Galstyan Doubles Up, Hubbard Wins Deuce In Early WSOP Action

We’re just a week into the 2026 World Series of Poker, and more than 10 percent of the live bracelets to be won this summer are already off the board.

The latest batch of winners includes Karapet Galstyan, a repeat winner, taking down his first live WSOP bracelet. There’s also Stephen Hubbard, a multi-time PokerGO Tour winner and pot-limit Omaha specialist who found gold in no-limit deuce-to-seven.

As the WSOP action kicks into high gear with the change from May to June, here’s the latest dispatch from Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.

Karapet Galstyan Captures Second No-Limit Hold’em Bracelet

Karapet Galstyan isn’t necessarily the kind of poker player you imagine when you think about online tournaments. The 53-year-old from Armenia, who now lives in California, won his first WSOP bracelet during an online series in the United States in 2023. In that event, Galstyan outlasted a field of 480 and beat out a final table that included Jim Collopy on the way to victory.

Galstyan had to navigate his way through a considerably larger field to secure his second bracelet. He battled through a two-day marathon in a $600 buy-in no-limit hold’em deepstack, topping 4,622 entries to secure another piece of WSOP hardware.

He earned $259,829 for the win, the largest result of his career to date. The victory pushed Galstyan’s recorded earnings to $1.1 million. The triumph also netted Galstyan 660 Card Player Player of the Year points. This was his second qualifying result on the year-long leaderboard presented by CoinPoker.

A Marathon, Into A Sprint

Galstyan was one of 230 players to survive a long first day of action. It took another extended session of poker to battle down to a final table and then a winner. With 37 players left, Galstyan was the last remaining bracelet winner in the field, as the fast-paced format churned through eliminations.

Galstyan surged into the chip lead with his elimination of Michael Destephen in 10th place, courtesy of a rivered king-high straight. Galstyan also took out Michael Wagner in seventh place ($42,295) when he picked up pocket aces and held. One of the most crucial pots on Galstyan’s run to victory was a three-way all-in, in which Galstyan’s pocket nines held against pocket eights and Joshua Lusby-Angvick’s A♠8♦. That hand saw Russell Giordano sent to the rail in third place ($128,446).

As heads-up play began, Galstyan still needed a comeback. He picked up a massive double as his A♥10♣ flopped an ace and held off Lusby-Angvick’s spade draw. Galstyan finished off the win when his button steal with 9♥6♦ turned into a full house on a 8♦2♦2♣9♠9♦ runout.

Final Table Results

Texan Takes Down Deuce-to-Seven Title

Since 2022, Stephen Hubbard has largely focused his tournament play on PLO. In November 2025, the Texan won a pair of PGT PLO titles in his home state. Hubbard didn’t record another tournament cash until just a few days ago, when a deep run in the $5,000 PLO event ended in fifth place.

Hubbard does occasionally throw a mixed game tournament into his schedule, too. In 2025, he bubbled the final table of the $1,500 no-limit deuce-to-seven event, settling for eighth place. One year later, minus a day, Hubbard found gold in the exact same $1,500 deuce-to-seven event.

Hubbard’s first career WSOP bracelet comes with a $155,819 first-place payout. His career earnings now sit at $1,660,300. Hubbard collected 840 POY points for his win, and combined with his earlier PLO final table performance at the 2026 WSOP, he currently sits just outside the top 100 on the Card Player leaderboard.

Three days of deuce-to-seven saw an initial field of 626 reduced to 96 after day 1, with just six players remaining at the conclusion of day 2. The last two bracelet winners in the field, Jerry Wong (10th place, $10,325) and David ‘ODB’ Baker (eighth place, $13,405), both fell short of the final day.

That’s not to say it was a final table lacking in skill or experience. Dylan Smith owns a World Poker Tour championship, Gabriel Paul already had a WSOP bracelet event runner-up finish, and Per Hildebrand was at his eighth career WSOP final table, with a runner-up showing in this very tournament in 2017.

Hubbard was the chip leader coming into day 3 action, but Paul made an upward move with the first elimination of the day, at the expense of Philip Jaffe (6th – $24,219).

Hubbard Hits His Draws

One of the biggest pots of the tournament allowed Hubbard to distance himself from the pack. Anthony Lamps shoved all in with a pat 10-8 low, and Hubbard drew one card towards an 8-4 low. Hubbard peeled a nine, making a 9-8 low to scoop the massive pot and eliminate Lamps in fifth place ($33,672). From that point on, Hubbard wouldn’t relinquish the lead until heads-up play.

Smith had a chance at a rare final table double knockout, with Paul and Timothy Wong both at risk. Paul’s made 9-5 low held off Smith’s 8-7 low draw and Wong’s fruitless 10-4 low draw, more than doubling Paul up, and sending Wong out in fourth place ($47,846).

Hubbard and Smith clashed in another big pot, with each player drawing one card following a pre-draw all-in. Hubbard hit his draw with 8-7-5-3, nailing a four to complete his hand. Smith’s 5-4-3-2 couldn’t find an eight or a seven, and so his tournament ended in third place ($69,456).

Paul came back from a 2:1 deficit to overtake Hubbard in the chip counts during heads-up action. The tournament hinged, like most deuce-to-seven hands, on a single draw.  Hubbard shoved all in, Paul called, and Paul took one card. Hubbard stood pat with a jack-perfect, J-5-4-3-2. Paul had a lot of outs with 7-6-5-2, needing a three, four, eight, nine, or ten to win the tournament. He slowly peeled a card with potential, but turned over a deuce, which paired him up.

That pot put Hubbard well ahead, with a chip lead of more than 8.5:1. The tournament ended in the most unlikely of ways, as both players drew one card on the final hand, and both players paired up. Hubbard’s pair of threes was best, though, and his victory was secured.

Final Table Results

Photo credits: WSOP/Dominic Iaquinto, Miguel Cortes.