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Benny Glaser

The 29th day of the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) saw another nine events running inside the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, making it one of the busiest days yet. Despite so many events being in play, only one crowned its champion, although a handful of others whittled their fields down to the last few tables. One of those, the $50,000 Poker Players Championship, only has 15 players remaining, and what a 15 they are!

Prashanth Nataraj took down Event #59: $500 Salute to Warriors, banking $208,800 and his first bracelet. Nataraj told PokerNews that his initial goal was to beat his previous best cash of $40,000, and once he’d achieved that goal, he set out to become the tournament’s champion. Nataraj succeeded and will forever be known as this event’s champion.

Benny Glaser Leads $50,000 Poker Players Championship, But Phil Ivey is Lurking

Phil Ivey
Phil Ivey

Only 15 players remain in Event #60: $50,000 Poker Players Championship, and what a final 15 they are. It is the eight-time bracelet winner Benny Glaser (4,705,000) who leads from the front. Although Glaser goes into the penultimate day with the chip lead in tow, a ridiculously stacked chasing pack is attempting to close him down.

Paul Volpe (4,020,000) leads the charge of the chasing pack, followed by Day 2 chip leader Kristopher Tong (3,305,000), Nick Guagenti (2,850,000), and Josh Arieh (2,640,000).

Just below Arieh, with 2,555,000 chips, is the legendary Phil Ivey, who has a legitimate chance of becoming only the second player in history to accumulate a dozen bracelets.

Alex Livingston (2,530,000), Jason Mercier (2,180,000), Maxx Coleman (1,780,000), Chris Brewer (1,565,000), Chris Hunichen (1,550,000), Roy Thung (1,025,000), Jesse Lonis (840,000), Phil Hellmuth (545,000), and Maksim Pisarenko (135,000) make up the rest of the star-studded field.

Play resumes at 1:00 p.m. local time. By the time the curtain comes down on Day 4, we shall be one step closer to see where this event’s bracelet and $1,343,764 top prize will be going.

Event #60: $50,000 Poker Players Championship Day 3 Top 10 Chip Counts

Rank Player Country Chip Count
1 Benny Glaser United Kingdom 4,705,000
2 Paul Volpe United States 4,020,000
3 Kristopher Tong United States 3,305,000
4 Nick Guagenti United States 2,850,000
5 Josh Arieh United States 2,640,000
6 Phil Ivey United States 2,555,000
7 Alex Livingston Canada 2,530,000
8 Jason Mercier United States 2,180,000
9 Maxx Coleman United States 1,780,000
10 Chris Brewer United States 1,565,000

Michael Monroig Leads the Way at the Millionaire Maker Final Table

Michael Monroig
Michael Monroig

Regardless of where Michael Monroig (73,900,000) finishes at the final table of Event #50: $1,500 Millionaire Maker, is will at least double his lifetime earnings. Monroig hopes to be the last man standing and win his first bracelet and $1,250,000 in prize money.

Monroig leads the final nine into battle on the fifth and final day of this tournament. Only fifth-placed Bradley Gafford (25,500,000) has previously won a bracelet, doing so in the $1,000 Mini Main Event at the 2023 WSOP.

Each returning player is guaranteed at least $150,068 for their efforts, with the top two finishers becoming millionaires.

The nine finalists take their seats at 3:30 p.m. local time on June 24, with the final table being streamed on the usual 2-3 hour delay.

Event #50: $1,500 Millionaire Maker Final Table Chip Counts

Rank Player Country Chip Count Big Blinds
1 Michael Monroig United States 73,900,000 49
2 Joseph Baghdalian United States 52,300,000 35
3 Joseph Liberta United States 46,400,000 31
4 Alex Kim United States 32,700,000 22
5 Bradley Gafford United States 25,500,000 17
6 Halford Fairchild United States 24,700,000 16
7 Yifu He United States 15,100,000 10
8 Garry Gurevich United States 13,000,000 9
9 Jacob Gagnon United States 10,600,000 7

$1,000 PLO Event Ends With 23 Instead of Five

Francois Scapula
Francois Scapula

The original plan for the penultimate day of Event #57: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha was to reduce the field to only five players. However, it soon became evident that this would not happen, and the tournament was paused with 23 players remaining.

Frenchman Francois Scapula (8,520,000) is the man to catch going into Day 3. He holds a sizable lead over Sasha Guerin (6,430,000 and Dechang Zhang (6,255,000), who round off the podium places.

Also still in the hunt for this event’s bracelet and $390,300 top prize are the likes of Schuyler Thornton (4,850,000), Toby Joyce (4,550,000), Narcis-Gabriel Nedelcu (3,830,000), Thomas Skaggs (2,615,000), Tony Cousineau (2,200,000), Xing He (1,460,000), and Gary Benson (1,060,000).

