2026 WSOP Day 10: Three Bracelets Awarded as Sammartino Closes in on His Second

Event #11: $10,000 GGMillion$ High Roller concluded on June 4 with Naseem Salem, known as Nick to his nearest and dearest, coming out on top. Salem started this event as a relative unknown, despite winning almost $470,000 from live tournaments during his career. He now has the respect of his peers, a $1,089,964 top prize, and a WSOP bracelet on his resume.

Antonio Vargas sat down on the final day of Event #16: $1,700 U.S. Circuit Championship as the chip leader and was the last man standing when it mattered. Vargas already had more than $1.2 million in live earnings before this tournament. He now has a new career-best score of $439,605 and can forever call himself a WSOP champion.

It had looked like Event #17: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship was heading for an unscheduled fourth day until a flurry of late activity brought matters to a close. When the dust had settled, it was Japanese grinder Naoya Kihara, a $1 bargain pick by Team Banana in the $25K Fantasy Draft, who came out on top. Khara netted $428,923 and his second WSOP bracelet.

$1,500 Dealer’s Choice Field Cut to 10, Dario Sammartino Second in Chips

Only 10 players remain in the hunt for the title of Event #20: $1,500 Dealers Choice champion, and what a final 10 they are.

Philip Wess bulldozed his way to a substantial chip lead, ending the night with 5,370,000 chips, almost one-third of the chips in play. According to The Hendon Mob Database, Wess only has four low-stakes No-Limit Hold’em cashes to his name, but that surely only tells part of the story because you don’t lead this event going into the final day without being a mixed game specialist.

Wess leads from Dario Sammartino (2,030,000), who is looking for his second piece of WSOP hardware. Nathan Gamble (1,350,000) and Jeff Madsen (750,000) are the only other bracelet winners still in the field after Allan Le bowed out in 11th place as the curtain came down on Day 2 proceedings.

The final 10 return to the action from 1:00 p.m. local time on June 5, with play continuing until a champion is crowned. As things stand, that looks to be the relatively unknown Wess, but anything can happen in poker, so a Wess victory is not assured.

Event #20: $1,500 Dealers Choice Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts

Day 1b of the Monster Stack Attracts 1,903 Players

Day 1b of Event #18: $1,500 Monster Stack drew in another massive crowd, with 1,903 players choosing this flight to begin their quest for glory. Only 667 of those reached the end of the 10th level and booked their places in Day 2b.

Scores of well-known players advanced from this flight. They include overnight chip leader Jamie Dwan (925,000), Jonas Lauck (516,000), Jason Daly (370,000), David Jackson (341,500), British husband and wife duo Matthew Davenport (90,500) and Sinead Davenport (285,500), Malcolm Trayner (230,000), Toby Lewis (115,000), and Brandon Sheils (91,000).

The 667 surviving players return to their seats at 11:00 a.m. local time on June 5 for Day 2b.

Event #18: $1,500 Monster Stack Day 1b Top 10 Chip Counts

Ralph Perry Among the Leaders on Day 2a of the $1,500 Monster Stack

Day 2a of Event #18: $1,500 Monster Stack started with the 538 Day 1a players returning to their seats. However, late registration remained open for the first level, and some 293 players decided to flick in $1,500 and buy in fashionably late.

By the close of play, just 94 players remained, and only two players bagged up more chips than veteran Ralph Perry (3,320,000). Perry has cashes dating back to 1994, including a third-place finish in the 2002 WSOP Main Event and a victory in a $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha event in 2006.

Only Hayden Hetland (4,075,000) and Dustin Harrelson (3,850,000) surpassed Perry’s impressive chip stack at the end of the night.

Others safely through to Day 3 include Day 1a chip leader Zhijian Zhang (3,010,000), Uri Reichenstein (2,140,000), Tyler Phillips (1,765,000), Martin Kabrhel (1,350,000), Daniel Rezaei (1,065,000), the legendary John Juanda (945,000), Belgium’s Michael Gathy (860,000), and Michael Noori (360,000).

The Day 2a survivors won’t be back in action in this event until Day 3 on June 8, which happens to be when PokerNews‘ traditional live reporting begins. We hope to see you there.

Event #18: $1,500 Monster Stack Day 2a Top 10 Chip Counts

Yaman Nakdali Busts Martin Kabrhel on Way to Day 1b of the $25K NLHE High Roller Chip Lead

High rollers turned out in force for Day 1b of Event #19: $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em, with 167 entries processed. Only 53 of those well-heeled players navigated through eight levels to take their seats on Day 2.

