Joshua Arieh Leads the $25K H.O.R.S.E. — Chasing Bracelet No. 8

Joshua Arieh hasn't won a mixed-game bracelet in 22 years, and right now he's the chip leader with 17 players standing between him and number eight.

The $25,000 High Roller H.O.R.S.E. — WSOP Event #97 — is down to its final 18 players, and Arieh sits on top of the counts. Seven gold bracelets already line his résumé. The eighth would arrive in the format where he first made his name, a rotation of Hold'em, Omaha Hi-Lo, Razz, Stud, and Stud Eight-or-Better that punishes one-game specialists and rewards the kind of versatility Arieh has built across two decades of elite play.

The eighth would arrive in the format where he first made his name, a rotation that punishes one-game specialists and rewards the kind of versatility Arieh has built across two decades of elite play.

The Gap

Arieh's last mixed-game bracelet came in 2004. That year, he won a Stud event at the WSOP, back when the mixed-game schedule was a fraction of what it is now and the fields were stacked with old-school rounders who'd grown up on draw and stud before Hold'em swallowed the poker world.

Since then, Arieh has added five more bracelets — but all in Hold'em variants. He won No-Limit events in 2019 and 2021, cementing his reputation as one of the most consistent performers on the summer circuit. His seven career bracelets place him among a small fraternity of living players with that many titles.

But the mixed-game win has eluded him. Twenty-two years is a long drought in any rotation, and a $25K High Roller H.O.R.S.E. field is not where droughts go to end easily. The buy-in filters for players who are genuinely strong across all five disciplines. There are no soft spots at this price point.

The Field at 18

At 18 remaining, the $25K H.O.R.S.E. is approaching its final stages. The event is one of the premium mixed-game offerings on the 2026 WSOP schedule — a magnet for the game's best all-around players and a title that carries weight in any career retrospective.

Arieh's chip lead at this stage gives him a cushion that matters more in limit formats than it would in a no-limit freezeout. H.O.R.S.E. grinds. Pots build incrementally. A chip advantage doesn't guarantee survival, but it buys time — time to find spots in Razz when the table tightens, time to absorb a bad Stud run without crippling his stack.

The structure also means the final table could stretch deep into the night. Limit mixed-game final tables are marathons, not sprints. Arieh, now 56, has played more long sessions at the WSOP than most pros half his age.

What No. 8 Would Mean

An eighth bracelet would tie Arieh with several all-time greats in the career standings. More importantly, it would break the mixed-game drought in the most emphatic way possible — not in a $1,500 event with 600 runners, but in a $25K field where every opponent knows all five games.

Arieh has been one of the most durable players on the summer circuit for over two decades. He cashed in WSOP events before many of today's High Roller regulars were born, and he's still leading chip counts in the toughest fields the series offers.

Seventeen players stand between him and the kind of win that rewrites how a career gets remembered. The H.O.R.S.E. rotation keeps turning.