‘Insanity’ – Monster pots and drama set final 8 at WSOP Super Main Event

This was going to be a fun day – but not for everyone.  

Felipe Ramos was set for a big double-up early on with jacks. He just had to dodge a king on the river – and couldn’t. He took it with the class we’ve come to expect from him, but that will sting. 

Mercier was swinging. On an flop, she check-called a bet from Glaser who had – and he improved to a full house on the turn. He bet 7.5 million, and she jammed… with . Glaser was set for a surprise when he checked in on the stream.

Break 1 – 17 players left: Top 10 stacks

1. Jean-Noel Thorel: 244,000,000 (81.3bb)
2. Bernhard Binder: 208,500,000 (69.5bb)
3. Peter Chien: 146,500,000 (48.8bb)
4. Natasha Mercier: 145,000,000 (48.3bb)
5. Iuri Ribeiro: 130,500,000 (43.5bb)
6. Eric Wasserson: 90,000,000 (30bb)
7. Terrance Reid: 84,000,000 (28bb)
8. Faraz Jaka: 75,000,000 (25bb)
9. Charles Hook: 74,500,000 (24.8bb)
10. Leonard Maue: 71,500,000 (23.8bb)

Jean-Noel Thorel, Mercier and Peter Chien were the biggest winners from the first two levels. Chien began the day as the shortest stack and hadn’t recorded a live cash since 2020.

Start-of-day chip leader Pascal Lefrancois did not have a good day and crashed out in 15th. 

Kabrhel was showing his softer side in the comms booth: “It would be so great for poker if Natasha gonna win this $10 million first prize. It would be so cool.” He even coined a new catchphrase: Natasha Royale. 

He was also showing his spooky side when Jaka got his last 57.5 million chips in with nines and was called by Leonard Maue with tens. Kabrhel said the nines had “no outs.” Maue didn’t hit an out on the flop. And, when the dropped on the turn, Kabrhel seemed confident a ten would come. The river led him to exclaim, “Wow, what is this joke? Is this real life? This must be Matrix. Unbelievable.” Jaka was out in 13th for $520,000. 

Talking afterwards, Jaka said, “I couldn’t get much going today. I don’t even think about the money, probably until two days from now, but I’m sure I’ll be happy with the score.” 

JNT now had close to a third of a billion chips after winning a 115-million-pot flip with AK vs. queens. He hit and eliminated Charles Hook in that hand. Glaser enjoyed a late double just before the break, announcing it to us down the hall with a fist pump. 

Jean-Noel Thorel had a dream Day 4 in the WSOP Super Main Event.

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Break 2 – 12 players left

1. Jean-Noel Thorel: 315,500,000 (105.1bb)
2. Bernhard Binder: 277,500,000 (92.5bb)
3. Leonard Maue: 150,500,000 (50.1bb)
4. Terrance Reid: 141,500,000 (47.1bb)
5. Natasha Mercier: 111,000,000 (37bb)
6. Eric Wasserson: 101,000,000 (33.6bb)
7. Benny Glaser: 96,500,000 (32.1bb)
8. Peter Chien: 74,000,000 (24.6bb)
9. Iuri Ribeiro: 61,500,000 (20.5bb)
10. Franco Spitale: 50,000,000 (16.6bb)
11. William Blais: 43,000,000 (14.3bb)
12. Belarmino De Souza: 25,500,000 (8.5bb)

We only needed to lose four more players, and one of them was Glaser, who was downed in a monster pot with Eric Wasserson. 

That came with some controversy after Wasserson slowrolled with aces, but it took us down to nine, with Glaser cashing for $665,875. 

The remaining players joined on the unofficial final table, with just one more elimination needed to close the day out. 

TJ Reid was feeling it. “Insanity," he said. "It doesn’t feel real. Everything’s going right. Nothing’s going wrong. And we’re going to keep saying that until we win a bracelet.”

JNT took the last scalp of the day, and it was a brutal end for Maue, who found his kings up against aces. He couldn't find the miracle, and it left JNT with a monster chip lead, with the final eight set to return tomorrow to play for the bracelet and $10 million. 

WSOP Paradise 2025 Super Main Event final table.

WSOP Super Main Event final table