What a comeback!
One year after stepping away from professional poker, Asi Moshe returned to Las Vegas “as a recreational player” only to capture his fifth World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet in Event #79: $3,000 Freezeout No-Limit Hold’em.
After leading the chip counts for virtually the entire tournament, he claimed the top prize of $683,830 from a field of 1,792 entries, which generated a total prize pool of $4,784,640.
Moshe entered both the final table and heads-up play with a commanding chip lead, and Qiao Du was never able to turn the situation around. Du ultimately finished as the runner-up, earning $454,800 at a final table that also featured Chris Moorman, who was eliminated in seventh place for $101,900.
Event #79: $3,000 Freezeout No-Limit Hold’em Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Asi Moshe | Israel | $683,830 |
| 2 | Qiao Du | China | $454,800 |
| 3 | Igor Popyk | Ukraine | $329,660 |
| 4 | Dustin Murphy | United States | $241,640 |
| 5 | Methavee Taveekitvatee | Thailand | $179,140 |
| 6 | David Miscikowski | United States | $134,330 |
| 7 | Chris Moorman | United Kingdom | $101,900 |
| 8 | Andrew Moreno | United States | $78,210 |
| 9 | Walter Treccarichi | Italy | $60,740 |
“I’m So Happy That I Still Got the Game”
“I hope I can still smile,” Moshe joked during his winner’s photos as his face muscles began to ache. “It’s pretty amazing because I’ve been doing this for a living for the past six years, and it’s the first one I’ve won not as a professional player, but as a recreational player.”
Moshe stepped away from poker a year ago to “go back to [his] roots” and now works for a mobile games company. In fact, he hadn’t played a live tournament since a trip to Las Vegas in 2025 before arriving for this year’s series.
Despite the long layoff, the four-time bracelet winner quickly found his rhythm. He led after Day 1, finished second in chips on Day 2, and closed out the victory on Day 3. “It’s a bit surreal. I’m so happy that maybe I still got the game,” he said.
He said the run reminded him of some of his previous bracelet wins. “A couple of my bracelets were like this, where I built a big stack around the bubble and then carried the momentum forward. I was never really in danger, and I think that’s good for my style of play.”
Holding around 60% of the chips for much of the final table, Moshe said he simply focused on applying pressure. “I took it one hand at a time. When you have that many chips at the table, it usually means a couple of other people are under a lot of pressure. I just kept the pressure on them.”
He also thanked the rail of Israeli poker friends who cheered him on throughout the final table, along with his wife and daughter. Before heading home, Moshe plans to play a few more events, including the $10,000 6-Max Championship. “I’ll play every day,” he said with a smile.
Final Day Action
Among the 14 players who returned for Day 3, Gabriel Karlsson started with the second-shortest stack at just 12 big blinds. It came as little surprise when he was the first player at risk, but things didn’t go his way as his king-jack ran into ace-king, making him the first player eliminated.
Greg Ostrander also found himself all in with pocket aces, but luck wasn’t entirely on his side as a flush on the board made him split the pot. The 2014 WSOP Main Event champion Martin Jacobson was also given a chance to double, but his quest for a second bracelet ended when Ihor Popyk spiked a lucky turn, sending him to the rail in 13th place.
Antoine Sankari then suffered the same fate against the eventual winner, followed by Dohyeok Kim, who was eliminated by Chris Moorman to bring the field down to the final ten and the unofficial final table. Greg Ostrander, who had entered the redraw with the shortest stack, became the first official final-table casualty.
The final table then progressed at a slow pace, with both David Miscikowski and Dustin Murphy finding double-ups. However, Walter Treccarichi was unable to do the same as his jacks fell to ace-queen.
Day 2 chip leader Andrew Moreno was next to head to the payout desk after running his jacks into Moshe’s queens, allowing the Israeli to extend his commanding chip lead. Meanwhile, Methavee Taveekitvatee managed to river a straight and stay alive before the players went on another break.
Moshe’s streak of eliminations then continued with Chris Moorman (7th – $101,900), who saw Moshe pair his king on the river, and David Miscikowski (6th – $134,330), who had his kings cracked by nines.
Du then picked up the next two eliminations, first winning a flip to Methavee Taveekitvatee (5th – $179,140), before finding kings against Dustin Murphy (4th – $241,640) to move into second place with three players remaining.
Three-handed play lasted for half an hour until Ihor Popyk (3rd – $329,660) saw his stack called by Moshe’s fives, sending the Israeli into heads-up play with a massive 6:1 chip lead.
Du managed to double up with ace-five against ace-jack, but Moshe’s ace-king held a few hands later to secure his fifth WSOP bracelet.
