Shaun Deeb breaks the curse and takes home his 9th bracelet
Shaun Deeb broke his streak of three runner-up finishes and won his ninth WSOP bracelet. The curse is lifted, but the main battle is just beginning.
If there's one man in modern poker obsessed with greatness and ready to grind around the clock for it, it's Shaun Deeb. At the current World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, Shaun finally broke his streak of runner-up finishes by winning Event #74: $1,500 8-Game Mix and claiming his ninth gold bracelet.
Deeb has never hidden that his main goal in life is to dethrone Phil Hellmuth from the poker throne.
"I'm coming for Phil. Nine bracelets is just another step. As long as I can breathe and hold cards, I'll grind to become the best in history," Shaun said right after his win.
But to take this step, he had to go through a real curse.
The Danhausen Curse
The start of the series was difficult for Deeb. Shaun was in great form and consistently reached the late stages, but each time stumbled at the most crucial moment. Before this win, Deeb had reached the final heads-up three times during the World Series and finished a frustrating second place three times. The most painful loss came against Joey Couden in the $3,000 8-Game Mix tournament. In the corridors of Vegas, people began seriously discussing Shaun's mental block.
Source: https://x.com/jeffplatt/status/2062286478487740653
This curse, by the way, had a specific author. At the start of the series, commentator Jeff Platt jokingly posted a custom clip of the charismatic WWE wrestler Danhausen, who directed his famous curse at Shaun and delivered his signature line "You are cursed!" for disrespecting journalists. After three losses one step away from the title, the wrestler's magic stopped seeming like a joke.
The final table of the $1,500 8-Game Mix also nearly ended in disaster. Deeb sat down at the table as chip leader, but after a series of unlucky hands lost almost all his chips and found himself on the brink of elimination. However, Shaun caught two quick double-ups and outplayed Dan Zack in a two-hour duel. The Danhausen curse was officially lifted.
The Evolution of shaundeeb
photo: DannyMaxell
Shaun Deeb came into poker in the mid-2000s and quickly earned the title of a mad grinder. During the heyday of online poker, he could play 30–40 tournaments simultaneously, not leaving his computer for days at a time. For a long time, he was treated with mild irony: Deeb never hid his love of fast food, extra weight, crazy money bets on weight loss, and eccentric behavior at the table.
Key milestones of his career confirm his high level of engagement with the game. In 2014, during the online SCOOP series, Deeb kept playing poker on his phone from the maternity ward room where his wife Ashley was giving birth to their first child. In 2019, at the live WSOP series in Las Vegas, Deeb simultaneously registered for two parallel bracelet events in different rooms of the Rio casino, and ended up managing to cash in both tournaments.
Deeb's uniqueness in the context of modern poker theory lies in his approach to strategy analysis. In an era dominated by solvers, Shaun remains a devotee of ultimate exploit poker. He barely works with specialized software, relying instead on colossal playing experience, intuition, and reading his opponents' psychological patterns.
The Chase for Hellmuth and the Player of the Year Title
Why does Deeb need so many bracelets? The answer lies in his obsession with greatness. By winning his 9th trophy, Shaun tied in bracelet count with names like Benny Glazer, Michael Mizrachi, and Johnny Moss. But his main goal is to dethrone Phil Hellmuth himself, who currently has 17 bracelets. Deeb regularly states in interviews and on social media that he considers Hellmuth an overrated "old school" player and plans to rewrite his historic record.
photo: pokerGO
At the same time, this win returned Deeb to the top of the current race for the WSOP Player of the Year title. Shaun has already won this title in 2018 and 2025. If he holds onto the top spot until the end of the series, he will officially become the first and only three-time Player of the Year winner in the history of world poker.
What's Next?
photo: Jess Beck
By winning his ninth title, Shaun Deeb has made a strong statement of absolute dominance heading into WSOP 2026.
Will he manage to hold onto the top spot in the rankings and become the only three-time Player of the Year in history? Will he be able to join the elite club of double-digit bracelet holders as early as this summer? And will this become the final argument for his official induction into the Poker Hall of Fame this year?
One thing is clear — Vegas got the climax it deserved, and Deeb himself proved that he can withstand any mental pressure.
Pokerflow continues to follow his historic run in Vegas in real time!
