Alan “Ari” Engel took over the all-time cash lead for WSOP earlier in the 2025 World Series of Poker, and he’s not taking his foot off the gas. He added a couple more cashes this weekend with 31st place in two different games, the $3k NLHE and the $1,500 8-Game
Engel led a slew of Canadian results from Saturday, including Erik Lemarquand with more than 2 million and leading 19 Canadian bags from Day 1c/d of the Gladiator. Elaine Rawn is still in the mix with a bag for the final 14 players in the $1,500 8-Game with 6 Canadians already cashing out of that one, while Matthew Johnson leads 23 Canadian bags in the $10k PLO Championship, with Thomas Taylor, Calen McNeil, Allen Shen, and Kyle Ho also among the bags.
Double Cash Weekend for Engel
Ari Engel added a couple more cashes to his record 600+ WSOP cashes this weekend. The grinder has 11 cashes so far this series, putting his lifetime total over 600 now.
Coincidentally, he scored the same place in both his weekend cashes. In the $3k NLHE, he bagged 31st place for $26,069. The following day, he bagged 31st place in the $1,500 8-Game for $5,285. With a couple of weeks still left in the series, Engel could easily extend his record even more before the final hands of the summer are dealt.
Rawn Goes Deep in 8-Game
The 8-game may well be among the toughest games on the WSOP schedule. With varieties of flop, draw, and stud poker on display, deep runs in 8-game require a mastery of all forms of poker.
Elaine Rawn is showing she can hold her own across the diverse mix. She’s the last Canadian standing in Event #73: $1,500 Eight Game Mix, going into the final day with 1,455,000 chips, good for 6th place out of 14 remaining players, while 6 other Canucks have already cashed out.
She’s already guaranteed at least $9,633 on the final day, but the top prize is $184,682, along with the coveted gold bracelet. Her guaranteed cash already slots in at #2 in her all-time cash list, behind her 2023 WSOP cash in Event #46, but if she manages just a single pay jump, it’ll be her biggest ever.
Looking for Tax Advice?
Across town at the MGM Grand, Vancouver tax expert Fatima Nanji was happily chopping up the top two prizes in the Money Maker $400 Ladies $50k. She took to the socials to celebrate her cash with a bit of a cheeky joke.
For those not in the know, Nanji’s Yaletown Accounting is the go-to spot for Canadian poker players to get their taxes sorted. Yaletown handles ITIN work as well as all basic tax filing, leaving the player to concentrate on the game.
Trust me — she knows exactly where to get her ITIN renewed and her return filed, and she can do the same for any player.
Canadian Cashes from June 27/28, 2025
| Event | Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| Event #68: $3,000 No-Limit Holdem | 31 | Ari Engel | $26,069 |
| Event #68: $3,000 No-Limit Holdem | 51 | Xing He | $18,163 |
| Event #68: $3,000 No-Limit Holdem | 75 | Felix Martel | $11,491 |
| Event #68: $3,000 No-Limit Holdem | 109 | Elizabeth Boles | $8,068 |
| Event #68: $3,000 No-Limit Holdem | 133 | Allen Lixin Shen | $7,343 |
| Event #68: $3,000 No-Limit Holdem | 144 | Yu Liu | $7,343 |
| Event #68: $3,000 No-Limit Holdem | 160 | Sunny Lubana | $7,343 |
| Event #68: $3,000 No-Limit Holdem | 194 | Michael Malm | $6,766 |
| Event #68: $3,000 No-Limit Holdem | 205 | Frederic Normand | $6,310 |
| Event #68: $3,000 No-Limit Holdem | 208 | Geoffrey Hum | $6,310 |
| Event #68: $3,000 No-Limit Holdem | 259 | Nicholas Peterson | $6,010 |
| Event #68: $3,000 No-Limit Holdem | 314 | Vincent Lam | $6,010 |
| Event #70: $1,000 Ladies Championship | 18 | Diana Shamshoum | $6,431 |
| Event #71: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw Championship | 9 | Jonathan Krela | $32,543 |
| Event #73: $1,500 Eight Game Mix | 16 | Sukhpaul Dhaliwal | $9,633 |
| Event #73: $1,500 Eight Game Mix | 31 | Ari Engel | $5,285 |
| Event #73: $1,500 Eight Game Mix | 45 | Thomas Taylor | $3,987 |
| Event #73: $1,500 Eight Game Mix | 87 | Geoffrey Hum | $3,007 |
| Event #73: $1,500 Eight Game Mix | 100 | Adrienne Carter | $3,007 |
