Recently, the poker community witnessed two thrilling victories as Shawn Daniels etched his name into WPT history. He triumphed in the 2025 WPT Rolling Thunder Championship, securing his first WPT title and a $229,000 payday. Meanwhile, Poland’s Dawid Smolka continued his impressive run by winning the 2025 Merit Carmen Poker Series High Roller for a career-best $260,000.
Shawn Daniels Triumphs in the 2025 WPT Rolling Thunder Championship
Shawn Daniels etched his name into the Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup, after winning the 2025 World Poker Tour (WPT) Rolling Thunder Championship. It was Daniels’ maiden WPT trophy. He collected a top prize of $229,000, and a $10,400 seat in the 2025 WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas.
The $3,500 buy-in WPT Rolling Thunder Championship drew an entry field of 404 players. The 404 entry field ended up creating a total prize pool of $1,292,800, paid out to the top 51 players. This flagship event of the World Poker Tour saw several WPT Regular and former champions, who tried their best to secure another WPT title.
2023 WPT World Championship Winner, Dan Sepiol finished in 11th place ($20,800), 2013 WPT POY winner Matt Salsberg finished 7th ($40,500). Three-time WPT title holder, Eric Afriat rounded out the podium, pocketing $122,000. At the end of the tournament, the young gun Harvey Castro heads up against the bracelet winner Shawn Daniels. Daniels eventually claimed his maiden WPT title, after calling the all-in with 8h-6c against the Qh-2h of Castro. The board ran in favor of Daniels as it brought two sixes, giving the eventual champion a set.
Castro had to settle for another six-figure score of $193,000, crossing the $1 million mark in tournament earnings. Meanwhile, Daniels crossed the $3 million mark in tournament earnings after collecting the $229,000 paycheck.
2025 WPT Rolling Thunder Championship Final Table Payouts
| Rank | Player | Payout |
| 1st | Shawn Daniels | $229,000 |
| 2nd | Harvey Castro | $193,600 |
| 3rd | Eric Afriat | $122,000 |
| 4th | Paul Richardson | $91,000 |
| 5th | David Ha | $69,000 |
| 6th | Benjamin Primus | $53,000 |
Dawid Smolka Ships the 2025 Merit Carmen Poker Series High Roller
Poland’s Dawid Smolka previously won the Merit Poker Gatsby Gala Series $2,200 NLH Warm-up for a six-figure score. During the ongoing 2025 Merit Carmen Poker Series, Smolka shipped his career second Merit Poker title, winning the record-breaking High Roller event for a career-best top prize of $260,000. The rising poker star from Poland now brought his accumulated tournament earnings to $1.2 million, securing a spot among the top 10 on his country’s all-time money list.
The $5,300 buy-in High Roller event saw a record-breaking 270 entries, crushing the $500k guaranteed for a total prize pool of $1,242,000, paid out to the top 39 finishers. Kirill Sccherbakov finished in 3rd place, banking a six-figure sum of $131,900. Johnny Lodden ended up in 2nd place to collect a cash of $182,700. The final hand saw, Lodden shoving with a straight draw with Jack-Nine and Smolka made the call with his top pair of Ace with a king kicker. His hand held up, to secure his career second Merit Poker title and a payday of $260,000.
2025 Merit Carmen Poker High Roller Series Final Table Payouts
| Rank | Player | Payout |
| 1st | Dawid Smolka | $260,000 |
| 2nd | Johnny Lodden | $182,700 |
| 3rd | Kirill Sccherbakov | $131,900 |
| 4th | Oleg Svintsov | $91,400 |
| 5th | Merjin Van Rooij | $67,040 |
| 6th | Peters Enders | $53,700 |
| 7th | Atanas Malinov | $44,700 |
| 8th | Cedric Schwarderle | $35,735 |
| 9th | Andrey Pateychuk | $26,800 |
Sources – WPT Blog & Merit Poker Facebook
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