Negreanu Denied as Aaron Kupin Wins First Bracelet in Mixed Big Bet

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Jul 01, 2025 5 min read Last updated Jul 02, 2025

All eyes were on Event #76: $2,500 Mixed Big Bet at the 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP) on Tuesday as Poker Hall of Famer Daniel Negreanu chased his eighth bracelet, requiring the tournament to move to the feature table for an emergency stream. Negreanu, who was at his fifth final table of the summer, came short as he finished in fourth place before Florida's Aaron Kupin defeated heads-up opponent Marco Johnson to win $206,982 and his first bracelet.

Kupin, a longtime grinder who had his first WSOP cash in 2018, entered as the Day 3 chip leader and described "relief" after closing out the event.

"When you have the lead the whole day, you’re kind of already imagining winning," Kupin told PokerNews in a winner's interview. "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.”

The Mixed Big Bet event, a rotation of nine no-limit and pot-limit Hold'em, Omaha and draw variants, drew 458 runners for a prize pool of $1,019,050. The six-handed final table also featured 2006 WSOP Player of the Year and four-time bracelet winner Jeff Madsen and first-time bracelet hopefuls Bariscan Betil and Ofir Mor.

Event #76: $2,500 Mixed Big Bet Final Table Results

Defeating a Familiar Opponent

It wasn't until after the tournament ended that Johnson, a two-time bracelet winner, learned he had battled with Kupin before in the online streets.

“Marco and I have played a lot online together at the lower stakes a few years ago … when I was trying to learn all these crazy games that are pretty obscure," Kupin said. "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.”

But Kupin said he didn't rely on that experience against "Crazy Marco" from years prior in his heads-up match. Not that it would help him in some of the variants that presented themselves at the final table.

"When you have the lead the whole day, you’re kind of already imagining winning"

“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," he said. "The Pot-Limit Triple and the Five Card Draw High, I’ve never played them outside this tournament. So [I'm] just relying on my poker knowledge and fundamentals and principles to try to navigate those games.”

Kupin's favorite game? “I really enjoy draw games. I used to play open-face Chinese poker all the time.”

Day 3 Action

There were 11 players who returned for Day 3 as they took their seats at the two outer feature tables. With the betting limits high, it didn't take long for Hiroyuki Noda to bow out in 11th place at the hands of Negreanu during a round of Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo.

At the other table, Event #48: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha winner Christopher Vitch fell in 10th place while playing No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw as his nine-eight couldn't beat out the seven-six of Kupin.

The subsequent eliminations of 2021 Main Event final tablist Hye Park (9th - $16,835) and Steve Billirakis (8th - $16,835) got Negreanu to the unofficial final table, while Robert Mclaughlin's seventh-place elimination not long after made it official.

Bariscan Betil went out in sixth place as he took a brutal beat in a full house over full house PLO hand against the eventual champion as the five remaining players moved to the outer feature table for cards-down streamed coverage.

2006 Player of the Year Jeff Madsen fell in fifth as he lost a flip with pocket fours against the ace-seven of Johnson. Madsen was consoled as he left by a supportive rail that cheered every time Madsen took in a pot at the final table.

Next came Negreanu's time, who was rapping, nicknaming and vlogging throughout the final table. "Three-six-nine, damn she fine, hoping she can sock it to me one more time PLO, PLO," Negreanu improvised at one point.

After doubling up Ofir Mor, Negreanu collided with Kupin in a PLO pot where Negreanu raised the flop only for Kupin to lead jam on the turn. "No gamble, no future," Negreanu said as he called with a major draw that included a wrap and flush draw.

Sadly for Negreanu's fans, a brick river card confirmed his elimination in fourth place for $60,792.

Negreanu has now had four official final appearances this year, meaning he is closing in on the record seven final tables made by Phil Hellmuth in 2021 and Jeremy Ausmus in 2024.

Mor fell shortly after Negreanu to make way for a brief heads-up battle after the dinner break. Kupin entered with a sizable lead and gradually chipped away at Johnson before a final Single Draw confrontation where Johnson's nine-eight-seven couldn't beat the nine-eight-six of Kupin.

Kupin's rail included his fiancée (whom he is marrying in February 2026) and a group of close poker friends he's "been through the trenches" with for years, including fellow bracelet winner Dominick Sarle. As they posed for bracelet photos, the group joked that they should've brought Kupin's cat to help the picture go viral.

“We live in Miami, we took him on the plane over here," Kupin said. "So he’s back at the house chilling. I guess he’ll have to wait for the next one.”

Connor Richards is a Senior Editor U.S. for PokerNews and host of the Life Outside Poker podcast. Connor has been nominated for three Global Poker Awards for his writing.

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