20 Dec 2025 Beginner This material is for beginner players The 2025 World Series of Poker Paradise’s $25,000 Super Main Event unimaginably made history. With a guaranteed $60 million prize pool, the event transformed into the largest poker game ever witnessed. When the action started down at Atlantis Paradise Island in the Bahamas, there were more players, and a new star had definitely arrived on the live poker scene. The $25,000 buy-in event attracted a massive field of 2891 players. It generated a record-breaking prize pool of $72.3 million and had four starting flights, two Day 2s, and 3 days of action. After the dust settled, only one man was left standing. Bernard Binder, a 27-year-old pro from Austria, took home the title and a whopping $10,000,000 payday along with his first WSOP bracelet. Record-Breaking Event Draws Elite Field The Super Main Event paid out 436 players and beat its guarantee by over $12 million. What made Binder’s win more significant was that several prominent poker players made deep runs. Martin Kabrhel, Santhosh Suvarna, David Coleman, Chad Eveslage, Ren Lin, Felipe Ramos, and Faraz Jaka all made it to the money. Just before the final table, there was a hand that got everyone talking. Eight-time bracelet winner Benny Glaser was eliminated in tenth place after Eric Wasserson took a long time to call a preflop all-in with pocket aces. Glaser left with $665,875 after his Ace-Queen couldn’t improve. Leonard Maue was next. He finished in ninth place after Jean-Noel Thorel’s pocket aces defeated his pocket kings. When the tournament got to the final table, there were eight players left. Thorel entered the final table as the chip leader, and all the players there had already cashed millions. Early Final Table Eliminations Set the Tone Franco Spitale was the first player to be eliminated at the final table. The Argentinean, who was short-stacked, went all in with . Wasserson called with . The board landed , which ended Spitale’s run. He took home $1.1 million for his eighth-place finish. Peter Chien was the next player in line to be eliminated. Chien shoved his last 10 big blinds in with versus Binder’s . Nevertheless, when four diamonds landed on the board, everything changed. Chien was sent to the rail in seventh place, earning $1.4 million, which was the biggest payday of his career. After a string of bad beats, Natasha Mercier’s tournament life came to an end. First, she lost a big pot with A-8 against A-J. Then, she went all-in holding , and faced Thorel’s . The board paired a king, which caused her to finish in sixth place and earn a $1.8 million prize, marking the best score of her career. Her deep run marked the second year in a row that a woman got to this event’s final table. A Wild Five-Handed Battle and Costly Folds For hours, no one was eliminated in five-handed play, as stacks moved back and forth. One hand was one of the most exciting games. Belarmino De Souza raised holding , Binder called with , and Thorel defended with . The flop fell , and the fell on the turn. Thorel, who had two pair folded after Binder placed a bet. De Souza called with a straight and flush draw. Binder placed a huge overbet on the river. In the end, De Souza folded his straight, which would have led to a chop. The decision shocked viewers and commentators. Soon after, Wasserson was out in fifth place. He moved all-in holding after a raise from Binder, who had . Binder made a flush to win the pot, sending Wasserson home with $2.35 million. Million-Dollar Payouts and a Clear Favorite Terrance Reid claimed fourth place and $3 million after his couldn’t beat Binder’s flush. Reid got the first seven-figure score of his career and ended a great run. The next player to be eliminated was De Souza, whose great run came to an end brutally. After flopping trips and improving quads on the river, Thorel baited De Souza into making a bet before he went all-in. De Souza called and got the bad news: he came in third and took home $4 million for his efforts. When the tournament reached head-up play, Binder had a considerable chip advantage, but Thorel did not back down and battled him fiercely. For a brief stretch, both players traded big pots back and forth, but as the blinds rose, Binder pulled ahead. In the final hand of the event, Thorel raised with , and Binder went all-in with . When Thorel called, the board read . Binder won by pairing his eight on the river, earning a massive $10,000,000. Binder celebrating after his win (Image courtesy of WSOP.Com) Poker Community Reaction Binder’s big win sparked a quick reaction in the poker world. @SundahlFred: Congratulations 👏👏🎉 — Fredrik Sundahl🎲 (@SundahlFred) December 19, 2025 @AnotherRadProd: Congrats to everyone in the FT. Great poker all around. — Wordy (@AnotherRadProd) December 19, 2025 @TimeTraveler524: Nice Win 🏆 — TimeTravelerPoker🏆#RH (@TimeTraveler524) December 19, 2025 @TWITdan25: Binder done that 👍🏻 — Daniel Antebi (@TWITdan25) December 19, 2025 Final Table Results Rank Player Winninga 1 Bernhard Binder $10,000,000 2 Jean Noel Thorel $6,000,000 3 Belarmino De Souza $4,000,000 4 Terrance Reid $3,000,000 5 Eric Wasserson $2,350,000 6 Natasha Mercier $1,800,000 7 Peter Chien $1,400,000 8 Franco Spitale $1,100,000
