Michael Lavin destroyed his final table opposition on his way to securing the bracelet in Event #20: $1,500 NLH Shootout. Already the owner of a bracelet from an online WSOP event, this was his second career, but first live bracelet victory. He collected $267,373 for his impressive performance, in which he busted all but one of his final table adversaries.
Michael Lavin, winner of 20256 WSOP Event #20 $1,500 Shootout
Fifteen returned for the third and final day of the 1,299-player shootout. There had been an impressive 22 live bracelet winners amongst the 152 players who won their Day 1 tables, including 2016 Main Event Winner Qui Nguyen. But astonishingly, only one of them, Jason Wheeler, progressed to the final day. In addition to Levin, there were two other players who made the final day who have won online bracelets, Fred Goldberg and Drew O’Connell, who has two to his name.
The format for the final day was a 15-player freezeout, a shootout of sorts, but perhaps not one for the die hards from back when shootouts were all the rage.
Lavin outdrew an unfortunate Joel Vazvuez on the very first hand of the final table and took the chip lead soon after. That set the tone and from then on he never looked back, busting player after player as he ascended the bracelet mountain with ease. If this had been a PKO, he’d have gotten the absolute lot.
Lavin, from New Jersey, has gained most of his experience playing online, where he has had considerable success. He has numerous cashes in major online tournaments, including winning four WSOPC rings and one WSOP bracelet. He credited the ease with which he scooped the title to the experience he had playing online sit and go’s, although he also acknowledged that he had been extremely lucky in some of the day’s hands. Just a bit Michael.
The poker dream is still alive. Long nights, bad beats, and sacrifice are all worth it for the glory. 🙏
2025 WSOP Event #13: $1,500 Shootout Final Day Recap
All 15 returning players started with more or less the same stack, with small discrepancies due to how many opponents each faced on their starting tables, as chips were carried forward from each round. This inevitably resulted in a slow start to play, with no short-stacks to face early decisions for their tournament lives.
It took two hours for the first player to hit the rail, American Joshua Thomas, who retreated from the tournament area with $13,440 for his 15th-place finish. He was ousted by Michael Rossitto. It was almost another hour before Tzir Levy departed in 14th place, also for $13,440. The Israeli had been very short stacked, but survived a series of all-ins, before Luis Carmona dealt the fatal blow.
With the blinds now at 50k/100k and a 100k big blind ante, the short-stacks were under pressure and the pace of eliminations picked up. Soon after Levy’s departure, Zyad Qasem (13th) and Tian Liu (12th) surrendered their tournament lives, each cashing for $16,350.
The exits were like when you’re waiting for a bus: none come for ages, then three arrive all at once. In this case, a fourth bus arrived and congestion began to build up at the payout window. The next unfortunate was Canadian Duff Charette, who became another victim of Rossitto. He was in good shape when the cards were tabled, with queens versus Rossitto’s tens. But the flop contained the last two tens in the deck and that was that. Charette had to make do with $20,340 for his 11th-place finish.
Unofficial Final Table Begins
These were the chip counts and seating draw, when the unofficial final table began.
Seat
Player
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Linyang Song
1,600,000
16
2
Michael Lavin
3,375,000
34
3
Jason Wheeler
2,750,000
28
4
Luis Yepez Carmona
2,000,000
20
5
Jordan Westmorland
5,350,000
54
6
Drew Oconnell
2,550,000
26
7
Joel Vazquez
2,700,000
27
8
Fred Goldberg
3,100,000
31
9
Punnat Punsri
4,475,000
45
10
Michael Rossitto
4,200,000
42
After this flurry of exits, with just ten players left, the remaining tables were merged, there was a redraw and the (unofficial) final began. It didn’t take long for it to become an official one, as Fred Goldberg busted within 20 minutes of unofficial final play. His queens were no good enough for Punnat Punsri’s kings and he officially busted in tenth place for $20,340.
This hand propelled Punsri into the chip lead and play continued on the PokerGo TV table.
Official Final Table Begins
However, Punsri’s chip lead did not last long, as Michael Lavin began his charge for the bracelet on the very first hand of the official final table. He called Joel Vazquez’s 2.6m all-in with A♠Q♣ only to find himself up against the Mexican’s A♥K♠. But the flop included the Q♠, bringing Vazquez’s participation to an end in ninth place for $25,610.
