Event #17 of the 2025 World Series of Poker drew 1,692 entries to the tables at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, generating a prize pool of $3,011,760 and delivering another action-packed edition of the ever-popular $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em event.
Scheduled as a three-day tournament, the action and the stacks were so deep that even after more than 12 hours of play on Day 3, the final table wasn’t quite finished.
Play was paused with just two contenders left after Umesh Babusukumar was eliminated in third place sometime after 1 a.m., with only two contenders remaining: bracelet winner Scott Bohlman and Dusti Smith. With the bracelet and $436,044 still on the line, they returned the following day after a short night’s sleep to settle it heads-up. One aimed to become a two-time champion, the other chased her first bracelet and first female win since Kristen Foxen’s WSOP.com win in October 2024.
In the end, it was Scott Bohlman who held firm to his chip advantage to secure his second career WSOP bracelet and a $436,044 payday, the biggest score of his career. His first bracelet came in the 2018 $2,500 Mixed Big Bet event for $122,138, but this latest triumph pushes his live tournament earnings past the $3.2 million mark.
Meanwhile, Dusti Smith’s impressive run was rewarded with $290,588 for her runner-up finish, which also marks her biggest career score. With the result, Smith officially crossed the $1 million mark in live earnings.
2025 WSOP Event #17: $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Scott Bohlman | United States | $436,044 |
| 2 | Dusti Smith | United States | $290,588 |
| 3 | Umesh Babusukumar | United States | $210,033 |
| 4 |  Quan Zhou | China | $153,576 |
| 5 | Benjamin Williams | United States | $113,617 |
| 6 | Xiaohu Liu | China | $85,056 |
| 7 |  Rafael Mota | Brazil | $64,443 |
| 8 |  Henrik Juncker | Denmark | $49,421 |
| 9 |  Samy Boujmala | France | $38,369 |
| 10 |  Allen Shen | Canada | $30,161 |
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2025 WSOP Event #17: $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em Final Table Recap
Only 19 players returned for Day 3 of Event #17: $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em, but as we have just learned, not even 12 hours of action would be enough to get a winner. Dusti Smith came in as the clear chip leader with 8.5 million, good for 142 big blinds. Scott Bohlman began the day in third with 80 big blinds, just behind Quan Zhou who sat in second with 87 bigs.
It took almost seven hours of play before the final table commenced, with the power ranking remaining largely unchanged: Smith in front, followed by Zhou and Bohlman.
The first to fall at the final table was Canada’s Allen Shen. After Smith opened, Shen committed nearly all his chips with pocket fives. The rest went in after a 9♦Q♠J♣ flop, but Smith had flopped top pair with ace-nine. The board ran out clean for her, sending Shen out in tenth for $30,161.
Moments later, Samy Boujmala jammed from early position with king-queen and Bohlman isolated with ace-queen. The board of 5♦9♠2♥8♠J♠ brought no help, and Boujmala was gone in ninth for $38,369.
Then came a three-way collision. On a J♦5♥2♣ flop, Henrik Juncker was already all-in preflop, while Zhou and Smith got their chips in as well. Zhou had flopped top set with pocket jacks, while Smith held ace-king and was drawing thin, and Juncker had ace-nine hoping for a miracle chop.
The 5♣ on the turn sealed the deal, giving Zhou a full house and a huge chip lead. Juncker collected $49,421 for his eighth-place finish.
Two hours passed before Rafael Mota moved all-in with ace-king on the button. Benjamin Williams woke up with pocket jacks and made the call. A low board favored the pair, and Mota was eliminated in seventh place for $64,443.
Good-looking ace-king continued to disappoint, this time for Xiaohu Liu. After opening with pocket nines, Umesh Babusukumar faced a three-bet from Liu, then moved all-in. Liu called for a pot worth over 15 million, but the board missed him completely, and he exited in sixth for $85,056.
Next came a heartbreaking clash between Benjamin Williams and Bohlman. Williams opened from under the gun, Bohlman three-bet from the small blind, and Williams came back with a four-bet. Bohlman shoved, and Williams snap-called with pocket kings, only to see Bohlman flip over pocket aces. The board ran out 8♥2♥7♦Q♠4♥, and Williams had to settle for fifth place and $113,617.
Zhou was next to say goodbye, pushing most of his stack in with A♦3♦ against Smith’s shove from the big blind holding jack-ten. Zhou called and the flop of Q♦6♣8♦ gave him the lead and a flush draw, but after a blank 5♣ turn, the black river 9♠ completed a straight for Smith. Zhou hit the rail in fourth for $153,576.
At this point, Bohlman had more chips than Smith and Babusukumar combined, who were neck-on-neck in chips. But the latter began slipping out of contention, giving most to Smith.
In his final hand, Babusukumar called all-in on a 4♦6♦9♦ flop with 10♣10♦, but Bohlman had A♦9♣ and improved to the nut flush on the K♦ river. Babusukumar was out in third, earning $210,033.
With two players left and Bohlman holding a 30 million to 20 million chip lead over Smith, it was decided that heads-up play would resume the next day to determine the champion.
A good night’s sleep didn’t seem to do Dusti Smith any favours, as unscheduled Day 4 began with the momentum firmly shifting in Scott Bohlman’s direction. The decisive hand came in a limped pot where both players saw a flop of A♣J♥7♦. They checked it through to the 8♦ turn, where Smith checked again and Bohlman put out a bet.
Smith intended to just call but misclicked, accidentally putting out chips for a minimum raise. Bohlman called. The river J♠ paired the board, and after another check from Smith, Bohlman fired a sizable bet. Smith made the call, only to be shown J♣5♦ for rivered trip jacks. She mucked her hand, and the damage was done as Bohlman’s lead stretched to more than 10:1.
Moments later, it was all over. Smith moved all-in with queen-four and Bohlman called with pocket sixes. The flop of A♥2♦5♥ gave Smith some additional outs, but the 2♠ turn and 6♣ river sealed it, Bohlman improved to a full house and locked up his second WSOP bracelet, along with a $436,044 payday. Smith earned $290,588 for her runner-up finish.
* Hands and photos courtesy of PokerNews and WSOP