| Event #73: $1,500 Eight Game Mix | 108 | Bradley Smith | $3,007 |
Canadian Bags from June 27/28, 2025
| Event | Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| Event #67: $300 Gladiators of Poker 1d | 19 | Erik Lemarquand | 2,030,000 |
| Event #67: $300 Gladiators of Poker 1d | 33 | Adam Cader | 1,650,000 |
| Event #67: $300 Gladiators of Poker 1d | 52 | Renmei Liu | 1,285,000 |
| Event #67: $300 Gladiators of Poker 1d | 56 | Steven Parkin | 1,265,000 |
| Event #67: $300 Gladiators of Poker 1d | 78 | Gary Thorneycroft | 1,140,000 |
| Event #67: $300 Gladiators of Poker 1d | 122 | Ryan Biermann | 910,000 |
| Event #67: $300 Gladiators of Poker 1d | 136 | Gurdeep Parhar | 850,000 |
| Event #67: $300 Gladiators of Poker 1d | 158 | Mohamed Mobeen | 760,000 |
| Event #67: $300 Gladiators of Poker 1d | 182 | Brigitte Korak | 630,000 |
| Event #67: $300 Gladiators of Poker 1d | 204 | Kambiz Zamani | 550,000 |
| Event #67: $300 Gladiators of Poker 1d | 210 | Rami Hammoud | 540,000 |
| Event #67: $300 Gladiators of Poker 1d | 237 | Michael Huang | 480,000 |
| Event #67: $300 Gladiators of Poker 1d | 258 | Kyle Janisse | 425,000 |
| Event #67: $300 Gladiators of Poker 1d | 265 | Connor Daynard | 405,000 |
| Event #67: $300 Gladiators of Poker 1d | 286 | Stephen Dauphinais | 296,000 |
| Event #67: $300 Gladiators of Poker 1d | 289 | Thi Nguyen | 290,000 |
| Event #67: $300 Gladiators of Poker 1d | 302 | Sharolyn Sloat | 250,000 |
| Event #67: $300 Gladiators of Poker 1c | 44 | Franco Tucci | 1,420,000 |
| Event #67: $300 Gladiators of Poker 1c | 148 | Justin Oliver | 580,000 |
| Event #73: $1,500 Eight Game Mix | 6 | Elaine Rawn | 1,455,000 |
| Event #74: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship | 8 | Mathew Johnson | 372,500 |
| Event #74: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship | 23 | Thomas Taylor | 316,000 |
| Event #74: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship | 47 | Rishi Makkar | 248,500 |
| Event #74: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship | 56 | Calen McNeil | 231,000 |
| Event #74: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship | 80 | Samuel Fuller | 202,500 |
| Event #74: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship | 82 | Aaron Duczak | 201,500 |
| Event #74: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship | 89 | Allen Shen | 190,000 |
| Event #74: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship | 99 | Kyle Ho | 178,000 |
| Event #74: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship | 106 | Benoit Galland | 174,500 |
| Event #74: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship | 122 | Benny Chen | 159,500 |
| Event #74: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship | 124 | Behnam Patros | 157,000 |
| Event #74: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship | 143 | Xuedong Li | 145,500 |
| Event #74: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship | 148 | Erik Cajelais | 144,000 |
| Event #74: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship | 163 | Antoine Sankari | 135,000 |
| Event #74: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship | 177 | Charles Sylvestre | 124,000 |
| Event #74: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship | 213 | Marcello Del Grosso | 93,000 |
| Event #74: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship | 216 | Colin Mchugh | 92,000 |
| Event #74: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship | 239 | Alex Difelice | 76,000 |
| Event #74: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship | 242 | Eric Cloutier | 75,000 |
| Event #74: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship | 265 | Xing He | 51,500 |
| Event #74: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship | 268 | Geoffrey Hum | 49,000 |
| Event #74: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship | 269 | Alex Livingston | 49,000 |
| Event #74: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship | 292 | Harsukhpaul Sangha | 18,000 |
