Sebastiaan de Jong has won the inaugural $1,000 Battle of the Ages event at the 2025 World Series of Poker. He secured his first bracelet and the first prize of $335,390 for his age battling skills, in perhaps the most contrived event of the 2025 Word Series of Poker. His victory was hailed as a triumph for the under 50s of the poker playing world, but by the looks of it, he’s not getting much change back when he pays with a $50 bill.
Sebastiaan had by far the most appropriate name for the winner of a Battle of the Ages event, as his surname ‘de Jong,’ yes, you guessed it, translates from Dutch to English as ‘the Young.” Oh the irony that would have ensued if he’d actually been over 50 at the time.
Event #60 $1,000 Battle of the Ages is a new event, which was placed on the bracelet schedule for the first time in 2025. The idea is that there are two starting flights, one for those aged 50 and over; and another for those aged 21-49. After the starting days were completed, the remaining field was merged on Day 2 and it played out like a regular tournament.
Simple format yes, interest level in the age gimmick, low. What is the actual point of separating the field by age? I can see that perhaps it makes for a more equitable dash to the bathroom during breaks, but only on the starting days. For Day 2 and beyond it would surely be fairer to give the over 50s a five minute head-start?
The final featured just one player over 50, who was the chip leader at the start of the final day of play. He didn’t win and therefore let his entire age group down. How disappointed we all must be in him? Nope, me neither, because this gimmick just didn’t really cut it, nobody gave two clicks about whether the oldies bested the young guns, or however they attempted to market this thing…if they even bothered.
With a bit of luck and hopefully some common sense at WSOP HQ, this event will be left on the cutting room floor when it comes to putting the 2026 bracelet schedule together.
Nevertheless, between the two starting days, over 3,000 entrants took to the felt to battle for their er, age group themselves and the top prize of $335,390. The oldies flight had 1,390 entrants, while the relative youngsters were slightly more voluminous, with 1,686.
2025 WSOP: Event #60 $1,000 Battle of the Ages Final Table Result
| Position | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Sebastiaan de Jonge | $335,390 |
| 2 |  Ignacio Sagra | $223,394 |
| 3 |  Hakeem Mashal | $165,944 |
| 4 | Srivinay Irrinki | $124,269 |
| 5 | Joseph Roh | $93,820 |
| 6 |  Jack Maskill | $71,416 |
| 7 | Allan Le | $54,814 |
| 8 |  Xia Wang | $42,424 |
| 9 | Kelley Slay | $33,112 |
2025 WSOP: Event #60 $1,000 Battle of the Ages Recap
By the end of the first day, it was oldster Joseph Roh on 595,000 who led the way and remarkably, he still held the chip lead at the end of Day 2, taking 17.375m onto the final table of eight. He was also the only old-boy left on the final, but having seven young whippersnappers to contend with proved to be one toilet break too few for Roh.
Joseph Roh was taken out by eventual winner de Jong when his A♠7♣ was beaten by A♦10♥, collecting $93,820 for his 5th place finish.
De Jong had already assumed the chip lead, soon after he busted Jack Maskill, the last remaining Brit in 6th place (for $71,416). After adding Roh’s scalp to his collection he had more than twice the chips of his nearest challenger.
But after Ignacio Sagra had taken out Srivinay Irrinki in 4th place (for $124,269), de Jong had surrendered the chip lead to the Argentinian, who looked to be staking his own claim to the title. Irrinki and Sagra really do look like youngsters at the table, but the same cannot be said of some of the others who made the final eight.
Hakeem Mashal took third place for $165,944, but looked like he aged a decade since the tournament began, another who likely just scraped into the under 50s category. By KO’ing Mashal, de Jong addressed the chip imbalance, going into the heads-up stage with 26.4m chips to Sagra’s 35.2m.
The heads up battle itself was not straightforward. De Jong immediately took the lead, then just as quickly relinquished it After a further session of play the chip counts were even, but de Jong then managed to pull ahead of his rival. By the time the final hand took place, de Jong had over 80% of the chips in play.
He had J♦9♠ versus Sagra’s J♣4♦. The flop included the 9♥ and even though Sagra al;so connected with the board on a 4♣ river, it was not enough to keep him alive. Ignacia Sagra picked up $223,394 for his 2nd place finish, while Sebastiaan de Jong scooped the bracelet and first prize of $335,390.
Sebastiaan de Jong is the 13th Dutch player to win a WSOP bracelet and the first in 2025 to do so. He has cashed five or six times every year at the WSOP since 2025, but this was his first final table. One former Dutch bracelet winner Rob Hollink was at hand during the photo shoot to help de Jong celebrate.
