2025 WSOP Day 12: Can Mike "The Mouth" Matusow Finally Break Bracelet Drought?

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Jun 08, 2025 4 min read

Welcome back to PokerNews coverage from the 2025 World Series of Poker!

Another WSOP weekend is underway, with two more bracelet winners crowned as Blaz Zerjav and Aloisio Dourado both clinched maiden titles.

Two more will be crowned today as the $1,500 PLO Bomb Pot and $10,000 Stud Championship reach their conclusion. All eyes will be on the latter, to see if Mike Matusow can break a 12-year bracelet drought and finally win bracelet number five!

Meanwhile, Day 2 of the Colossus gets underway with a field of over 16,000 trimmed down to a just 2,326. That resumes at 11 a.m. local time.

Matusow, Heimiller and Friedman Headline $10,000 Stud Championship Day 3

"I don't know if you were watching today, I played phenomenal," Mike Matusow told PokerNews shortly after bagging on Day 2 of Event #25: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship. "I think I'm as good as anybody else."

They sound like the words of a man looking to win his fifth WSOP title, and he heads into the final day fourth in chips. He'll have to contend with eight other tough stud players, including Hall of Famer Mori Eskandani, 2025 bracelet winner Dan Heimiller and current chip leader Chino Rheem.

Another Hall of Famer in the shape of Daniel Negreanu narrowly missed out on a place in the final day, eliminated in 11th place at the hands of Qiang Xu.

Event #25: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship Day 2 Chip Counts

Xixiang Luo Eyes Back-to-Back Bomb Pot Bracelets

Twelve months ago, the very first double board bomb pot event was held at the WSOP, and was won by Xixiang Luo. Now, that event was a mix of No-Limit Hold'em and Pot-Limit Omaha, with one bomb pot per orbit. Fast forward to now, and the event is purely Omaha with bomb pots on every hand.

The tweaks, apparently, did not work as Luo leads the final 13 players in Event #24: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Double Board Bomb Pot into the final day

Luo leads from Day 1 chip leader Samuel Stranak, with former WSOP Player of the Year Ian Matakis sitting fourth in chips.

The remaining players are all guaranteed $14,748 with the winner taking home $290,400.

Event #24: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Double Board Bomb Pot Day 2 Chip Counts

Mustafov Chasing Maiden Bracelet in $25,000 High Roller

Day 1 of Event #26: $25,000 High Roller attracted 300 entries, with just 96 advancing to Day 2. Late registration remains open through the first level of play on Day 2, with more entries expected to add to the prize pool, which has already surpassed $7,000,000.

Leading the way is Bulgarian Fahredin Mustafov ahead of Cherish Andrews, but there is talent everywhere you look in this high roller field.

Other notable names that bagged up for Day 1 include John Juanda, Stephen Chidwick, Joao Simao and Mustapha Kanit. One of poker’s most famous married couple The Foxens both bagged up for Day 2 with Alex Foxen slightly pipping his wife Kristen Foxen in the chip counts.

Event #26: $25,000 High Roller Top 10 Chip Counts

Bubble Bursts as Rodgers Leads $1,500 Big O

207 players will head to sleep this evening safe in the knowledge of locking up a $3,027 min-cash in Event #27: $1,500 Big O after 15 levels of play on Day 1.

Michael Rodgers will perhaps sleep soundest of all, bagging the chip lead with 654,000 chips, but there's plenty of four-card specialists waiting in the wings. They include Justin Liberto, looking to win his second gold bracelet and end a 10-year drought since winning Event #51: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em Six-Max in 2015.

On Sunday, the tournament will play down to its final five players, with the winner eventually walking away with $297,285.

Event #27: $1,500 Big O Top 10 Chip Counts

Last Colossus Flight Sees Deeb Bag Big Stack

After the last of four starting flights in Event #19: $500 COLOSSUS, 847 players survived into Day 2. That brings the total number of survivors to 2,326.

Leading the way after Day 1d is Stephanie Alderman, with former WSOP Player of the Year Shaun Deeb bagging fourth in chips. Deeb last cashed a live Colossus at the WSOP in Las Vegas in 2018, finishing 1,418th for $920, and is in good position here in 2025.

Other notables advancing to Day 2 from Day 1d include Jeremy Becker (1,207,000), Yuliyan Kolev (1,130,000), Eddie Sabat (1,025,000), Lily Kiletto (841,000), and Roberto Romanello (598,000).

Event #19: $500 COLOSSUS Day 1d Top 10 Chip COunts

Get Ready for Sunday WSOP Action!

There will be a total of seven events underway on Day 12 of the 2025 World Series of Poker, with winners crowned in Event #24: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Double Board Bomb Pot and Event #25: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship.

Day 2 of the Colossus will undoubtedly take up a lot of space in the Paris and Horseshoe, with over 2,000 players returning, but there are also Day 2s in the $25,000 High Roller and $1,500 Big O tournaments.

There's also going to be space for three new events that start on Sunday.

• Event #28: $600 Mixed No-Limit Hold'em; Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack - 10 a.m.
• Event #29: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em - 12 p.m.
• Event #30: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship - 4 p.m.

Based in the United Kingdom, Will started working for PokerNews as a freelance live reporter in 2015 and joined the full-time staff in 2019. He now works as Managing Editor. He graduated from the University of Kent in 2017 with a B.A. in German. He also holds an NCTJ Diploma in Sports Journalism.

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• Tags WSOP25 Mike Matusow Xixiang Luo Chino Rheem fahredin mustafov Cherish Andrews michael rodgers justin liberto Shaun Deeb stephanie alderman
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