Spain’s Yaman Nakdali (1,996,000) finished the night at the top of the chip counts. Part of his chip stack used to belong to polarizing Martin Kabrhel until the talkative Czech player got his stack into the middle with ace-king against Nakdali’s pocket nines and the board ran out seven-high.

Jon Vallinas (1,285,000), also of Spain, finished Day 1b in second place, with Ihar Soika (1,254,000) only four big blinds behind.

The high cost of entering this event meant the list of players who punched their Day 2 tickets read like a who’s who of the poker world. Boris Kolev (1,059,000) and Barak Wisbrod (888,000) bagged up a top 10 stack while Brek Schutten (745,000), Alex Foxen (737,000), Artur Martirosian (728,000), David Coleman (609,000), Punnat Punsri (532,000), Brian Rast (532,000), and Michael Moncek (531,000) finished the night in the top 20.

Day 2 of this event is scheduled to start at 12:00 p.m. local time on June 5. It will see 78 players sit down, ready for battle. However, late registration remains open until the end of the first level, at around 1:15 p.m. local time, so that number is sure to increase.

Event #19: $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em Day 1b Top 10 Chip Counts

Thomas Zanot Leads All-Star Cast on Day 1 of the $1,500 PLO8

Event #21: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better saw 1,093 players buy in on Day 1, an increase on the 910 from last summer. Fifteen levels after play began, Arizona’s Thomas Zanot (485,000) had the largest stack in the room.

Zanot already has a brace of cashes this summer, after reaching the money in the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed and the $1,500 Mixed Omaha Hi-Lo events. Now he is all but guaranteed to add a third cash in another Omaha event.

Back in 2023, Zanot finished 12th in a $1,000 PLO event, the deepest he has gone in a bracelet-awarding tournament. He’s put himself in a good position to have his deepest-ever run.

Jordan Polk finished Day 1 with only 2,000 fewer chips than Zanot, with Michael Rodrigues (460,000) ending the night in third place.

Among the 173 players who made it through to Day 2 are the likes of John Esposito (360,000), Eli Elezra (318,000), Justin Fawcett (282,000), Nick Guagenti (260,000), PLO specialist Josh Arieh (244,000), Jim Collopy (209,000), Bryce Yockey (200,000), Robert Mizrachi (197,000), Anthony Zinno (143,000), and Benny Glaser (107,000).

Day 2 gets underway at 1:00 p.m. local time on June 5, with the play to complete another 10 levels.

Event #21: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts

What to Expect on Day 11 of the 2026 WSOP

June 5 is the 11th day of the 2026 WSOP, and everything points to it being one of the busiest days of the series so far, at least in terms of the number of players seated at the tables.

Day 1c of Event #18: $1,500 Monster Stack kicks things off from 10:00 a.m. local time. After seeing 1,903 players turn out for yesterday’s Day 1b, a field of 2,000-2,500 is anticipated for this flight.

An hour after Day 1c of the Monster Stack begins, Day 2b of the Monster Stack shuffles up and deals. The 667 players who survived Day 1b return for another 10 levels of deep-stacked poker action. They’ll be joined by a raft of late entrants; Day 2a saw almost 300 players arrive fashionably late.

The 173 Day 1 survivors from Event #21: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better return to their seats from 1:00 p.m. local time to play another 10 levels. By the time the curtain comes down on Day 2, the final table should be within reach.

The last in-play event will crown a champion. Event #20: $1,500 Dealers Choice‘s final day starts at 1:00 p.m. local time and will continue until only one player is left standing. Only 10 players remain, and they own seven bracelets between them.

Two new events get underway on June 5, starting with Event #22: $1,500 Big O, a Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo variant with five hole cards. Yes, it is as crazy as it sounds. This event is scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m. local time.

Last year’s $1,500 Big O was won by Igor Zektser, who left 1,498 opponents in his wake as he won his first bracelet and $297,285.

Last but not least is Event #23: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship. It’s Day 1 kicks off at 2:00 p.m. local time and should see a compact but star-studded field take to the felt in this prestigious tournament.

Nick Guagenti is this event’s reigning champion. Guagenti topped a 127-strong field in 2025 and took home $295,008 and his first bracelet. Past champions include Brian Yoon, James Obst, Adam Friedman, and Anthony Zinno.

Matthew Pitt hails from Leeds, West Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom, and has worked in the poker industry since 2008, and worked for PokerNews since 2010. In September 2010, he became the editor of PokerNews. Matthew stepped away from live reporting duties in 2015, and now concentrates on his role of Senior Editor for the PokerNews.