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Robert Wells has not had a long career at the World Series of Poker, but he knows what it feels like to fall short at the last hurdle. No longer is that the case for the Welshman, who has just laid claim to his first WSOP Bracelet. After two second-place finishes in 2024, Wells joined the elite bracelet winners club after a career-best payout.

A total of 409 entries were tallied for Event #58: $3,000 Nine Game Mix. After three days of play, it is Wells who sits alone at the top, taking home a $228,115 payday after defeating Thomas Taylor heads-up.

This event is known to many as the “Mini-PPC”, a mix of the same nine games that are included in Tuesday’s $50,000 Poker Players Championship. All of the best mixed game players in the world tried their luck in this tournament, but it is Wells hoisting the bracelet once the dust settled.

Event #58: Nine Game Mix Final Table Results

Winner’s Reaction

Wells spoke with PokerNews following the most important victory of his career, and the sense of relief was palpable.

“I feel tiredness mostly, not really feeling like it’s real. It’s amazing,” Wells admitted after a long battle.

“I came second twice last year, so I know that pain on the other side, so being on this side of it is amazing. If I could have picked any tournament to win, this would probably be two on the list, besides the PPC.”

I came second twice last year, so I know that pain on the other side, so being on this side of it is amazing.

Wells joked around with his good friend Yuri Dzivielevski, last year’s champion of this event, following the victory, with Dzivielevski commenting that he must play the PPC after winning today.

His relationship with the Brazilian started when they were introduced to each other around five or six years ago. At the time, Wells was a low-stakes mixed player who brainstormed some strategies with Dzivielevski, and the two have been close ever since.

Despite being 42 years old, Wells doesn’t quite have the experience that many of his competitors do. He said that he has played at “various levels of seriousness” for around 20 years, but after a trip to Vegas a few years ago, he got bit by the tournament bug and has been a regular in the mixed game fields ever since.

Wells credits his heads-up experience and good cards for his victory over Taylor. He elaborated that, “Some of the games I have played a decent amount of heads-up, so I felt quite confident. Mostly the cards helped me, but he Taylor played great as well.”

“There was one moment where he got coolered a bit with two pair in no-limit, but mine was bigger. I bet big, and he had to call.”

This pivotal hand put Wells into the chip lead, and he never looked back until he secured the bracelet.

Wells credits his wife for her support throughout his poker journey, and admitted how thankful he is that he can come out to Vegas and play tournaments.

“My wife suffers a lot because she’s stuck at home with the dog,” Wells explained, “I love her very much, and I’m super grateful to her for understanding me doing this.”

Day 3 Action

From the starting field of 409, just 18 returned for battle on Day 3 in the Horseshoe Event Center, with Jonathan Glendinning and Jon Kyte atop the counts. That number would quickly be reduced to ten by the first break of the day after 2024 champion Yuri Dzivielevski exited in 11th.

The pace of play would begin to slow down with only one clear short stack as the players jockeyed for position on the eight-handed final table bubble.

Following the eliminations of Ari Rabin-Havt and Philip Sternheimer, the final eight players combined at a single final table with a quite even chip distribution. Wells led the pack but was only separated from sixth place by two big bets.

Wells would begin to extend his lead before the first elimination of the final table in Yueqi Zhu. The mixed game regular got the rest of his chips in the middle in 2-7 Triple Draw against Fu Wong, but was drawing dead after patting the final draw against the number six of Wong.

Start-of-day chip leader Jonathan Glendinning was the next to fall in seventh. Also in 2-7 Triple Draw, he had a wheel draw against the number two of Anthony Ribeiro, but he could not survive as he had to settle for seventh.

The same game took out the next victim in David Bach. He got his short stack into the middle multi-way but was drawing dead after he patted a nine against the number three of Wong.

Cash game regular Fu Wong, better known as Grasshopper, found a podium finish in third place. He jammed over a Wells button open in No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw, and both players patted. Unfortunately for Wong, his jack was no good against the nine of Wells as the heads-up match was prepared.

Taylor entered heads-up play with a small advantage, but he won a sizeable pot to take a two-to-one chip lead as the players took a break.

It was a back-and-forth battle that lasted almost two hours. Wells finally took a substantial lead after making trips in a hand of Stud Hi-Lo.

Taylor would claw his way back into contention before the game switched to No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw. On the first hand, Taylor opened the button, then called off his stack with an eight draw against the pat ten of Wells. Taylor caught a pair on his draw, and Wells raised his arms in victory to celebrate his first WSOP bracelet!

That concludes PokerNews’s coverage of Event #58: $3,000 Nine Game Mix. Stay tuned as we continue to provide extensive coverage from the floor for all events at the 2025 World Series of Poker.

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