A few hands later Lavin won a pot against Punsri and assumed the chip lead. The next exit was the only one that Lavin was not responsible for, when Drew O’Connell got into an unfortunate pre-flop raising war holding A♦J♦ walking into the A♥A♣ held by Michgael Rossitto. The board didn’t provide any love for the two-time online bracelet winner and he became the eighth-place finisher, cashing for $32,640.
The pace of eliminations had been frantic ever since Tzir Levy had busted in 14th and it did not relent just yet. Just one hand later, Jordan Westmorland, who had recently been the chip leader, fell by the wayside. He had pocket aces and Lavin had nines. A nine flopped, but the money didn’t go in until the river and he departed in seventh for $32,080.
Not long after, Jason Wheeler became Lavin’s next victim. A few hands before his exit, he had doubled up with Q♠Q♦ versus Lavin’s Q♥10♥, but it was forlorn. His tournament came to an end when his A♠K♠ failed to improve against Lavin’s J♠J♥ settling for sixth place and $54,900.
The quick-fire nature of the final table continued and just a few hands later Luis Yepez Carmona became the next player to lose an all-in to Lavin, when being ahead. This time Lavin’s A♣4♦ was dominated by Carmona’s A♥9♣ but the flop of 4♠7♦3♦ determined the outcome of the hand. The Venezuelan exited in fifth for $72,450.
But play wasn’t ready to slow down just yet and within 20 minutes the field was reduced to three. CanadianLinyang Song became the next player whose hand would fail to hold against Lavin. He had re-raised all in for his last 2.2m after Lavin had opened to 350k. Lavin called and once again had pocket nines, but Song was ahead with queens. This time it was the turn that did the damage, when Lavin spiked one of the remaining two nines in the deck. Song finished in fourth for $96,710.
At this stage, three-handed, Lavin was in possession of almost two-thirds of the chips in play and firmly had his sight set on the bracelet. Continuing to apply the pressure, he pulled further ahead of his rivals, but his progress stalled when he lost a 4.7m pot to Rossetti.
But that was just a temporary setback and he soon resumed construction of his masterpiece, eliminating Punnat Punsri in third for $130,560. In this hand, the Thaiplayer opened to 400k, which Lavin raised to 1.3m. Punsri called and they saw a flop of 8♠3♣Q♣. Lavin led out with a 750k bet, which Punsri called.
Lavin then checked on a Q♦ turn, which Punsri responded to with a bet of 650k. Lavin’s riposte was to move all-in and Punsri was lured into making the call. He tabled 9♥8♥ for two pair, but was drawing dead as Lavin revealed A♦Q♥ for trips.
Punnat Punsri calls all in drawing dead on the turn! That means it's now heads-up play at the @WSOP $1,500 NL Hold'em Shootout final table.
Most of the final had been a rapid affair and it looked like the heads-up could go the same way, as Lavin held over 70% of the chips in play after Punsri’s departure.
Michael Lavin: 23.5m
Michael Rossitto: 9m
Rossitto wasn’t just going to take it lying down and he staged a fightback, doubling with kings. The destination of the bracelet was still unknown, but one thing was certain, the winner would be called Michael.
However Rossitto was not able to sustain this momentum and had been whittled down to 3.25m when the final hand of the tournament was dealt. He moved all-in with A♣3♠ and was called by Lavin, who held A♠2♣.
This matchup most often ends up as a chopped pot and it was certainly looking like that would be the outcome on a flop of 10♠7♦K♥.
However, the deck had other ideas and the 2♠ on the turn all-but sealed the deal. The 2♦ on the river completed the job and Michael Rossitto was vanquished in the runner-up spot, but with $178,240 to soothe the cuts and bruises.
After accumulating all the chips in the tournament, Michael Lavin became the 2025 Event #20 $1,500 Shootout Champion, adding a live bracelet to his trophy collection and banking the first prize of $267,373.
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Michael Lavin
Punnat Punsri
Linyang Song
Luis Yepez Carmona
Joel Vazquez
Tian Liu
Tzur Levy
