It’s been a pretty decent summer for the Slovenian Blaz Zerjav. He picked up his second bracelet of the summer in his seventh cash when he outlasted 615 entries in Event #69: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better. There were $816,413 in prizes in the event, part of the 2025 World Series of Poker at Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas, with the winner pocketing $153,487.
Zerjav picked up his first bracelet earlier this year in Event #22: $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Handed High Roller, and now he’s added a second one in a non-hold’em variant. The win in this one was less then a tenth the value of his $25k win, but the gold bracelet is just as shiny.
Besting a Main Event Champ
“He is really tough to play against. I enjoyed every moment of it, and learned a few things.” That was how Zerjav described his heads-up opponent, Huck Seed, winner of the 1996 Main Event, and three more bracelets after that, in his post-win interview with PokerNews.
Seed was looking to grow his fifth bracelet in this event and put up a valiant fight at the end. The WSOP veteran even had Zerjav on the ropes, with the winner’s final big bet in the middle late in the game. Zerjav managed a chop to stay alive, then found a big pot to get back into it with the best two pair.
Event #69: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Final table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Blaz Zerjav | $153,487 |
| 2 |  Huck Seed | $102,281 |
| 3 | Sergei Tolkachov | $70,071 |
| 4 | Michelle Konig | $48,931 |
| 5 | Jay Kerbel | $34,842 |
| 6 |  Denis Strebkov | $25,307 |
| 7 | David Lin | $18,758 |
| 8 | Michal Frejka | $14,195 |
Event #69: $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Final Table Recap
Eleven players bagged up chips at the end of Day 2, with the eventual winner Zerjav starting the final day second in chips with 2.515 million. He was looking up at Jay Kerbel (5th, $34,842) with 3.525 million while Canadian Aaron Lugibihl (9th, $10,971) was nipping at his heels with 2.35 million.
The game was at the unofficial nine-handed final table quickly, with Lugibihl bubbling the final eight soon after. That started an 8-hour marathon final table that saw them get down to heads up in about 5 hours, when Sergei Tolkachov’s set of queens was capped by a straight from Zerjav.
That gave Zerjav the lead going into the final phase against the 1996 ME Champ, but it would be a gruelling battle to take that final podium step. Seed took the lead shortly after heads-up kicked off, grabbing the first scoop of HU with aces, then got Zerjav to fold open queens with Broadway draws and two spades on seventh against an all-spade board for Seed to take the lead.
Seed held the lead for about an hour, chipping Zerjav down to under 2 million chips at one point, but the Slovenian wasn’t going gently. He first found a chop to stay alive, then doubled to about 5:3 behind with the better two pair. He took the lead shortly before they were sent on the final break of the night, and it all ended pretty quickly after they returned.
Zerjav hit the clubs for a huge hand right after the break that put him 11:4 up, and it was just a few minutes later when Zerjav hit the best two pair again for a scoop to take it all down.
