these events, players don’t just compete for money or play to enjoy the thrill; it is also a festival, meaning that players can enjoy the culture and vibrant energy that the WSOP brings. To get involved, all players must understand the rules fully. During the WSOP, the type of poker that is played is no-limit Texas Hold’em. To learn Texas Hold’em rules, you should read the breakdown provided by PokerScout.
For Montoya, he got off to a flying start, cashing out a million dollars in the opening hours of the event. He had made just half a million dollars in earnings from playing before Event One, but after pulling the bounty envelope, he immediately joined the WSOP Millionaire Club and the ranks of players like Franco Spitale, who won $1,250,125 in 2024. He didn’t try to hide his excitement as he shouted out that he became a millionaire at 23, thanks to the WSOP.
Montoya’s earnings are the biggest from the competition so far, but there are still other bounties to claim in this event. There is a $500,000 prize still unclaimed, a second $1 million bounty envelope and several bounties worth up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
On Day 2, Phovieng Keokham emerged as the winner of the $500 Industry Employees No-Limit Hold’em event. The event drew a crowd of about 914 people with a prize pool of $402,617. Keokham won a total of $64,369 for finishing in first place, while the remaining prize money was shared among the top 137 players.
Other winners from the WSOP include Antonio Galiana, who cashed out $582,008 in prize money from the $5,000 Eight-Handed No-Limit Hold’em event. David Shumel ($205,333), Caleb Furth ($620,696), Dan Heimiller ($106,840), and Artur Martirosian ($500,000) won top spots in the following events: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better, $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha, $1,500 Seven Card Stud and $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em Championship, respectively.
While some participants are playing for instant winnings, some participants are playing for a chance to write their name in WSOP history. This is the case for Canadian star Daniel Negreanu, who wants to be on the WSOP all-time bracelet list. He is a force in the poker community worldwide, winning seven WSOP bracelets and accruing $55 million in career earnings to his name.
From the 2025 WSOP, he holds 1,550,000 chips, which is 480,000 more than his challenger, Matthew Beinner, topping the $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship. If he can win the event, he will earn his bracelet from an Omaha event, which will take his total career bracelets to eight. He would sit in sixth place in the all-time list.
The 2025 WSOP is getting more intense by the day, and from the news so far, the next few weeks in the poker scene will be filled with excitement and drama.
