John Wasnock

John Wasnock was born in 1975 and grew up in North Bend, Washington. He graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in business and finance. In 1997, he began working at Verus, a Seattle-based investment consulting firm, where he eventually became Director of Private Markets and a shareholder. Wasnock started playing poker in 1983 and transitioned to online play in the 2000s, but he remained a recreational player. His first live tournament cash came in 2014 at the Venetian Las Vegas, where he finished fourth in a $440 Deep Stack Extravaganza event for $15,577. Over the next decade, he mostly played low buy-in events, with only two WSOP cashes before 2025.

Wasnock entered the 2025 World Series of Poker Main Event with just $143,000 in lifetime live earnings. It was only his second Main Event appearance, the first coming ten years earlier as a bucket-list item. On Day 1c, he bagged more than three starting stacks and sat inside the top 100 after Day 2abc. His journey turned turbulent on Days 6 and 7, where he dropped as low as 13 big blinds and eventually to just 7 big blinds on Day 7, surviving by doubling with kings. Day 8 started with him as the second-shortest stack at 15 big blinds, but he doubled through eventual champion Michael Mizrachi with ace-queen beating ace-jack and then steadily climbed. By the unofficial final table, Wasnock was second in chips and eliminated Joey Padron in tenth place to become the chip leader overnight.

Entering the final table with 108,100,000 chips (90 big blinds), Wasnock remained among the top stacks throughout the four-handed finale on July 16. He reached heads-up play against Mizrachi, but on the final hand, Wasnock flopped two pair with ace-nine only for Mizrachi to turn a flush. Wasnock finished second, earning $6,000,000 from a field of 9,735 entrants. He described the experience as "a pretty good run" and noted that his smaller event wins earlier in 2025 had built his confidence for short-handed play.

Shortly after the Main Event, Wasnock won a WSOP Circuit ring on WSOP.com in a $320 buy-in event, his first online cash. He later traveled to WSOP Paradise in the Bahamas and cashed in the $25,000 Super Main Event for $55,000. Wasnock retired from his job at Verus after the Main Event, saying he always wanted to travel and play more poker. He continued to play in 2026, recording cashes in several WSOP events, including a 47th-place finish in the $1,500 Monster Stack for $33,000, a 92nd place in the Seniors Championship, and a cash in the $10,000 GGMillion$ High Roller. As of late 2026, his total live earnings exceed $6.4 million.

Wasnock resides in North Bend, Washington, with his wife and four children. He attended the final table with strong family support. Outside of poker, he enjoys golf and following Seattle’s professional sports teams. He has no known online nickname or significant social media presence.

Though an amateur, Wasnock displayed remarkable composure during deep runs, especially when short-stacked. His ability to survive multiple all-ins and his aggressive play when building a stack earned him praise from commentators. The poker community widely viewed his Main Event run as a modern Cinderella story, proving that recreational players can compete on the biggest stage.

Wasnock reflected on his Main Event run, saying, "I’ve had a pretty good run the last year... I live in Seattle. There’s not a lot of big action, you know, tournaments." He also expressed his desire to prove his success wasn't a fluke: "I’ve been wanting to kind of validate my run as not just a one-hit wonder. I’ve been fairly successful with some fairly deep runs in the travel I’ve done since." After his runner-up finish, he noted that winning smaller events earlier in 2025 built his confidence for short-handed play.

Wasnock's top career cashes include a first-place finish in a $560 No Limit Hold'em event at the 2025 Spring Poker Round Up in Pendleton, Oregon ($56,330), and a victory in a $600 tournament at Little Creek Casino in Shelton, Washington ($11,890). He also placed fourth in a $440 Deep Stack Extravaganza at the Venetian in 2014 ($15,577) and fourth in a WSOP Circuit $1,125 Mystery Bounty event ($14,120). As of late 2026, his live tournament earnings exceed $6.4 million, with over 30 recorded cashes and five final tables according to WSOP.com.