After a summer full of close calls and second-place stings, Shaun Deeb finally got the win he had been chasing in Las Vegas, locking up his ninth World Series of Poker bracelet in Event #74, the $1,500 Eight-Game Mix at Paris Las Vegas. Deeb closed it out heads up against Dean Joe, collecting $181,625 and snapping a run of near-misses that had started to feel like a full-blown curse. The victory also drops him squarely back into the spotlight in the ongoing bracelet race as the Main Event looms.
According to PokerNews, Deeb navigated a 766-entry field to claim the title, while Joe took home $120,570 for second place. The Las Vegas Review-Journal caught Deeb soaking in the moment after the win, punctuating the breakthrough with a familiar bit of bravado: “I’m going to pass Phil (Hellmuth). I’ve been saying that for years.”
How the final table turned
The final stretch played out like a classic Deeb grinder story. Short-stacked and on the ropes, he survived, doubled, and clawed his way back into contention before settling into a long, tense heads-up battle with Joe. As SpadePoker reports, it all ended in Pot-Limit Omaha on a 7♦ T♦ 4♣ flop, where the chips went in and Deeb’s A♥ K♣ K♥ 3♠ held against Joe’s A♣ T♥ 6♠ 5♠ to finally lock up the bracelet.
What this means for the WSOP race
That ninth bracelet nudges Deeb higher on the all-time WSOP list and tightens his grip near the top of the WSOP Player of the Year race, as highlighted by PokerNews. The win keeps his long-running pursuit of Phil Hellmuth’s 17-bracelet record very much alive and reinforces his status as one of the must-watch storylines of the summer.
Back in upstate New York, the rail just got a little louder. Deeb, who grew up in and still maintains ties to Wynantskill, New York, can expect even more attention from local fans following this latest title, per the Times Union. The 2026 WSOP rolls on at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas through mid-July with dozens of bracelet events still to go, and Deeb figures to be one of the players keeping a close eye on every single one.
