With Jack Effel’s traditional “Shuffle Up and Deal!”, the 56th annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) officially got underway in Las Vegas. Over the next seven weeks, 100 gold bracelets will be awarded across 100 events, all taking place at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas casinos.
For several years now, the series has kicked off with the $500 Industry Employees No-Limit Hold’em event, and the 2025 WSOP was no exception. The tournament drew 914 entries, generating a prize pool of $402,617.
When the dust settled, it was Phovieng Keokham who captured the first bracelet of the summer with a $64,369 payday to go along with it. He defeated Christopher Zollo heads-up, grabbing his first-ever WSOP bracelet, after Zollo unfortunately made an ill-timed bluff that sealed the deal.
With this win, Keokham nearly doubled his lifetime tournament earnings, which now surpass $135,000. Notably, his last WSOP cash came in the very same event two years ago, when he finished 128th in the 2023 edition.
2025 WSOP Event #2: $500 Industry Employees No-Limit Hold’em Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Phovieng Keokham | United States | $64,369 |
| 2 | Christopher Zollo | United States | $42,886 |
| 3 | Shaun Colquhoun | United States | $29,850 |
| 4 | Michael Coombs | United States | $21,126 |
| 5 | Mark Kawamoto | United States | $15,207 |
| 6 |  Pedro Green | Dominican Republic | $11,138 |
| 7 | Connor Richards | United States | $8,301 |
| 8 | Rick Muniz | United States | $6,299 |
| 9 | Francois Truong | United States | $4,867 |
| 10 | Jordan Russell | United States | $3,074 |
2025 WSOP Event #2: $500 Industry Employees No-Limit Hold’em Final Table Recap
A total of 138 players returned for Day 2 of Event #2: $500 Industry Employees No-Limit Hold’em and after seven and a half hours of play, the final table was set with ten hopefuls, none of whom had previously claimed a WSOP gold bracelet.
At the top of the leaderboard sat Christopher Zollo and Shaun Colquhoun, both boasting stacks of over 5 million chips. Michael Coombs followed with 3 million, good for 50 big blinds, while Phovieng Keokham entered the final table on life support with just 10 big blinds.
Several other players hovered in the danger zone, but the first to fall was Jordan Russell in a three-way all-in. Holding pocket tens, he was in the worst position, up against Pedro Green’s suited ace-king and Michael Coombs’ pocket queens. The board ran out 6♥J♦4♣K♦6♦, tripling up Green while Russell exited in 10th place for $3,832.
Next to go was Francois Truong. He raised with pocket queens from middle position, Green called, and Zollo squeezed from behind. Truong jammed and was called by Zollo, who revealed pocket kings. The board brought no help for Truong, sending him out in the ninth for $4,867.
At this point, Rick Muniz was the table’s short stack and he managed two double-ups but couldn’t pull off a third. He opened with pocket sixes and was flatted by Zollo on the hijack. On a 9♦9♣9♥ flop, Muniz shoved and Zollo snap-called with pocket aces. Only two running cards could save Munit and the turn J♥ sealed it, ending his run in eighth for $6,299.
Connor Richards had survived several close calls but couldn’t avoid Zollo’s momentum. Down to six big blinds, Richards moved in under the gun with ten-nine suited. Zollo again had a premium pocket queen and held on the A♥5♥4♥3♣J♦ board. Richards took home $8,301 in seventh.
It felt like Christopher Zollo might be on a run of his life, but soon he got quite a competitor in Phovieng Keokham. Once the shortest stack, Keokham was mounting an impressive comeback, when he found pocket aces against Pedro Green’s ace-queen, knocking him out in sixth for $11,138, as the board ran out 3♠9♠2♦7♣6♠.
Start-of-the-table chip leader Colquhoun found his first victim in Mark Kawamoto, who pushed ace-four suited on the small blind and Colquhoun looked down at king-ten, which was too good to fold in the big blind. A ten on the flop proved enough, and Kawamoto was out in fifth for $15,207.
After a standard open from Colquhoun and a big blind defend from Keokham, the flop came A♣5♥8♠. Colquhoun c-bet and Keokham called. On the 4♥ turn Colquhoun slowed down and checked-called a bet from his opponent. On the 9♣ river, Keokham shoved after another check, and Colquhoun thought for a second before calling with ace-six, only to see Keokham table 9♥8♥ for two pair. Colquhoun departed in third place with $29,850.
That left Keokham and Zollo heads-up for the bracelet and $64,365. Keokham held a slight edge with 108 big blinds to Zollo’s 77. Despite the deep stacks, it didn’t take long to reach a conclusion.
Zollo opened the action and Keokham fired back with a 5x three-bet. Zollo paused, then moved all-in for nearly 10 million chips. Keokham snap-called with ace-queen, ahead of Zollo’s ambitious six-nine. The flop came 9♠10♠4♦, vaulting Zollo into the lead, but the Q♥ on the turn flipped the script completely. The river 2♣ was a blank, sealing the win for Keokham.
Phovieng Keokham, who started the final table with just 10 big blinds, completed a remarkable comeback to claim his first WSOP bracelet and $64,369. Christopher Zollo finished as the runner-up, earning $42,886.
* Hands courtesy of pokernews.com
