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Adriaan Jacobs Becomes South Africa’s Youngest WSOP Bracelet Winner

By Bjorn Lindberg

10 Jul 2026

Bjorn Lindberg 10 Jul 2026

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Adriaan Jacobs, 21, wins his first WSOP bracelet at Las Vegas.
Outlasted 5,177 players in the $600 Deepstack Championship, earning $282,817.
Youngest South African to achieve this feat, marking a new milestone.

Adriaan Jacobs WSOP bracelet article header with poker cards and chips on a green felt table

Adriaan Jacobs has written his name into South African poker history after winning his first World Series of Poker bracelet in Las Vegas.

The 21-year-old topped a huge field in Event #78: $600 Deepstack Championship No-Limit Hold’em, outlasting 5,177 entries to claim the bracelet and a first-place prize of $282,817.

The result made Jacobs the youngest South African player to win a WSOP bracelet, giving the country one of its most memorable poker achievements on the international stage.

A Breakout Moment in Las Vegas

Jacobs arrived in Las Vegas shortly after turning 21, making the timing of the victory even more remarkable. What began as a milestone trip quickly became a career-defining tournament run.

The $600 Deepstack Championship is the type of WSOP event that attracts a massive and varied field. With thousands of players chasing the same bracelet, the tournament demands patience, stamina and the ability to handle pressure through several long days of play.

Jacobs managed all of that and more, turning a modest buy-in into a historic South African poker result.

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WSOP Event #78 Result

Event	Buy-in	Entries	Prize Pool	Winner	First Prize
WSOP Event #78: $600 Deepstack Championship NLH	$600	5,177	$2,609,208	Adriaan Jacobs	$282,817

Final Table Payouts

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Adriaan Jacobs	South Africa	$282,817
2	Paul Merlette	United States	$188,231
3	Seong Han	South Korea	$139,723
4	Junichi Murakami	Japan	$104,555
5	Xingwei Chen	China	$78,876
6	Lisa Tan	Singapore	$59,994
7	Toros Dimitian	Canada	$46,010
8	Christopher Summers-James	United Kingdom	$35,580
9	Yoann Saubot	Canada	$27,747

Why Jacobs’ Bracelet Win Stands Out

Winning a WSOP bracelet is one of the biggest achievements in poker. For South African players, bracelet victories are rare, which makes Jacobs’ success especially meaningful.

The scale of the field also adds weight to the result. Beating more than 5,000 entries in a No-Limit Hold’em bracelet event is never simple. It requires making strong decisions across different stack depths, adjusting to changing table dynamics and staying composed as the money jumps become larger.

For Jacobs, the victory does more than add a major title to his name. It immediately makes him one of the most interesting young poker players to watch from South Africa.

A New Name for South African Poker Fans

Before this WSOP run, Jacobs was not widely known on the global live poker circuit. That changed in one event.

The bracelet gives him instant recognition and places him among a very small group of South African players who have won on poker’s biggest stage. It also gives local poker fans a fresh success story from Las Vegas.

For younger players in South Africa, the result is a reminder that a major international breakthrough can happen quickly. One deep WSOP run can change a player’s profile, bankroll and future tournament opportunities.

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