WSOP 2025: Czech Backgammon Phenom Zdeněk Žižka Stuns Deeb, Cary Katz with his first bracelet

Zdeněk Žižka Shocks Deeb to Capture First Bracelet
 

Event #84: 1,000$ No-Limit Hold'em delivered another upset at the 2025 WSOP as Czech backgammon professional Zdeněk Žižka rose above a 1,873-player field, halting Shaun Deeb’s push for bracelet number eight (which would have been his second in three days) in a dramatic heads-up finale.

Žižka took home 232,498$, the biggest win of his poker career, and now gets to call himself a WSOP bracelet winner. He entered the added Day 3 second in chips, just behind Deeb, but managed to flip the script in the final showdown.

All three finalists were guaranteed at least 112,413$ coming into the last day. When Jeffrey Thoney busted in third, it set up a Deeb vs Žižka heads-up battle. Žižka quickly seized the advantage, winning a sizable pot with pocket aces against Deeb. The match concluded with a classic coinflip: Deeb’s K s 3 h couldn’t outdraw Žižka’s 2 s 2 d for the victory.

“I just think it’s amazing,” an emotional Žižka said after his win. “It was fantastic playing against Shaun. We’d basically been competing since yesterday, once there were about 50 players left. We kept ending up at the same tables and he was definitely my toughest opponent.” Drawing on experience outside poker also paid off: “I’ve always loved games. I’ve been playing backgammon since I was five, and started traveling to tournaments professionally at sixteen.”

Shaun Deeb will have to wait for bracelet #8, but he banked 154,906$ for his runner-up finish, plus more critical points in the WSOP Player of the Year race, where he remains in the lead.

Kravchuk Sets the Pace After Day 2abc, Women Dominate Headlines
 

Day 2abc of the WSOP 2025 Main Event welcomed 2,681 survivors from flights 1a, 1b, and 1c, joined by another 265 late registrants. As a result, the total number of entries before Day 2d hit 8,959, making this already the third largest Main Event in history.

Leading the chip counts is Oleksii Kravchuk from Ukraine, the only player to cross the million-chip threshold, bagging 937,500 for Day 3. Phil Hellmuth also advanced, winning a huge flip on the first hand and ending the day with 187,000. Joining him in the hunt are past champions Greg Raymer (226,000), Greg Merson (123,000), Damian Salas (129,000), and Johnny Chan (95,500).

It was a less fortunate day for former champions Qui Nguyen, Scott Blumstein, and Robert Varkonyi, all sent to the rail early. Martin Kabrhel, one of the summer’s most talked-about personalities, is also out of contention.

The real story, though, was the women dominating the Day 2abc headlines. Juliet Hegedus put on a masterclass performance and will return with 627,000, making her the top-ranked woman in the field. Susan Faber (435,000), Marte Sandberg (403,000), Lara Eisenberg (214,000), and Katie Lindsay (170,000) all enjoyed strong days as well. Vanessa Selbst (160,500) continues to impress on her WSOP comeback and appears poised for a deep run.

Roughly 1,320 players made it through the day and will return for Day 3 on July 8, when the remaining flights merge into a single massive field and the real battle for the world title begins. The prizepool has already surpassed 86 million dollars.

Cary Katz: Finally a Bracelet
 

American high roller and PokerGO founder Cary Katz finally ended his bracelet drought after more than a decade of tries. Katz claimed victory in Event #83: 2,500$ No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout, conquering a 1,299-strong field for a career-best 449,245$ payday.

Ironically, Katz hadn’t planned to play the event. “I was going to rest up for the Main Event, but something just told me I should show up. I love freezeouts, so I gave it a try and it turned out to be the right decision,” he shared after locking up the win.

The final table needed an unscheduled fourth day, with Katz returning as one of the last four. He came from behind in heads-up against Brazil’s Breno Drumond and secured victory in a classic flip with 3 h 3 c holding up against A d J d.

Katz now heads into the Main Event as a fresh bracelet champion and with the confidence to play, in his own words, “loose and free.”

Source: WSOP, PokerNews, YouTube