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After years of chasing a World Series of Poker gold bracelet – getting close, but never seizing it – Josh Reichard can finally say he has won one.
Reichard conquered a field of 1,736 entries in Event #62: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em to claim a first-place prize of $555,198 from a prize pool of $3,864,825.
Reichard bettered Caleb Harris in a half-hour heads-up match for the title, tabling a straight for the winning hand, then quickly making it to the rail for high-fives with his large group of supporters.
Then there was an emotional hug with his wife, Ashley, followed by a lengthy chat on the phone with his father Brett back in Wisconsin, who brought a slightly different tone to the accomplishment.
So, what did dad say?
“It’s about f***ing time,” Reichard said with a laugh.
Event #62: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Josh Reichard | United States | $555,198 |
| 2 | Caleb Harris | United States | $370,037 |
| 3 | Spyridon Apartoglou | Greece | $267,938 |
| 4 | Orson Young | United States | $196,225 |
| 5 | Myles Mullaly | United States | $145,365 |
| 6 | John Ciccarelli | United States | $108,946 |
| 7 | Maher Achour | Tunisia | $82,616 |
| 8 | Robbie Bull | United Kingdom | $63,399 |
| 9 | Corentin Soulier | France | $49,241 |
| 10 | Eoghan O’Dea | Ireland | $38,713 |
His Time to Win
Reichard was the most noted player among the final group, as this was his 73rd final table at WSOP events, including a third-place finish a week ago from a field of nearly 12,000 in the $1,500 Millionaire Maker.
He believes experience made a difference, as he moved confidently through the group, avoiding major missteps.
“I could tell, nerves were high at the final table,” Reichard said. “There were some great players. But you could definitely tell there was some inexperience and some nerves going through.”
With his rail wreaking havoc on his every bet-and-call, Reichard described the atmosphere as a homefield advantage.
“I don’t really consider poker a sport, but it relates in that way when these people are here making all this noise, cheering me on and stuff like that,” he said. “Just the vibes are incredible. It might even influence my opponents, you know, because it’s, like, overwhelming.”
Final Table Action
The play was furious early at the final table. Five players were erased in 30 minutes.
It began with the elimination of Eoghan O’Dea on the very first hand of the initial 10-person setup.
Orson Young made a move and threatened the chip lead with over 11,000,000, but his stay at that altitude didn’t last long, and he went out in fourth place.
The final threesome of Reichard, Harris and Spyridon Apartoglou tangled for a time, with each holding the lead at some point.
A Harris double-up through Apartoglou, with his pocket tens holding, shot him past Reichard into the chip lead with some 31,000,000 chips.
Apartoglou, who hails from Greece, is a relative newcomer to big-time poker. He represented himself well, until he was caught with a whiff that cost him a whopping 13,400,000 chips.
The bluff left him with a single big blind, virtually ending his tournament. Reichard knocked him out with the next hand.
Still, it was an excellent run for Apartoglou, whose first recorded cash was only three years ago at a European Poker Tour event. This WSOP run was his largest take by far.
Heads-Up for the Bracelet
Harris entered the one-on-one with Reichard holding a 16,000,000-chip lead. He did well just to make the final table.
The Ohio native was down to six big blinds a couple of levels prior when he found a double-up with queens over jacks. Shortly thereafter, he did it again with kings over queens.
He couldn’t pull any of that off in a Big Ten battle for the bracelet against Reichard, however.
After a few chips moved back-and-forth for the first 20 minutes of heads-up play, Reichard took control, winning consecutive hands to build the tournament’s biggest stack to that point.
A few hands later, Harris bluffed off his final stack when Reichard hit a straight on the turn and waited patiently for Harris to move his chips into the pot.
Then he delivered the knockout call.
Last Man Standing
It was Reichard’s day, Reichard’s tournament. And he seized it.
He even had the honor of silencing Martin Kabrhel, with a knockout late on Day 2, sending him off with ace-queen after Kabrhel had made fun of him for playing those two cards earlier in the day.
“Ace-queen was good to me, and Kabrhel and I go back and forth,” Reichard said. “Unlike some of the people in poker, I enjoy his antics.”
An accomplished pro, having amassed more than $6.5 million in career earnings according to The Hendon Mob, Reichard is already a member of the Major Series of Poker: The Tour (MSPT) Hall of Fame, and he has won 17 WSOP circuit rings.
But there was one key item missing from his list of accomplishments. That is no longer the case.
“There are a lot of things you can do in poker, and bigger things in life,” Reichard said. “But in poker, this was on the top of my goals, the thing I’ve been wanting.”
Reichard is now a WSOP bracelet holder.
“It feels incredible.”
This ends PokerNews coverage of the exciting Event #62: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em. Stay tuned for more action from the 2026 WSOP, with information on tournaments and the bracelet winners, exclusive interviews, and more.
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