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Asi Moshe’s Return Rewarded With a Fifth WSOP Bracelet ($683,830)
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 while taking his winner’s photos as his face muscles were starting to get sore. “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,” he said in his first reaction.
Moshe explained that he stepped away from poker a year ago after deciding to “go back to [his] roots,” adding that he now works for a company specializing in mobile games. “Honestly, the last time I played poker before arriving here four days ago was in Vegas in 2025, which means I hadn’t played live poker since then,” he said.
Still, after a career highlighted by four WSOP bracelets won in 2014, 2018, and twice in 2019 across the WSOP and WSOP Europe, the now-retired pro returned to Las Vegas this summer simply hoping to play some cards. “It’s pretty special to come here. I min-cashed my first two tournaments, and then the third tournament is this one. It’s a bit surreal. I’m so happy that maybe I still got the game.”
And he certainly does, as he held the chip lead on Day 1, finished second in chips on Day 2 and won the tournament on Day 3. “A couple of my bracelets were like this, where I built a big stack around the bubble and then carried the momentum forward,” he reflected. “I was never really in danger, and I think that’s good for my style of play.”
With all of that experience, the Israeli didn’t feel any extra pressure, even while holding around 60% of the chips in play for much of the final table. “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, and you can put pressure on the short stacks and the middle stacks. I just kept the pressure on them.”
His massive chip lead was also fueled by the support of a rail packed with poker friends. “I used to come here every summer for the whole series, so I made a lot of friends in the Israeli poker community. My best friends to this day are those people, and I’m glad I’m still getting their support even though I don’t travel with them throughout the year as I used to.” He also made sure to thank his wife and daughter. “I love them. They let me come to Vegas and it paid off. I’ll be back home soon,” he added.
Before heading home, however, Moshe still has a few more events on his schedule. “I’ll play a few more tournaments over the next week, including the $10,000 6-Max, unless the Main Event goes surprisingly well,” he said with a smile. “I’ll play every day,” he concluded before joining his friends to celebrate.
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.
That will conclude coverage of Event #79: $3,000 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em, be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews for all of the exciting updates on the ground of the 2026 WSOP, especially the $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship!