Prashanth Nataraj turned a 10-big-blind starting stack into his first WSOP bracelet, winning Event #59: $500 Salute to Warriors for $208,800 — a title that also sent nearly $180,000 to charities supporting military veterans.
Key takeaways
- Prashanth Nataraj won his maiden WSOP bracelet in the $500 Salute to Warriors for $208,800.
- He came back on the final day with just 10 big blinds and ran on two-to-three hours of sleep.
- Nearly $180,000 from the event goes to the USO and other veterans' charities.
- Record bracelet holder Phil Hellmuth welcomed him into the winners' club with a fist-bump.
More than a bracelet
Plenty of players dream of hoisting World Series of Poker gold, but Prashanth Nataraj went out and manifested it. He resumed the final day of Event #59: $500 Salute to Warriors as one of 35 players left in the hunt, and roughly eight hours later he was the last one standing — banking the $208,800 top prize and his first piece of WSOP hardware.
The event carried meaning well beyond the prize pool: nearly $180,000 raised through it will be donated to the United Service Organizations (USO) and other charities dedicated to supporting veterans. For Nataraj, that gave the win a weight a normal trophy could not.
"You won, but also through you, someone else won, and you're doing some good in society. So it makes it even more special."
From one bracelet winner to another
As Nataraj walked away from the table clutching his new hardware, he ran straight into the record bracelet holder himself, Phil Hellmuth. "Congratulations," Hellmuth said, inducting him into the club with a fist-bump — an unexpected cap to an already life-changing moment.
The run was all the more remarkable given how little rest Nataraj had. Day 1 had ended around 1 a.m., and after early-morning calls and personal matters he played on just two or three hours of sleep. A proper five-to-six-hour rest before the final day, he said, made all the difference — even starting it with only ten big blinds.
Coolers galore on the final day
The 35 returning players sat down with an average stack of just 16 big blinds, leaving almost no margin for error — and the eliminations came in waves. Inside the first two hours the field collapsed to 13, with running full houses, rivered three-outers and even a rivered two-outer doing the damage.
The most notable casualty was 2006 WSOP Main Event champion Jamie Gold, who busted in 17th on the 20th anniversary of his famous win after running into a better hand preflop. Later, Jeevan Lobo went on a one-man tear, knocking out three players in half an hour to reach three-handed play, before bowing out in third when his preflop aggression ran into pocket queens. Nataraj then took a two-to-one lead into heads-up against Laurance Essak and never let go, his ace-high holding in the final clash.
$500 Salute to Warriors — final table results
| # | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Prashanth Nataraj | United States | $208,800 |
| 2 | Laurance Essak | United States | $137,370 |
| 3 | Jeevan Lobo | India | $101,600 |
| 4 | Sebastian Crema | Canada | $75,800 |
| 5 | Holly Foley | United States | $57,020 |
| 6 | Robert Brobyn | United States | $43,260 |
| 7 | Lexy Gavin-Mather | United States | $33,120 |
| 8 | Daniel Wirgau | United States | $25,570 |
| 9 | Julien Duveau | France | $19,930 |
"Shout-out to all of my friends"
For a player whose previous best score was $40,000, the breakthrough was as emotional as it was lucrative — and Nataraj made sure to share the credit. "I'd just like a big shout-out to all of my friends," he said. "I feel like I had the best rail. It was just fantastic, I feel so supported."
