Matt Grapenthien Wins Second WSOP Bracelet in Stud 8-or-Better

Matt Grapenthien adds another WSOP title in stud

Matt Grapenthien is one of the rare modern tournament regulars who still stands out as a true stud specialist. In an era dominated by No-Limit Hold’em and Pot-Limit Omaha headlines, players like Grapenthien keep mixed games relevant by proving that deep technical knowledge still wins at the highest level.

The Chicago native turned a long career in stud and mixed games into a major 2026 breakthrough, winning the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo 8-or-Better championship for $415,648 and his second WSOP gold bracelet. For a player whose strongest results have consistently come in stud variants, this was not a lucky spike. It was a confirmation of a skill set built over decades.

If you want to understand why specialists can remain so dangerous in softer, less-played formats, it helps to study the fundamentals at a poker school, where hand reading, betting streets, and patience matter just as much as raw aggression.

A career built around stud and mixed games

Grapenthien’s poker timeline tells the story of a grinder who stayed committed to a niche while the game around him changed. His first tournament cash came back in 2004, when he finished third in the stud championship at the L.A. Poker Classic. A few years later, he banked his first WSOP cash with a 15th-place finish in the $1,500 stud event.

His first bracelet arrived in 2014, when he won the $10,000 stud championship at the World Series of Poker. Twelve years later, he returned to the winner’s circle in a different but related format: Stud Hi/Lo 8-or-Better. That matters because split-pot games demand a broader decision tree. Players must constantly weigh high-hand value against low-hand potential, redraws, live outs, and board texture.

In practical terms, this kind of result is a reminder that poker careers are not only built on volume in the biggest mainstream events. Many professionals create long-term edges by mastering formats that fewer opponents study seriously. That is one reason communities around poker rooms and poker clubs still value mixed-game lineups so highly.

How the $10,000 WSOP Stud Hi/Lo 8-or-Better event played out

The tournament drew 190 entries and generated a $1,767,000 prize pool. The top 29 finishers made the money, with the bubble bursting on Day 2. Several notable names fell before the final 13 bagged chips for Day 3, including Michael Moncek (25th), Phil Ivey (22nd), Bryce Yockey (20th), Calvin Anderson (17th), Andrey Zhigalov (16th), and Ryutaro Suzuki (14th).

Two-time bracelet winner Maxx Coleman entered the final day as the chip leader, while Grapenthien sat in the middle of the pack. Before the official final table was set, bracelet winners Bradley Jansen (13th), Paul Volpe (11th), and Matthew Vengrin (9th) were all eliminated.

One of the most important hands of the day came when Grapenthien eliminated Koji Fujimoto, the recent winner of the $10,000 triple draw deuce-to-seven championship, to narrow the field to seven. In stud formats, that kind of knockout can swing momentum quickly because the game rewards both patience and precise value extraction over several streets.

Jack Germaine, Caitlin Comeskey, and the race to heads-up play

The late stages belonged in part to Jack Germaine, who sent Mark Rubbathan home in seventh place for $55,282, then knocked out two-time bracelet winner Chris Brewer in sixth for $72,587.

Germaine also ended Caitlin Comeskey’s run in fifth place for $97,785. Comeskey had just finished fourth in the ladies event, so this was another strong series result. Earlier on Day 3, she had suffered a brutal pot against Grapenthien when her full house ran into a straight flush, but she recovered well enough to make another deep run.

Germaine finished her off with a heart flush made in his first five cards, showing how quickly a stud board can turn into a decisive advantage when the right suit and rank combinations appear early.

Walter Chambers exited in fourth place for $135,065 after his eights and sixes were outdrawn by a rivered nine-high straight for Coleman. That knockout, however, did not carry Coleman all the way. He got his remaining chips in with split kings, while Grapenthien held A-Q high with two spades. Grapenthien paired his queen on fourth street and caught another on sixth, leaving Coleman with just one pair and giving Grapenthien the pot. Coleman earned $191,165 for third place and recorded his third final-table finish of the series, after fifth in the $1,500 pot-limit Omaha event and fourth in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship.

Expert analysis: why Grapenthien’s win matters

This bracelet is significant for more than one reason. It is a reminder that specialization still wins in poker, especially in formats where the player pool is smaller and the edge comes from experience rather than splashy aggression.

• Short-handed and heads-up reps matter. Grapenthien said he spent years playing short-handed and heads-up stud online, often sitting and waiting for one-on-one matches. That kind of repetition creates real-world advantages when the final stages of a live event become highly technical.
• Split-pot games punish careless hand evaluation. In Stud Hi/Lo 8-or-Better, a hand can look strong and still be second-best in both directions. Accurate low-hand reading and live-card awareness are essential.
• Street-by-street discipline is everything. Unlike many flop games, stud forces players to process visible information from multiple exposed cards. That makes range construction and board reading more transparent, but also more punishing.

For players looking to broaden their game, this is a strong argument for mixing in formats beyond the mainstream. If you play only the most popular events, you are competing in the deepest fields. Stud and other mixed games can offer a different path to ROI, especially when supported by the right promotions & bonuses and a schedule that lets you target softer fields.

The broader lesson for the industry is equally clear: mixed games still produce compelling storylines, high-skill battles, and legitimate prestige. When names like Phil Ivey, Chris Brewer, and Maxx Coleman all show up, a stud bracelet still carries serious weight.

What the result means for the WSOP and the mixed-game scene

Grapenthien’s win also had leaderboard implications. He earned 840 Card Player Player of the Year points and 416 PokerGO Tour points, moving up to 71st on the PGT leaderboard and sitting just outside the top 600 in the POY race presented by CoinPoker.

Those numbers matter because major mixed-game scores can reshape a player’s season without requiring a massive volume of events. A single deep run in a high-buy-in championship can change the conversation around a player’s year, especially when the field is full of elite specialists and bracelet winners.

In a broader sense, results like this help keep the mixed-game ecosystem healthy. They remind the community that poker is not only about the biggest televised all-in pots. It is also about endurance, adaptability, and mastering formats that reward precision over spectacle. That is one reason serious players continue to invest time in poker agent support, travel planning, and event selection that fits their strengths.

Final takeaway: a second bracelet for a true stud grinder

Matt Grapenthien’s second WSOP bracelet is a win for specialists, for mixed-game fans, and for anyone who still believes poker rewards depth. His path from an early stud cash in 2004 to a career-best $415,648 score in 2026 shows how valuable long-term commitment to one discipline can be.

He beat a tough final table, handled the key swings, and closed out a heads-up battle against Jack Germaine with composure. For the rest of the poker world, the message is simple: if you can truly master a niche, there is still room to turn that edge into a championship.

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