The tourney also raised over $155,000 for veterans’ charities, including the USO
Joey Couden has claimed his second World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet after winning the 2025 $500 Salute to Warriors event, outlasting a massive field of 3,937 entries. The Ohio native walked away with $187,937 for the win, but the tournament meant more than just prize money—it also raised over $155,000 for veterans’ charities, including the United Service Organizations.
The event saw $40 from each buy-in allocated directly to charitable causes, making this one of the few WSOP tournaments where multiple winners were celebrated. WSOP Vice President Jack Effel was present at both the start and the finish of the event, highlighting the dual impact of competition and contribution.
Couden, who previously won a bracelet in 2018 in a $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo event, came into Day 3 of this tournament with the chip lead among the final 32 players. He remained at or near the top of the leaderboard throughout, avoiding early showdowns and capitalizing on key hands as the final table played out.
What an exciting conclusion in Event 45: $500 SALUTE to Warriors as Joe Couden was the last player standing and takes home his 2nd gold bracelet! @JackEffel was on hand to award Joe the check and get the rail fired up for the celebration!#WSOP2025 pic.twitter.com/OCTd0Bio4Z
— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) June 18, 2025
He secured crucial knockouts, including Roger Hendrin, whose A-K fell to Couden’s A-10, and Alexander Savchenko, who ran A-J suited into Couden’s pocket aces. Couden also eliminated Brandon Sowers, Yu Hsiang Huang, and Ofer Saha, steadily building his stack before entering heads-up play with a commanding lead.
In the final hand, Couden’s queen-jack went up against Richard Buckingham’s pocket threes. A queen and a jack hit the board, giving Couden top two pair and the victory. Buckingham earned $125,034 for his second-place finish.
With this win, Couden now has more than $3.2 million in career tournament earnings. More importantly, he added another bracelet to his resume while being part of an event that gave back to military service members and their families—making the victory even more meaningful.