Day 3 starts at 12:00 p.m. local time on June 24, and play will continue until a champion is crowned.

Event #57: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Top 10 Chip Counts

Rank Player Country Chip Count Big Blinds
1 Francois Scapula France 8,520,000 107
2 Sasha Guerin United States 6,430,000 80
3 Dechang Zhang United States 6,255,000 78
4 Harry Rubin United States 5,395,000 67
5 Schuyler Thornton United States 4,850,000 61
6 Toby Joyce Ireland 4,550,000 57
7 James Sedlacek United States 4,040,000 51
8 Narcis-Gabriel Nedelcu Romania 3,830,000 48
9 Paul Zappulla United States 3,770,000 47
10 Nuno Duarte Portugal 3,735,000 47

Kelley Slay Leads After Day 2 of the Super Seniors

Kelley Slay
Kelley Slay

Event #61: $1,000 Super Seniors played out its Day 2 on June 23. The day ended with only 103 players requiring overnight chip bags, and with nobody bagging more chips than Kelley Slay (2,085,000).

Slay reached the final table of the $1,000 Battle of the Ages event at the 2025 WSOP and has put himself in an excellent position to reach another WSOP final table. Slay has around 14 more big blinds than Behrouz Keshtavar (1,800,000) and 25 more than Dean Rutledge (1,585,000), who currently occupy second and third place.

Poker Player at WSOP in Hot Water Over Sex Toy Card Protector

Only a handful of the returning pack have won bracelets in their careers. Rob Hollink (690,000), Kevin Song (605,000), Greg Raymer (345,000), and Antonin Teisseire (322,000) are the only returnees who could add to their collection of WSOP hardware.

Day 3 is scheduled to play down to only five players, with the first cards being pitched at 11:00 a.m. local time.

Event #61: $1,000 Super Seniors Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts

Rank Player Country Chip Count Big Blinds
1 Kelley Slay United States 2,085,000 104
2 Behrouz Keshtavar United States 1,800,000 90
3 Dean Rutledge United States 1,585,000 79
4 Barbara Sargent United States 1,515,000 76
5 Jeffrey Camp United States 1,485,000 74
6 Istvan Toro Hungary 1,320,000 66
7 Mehrdad Yousefzadeh United States 1,300,000 65
8 Timothy Garner United States 1,285,000 64
9 Lionel Barracano France 1,275,000 64
10 Paul Mcmullin United States 1,235,000 62

Robbie Bull Looking Solid in the $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em Title

Robbie Bull
Robbie Bull

There are only 34 players in contention for the $555,198 top prize that Event #62: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em will award to its champion. Scotland’s Robbie Bull (4,755,000) has done his chances of becoming a WSOP champion no harm at all after finishing the penultimate day with the third-most chips.

Bull has more than $1.3 million in live scores, with his largest tipping the scales at £113,405 ($183,875), his reward for winning the PokerStars UKIPT London Main Event back in 2013. That remains his only six-figure haul, a fact he will change if he finishes sixth or better in this event.

Turkey’s Maher Achour (6,435,000) leads from the front; he recently burst through $1 million in earnings.

Others to look out for on Day 3 include Daniel Smiljkovic (1,725,000), Josh Reichard (1,585,000), Zachary Gruneberg (1,050,000), Roman Hrabec (1,045,000), Eoghan O’Dea (975,000), Orson Young (945,000), Aaron Kupin (880,000), and Blaz Zerjav (720,000).

Cards are back in the air from 12:00 p.m. local time on June 24, with play continuing until only one player remains.

Event #62: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts

Rank Player Country Chip Count Big Blinds
1 Maher Achour Tunisia 6,435,000 107
2 Corentin Soulier France 4,975,000 83
3 Robbie Bull United Kingdom 4,755,000 79
4 Jose Latorre Spain 4,090,000 68
5 Spyridon Apartoglou Greece 3,380,000 56
6 Myles Mullaly United States 3,225,000 54
7 Mauro Ferreira Portugal 2,275,000 38
8 Cameron Widergren United States 2,250,000 38
9 Hang Xu China 1,750,000 29
10 Daniel Smiljkovic Germany 1,725,000 29

Day 1a of the $1,000 Mystery Millions Attracts 1,643 Entrants

JC Tran
JC Tran

There is a familiar name in the top 10 of Event #63: $1,000 Mystery Millions after the first of six scheduled flights, that of JC Tran (1,610,000). Tran has two bracelets to his name, but he’s not struck WSOP gold since 2009 despite having more than $13 million in live tournament earnings.

The WSOP LIVE app claims Leo Soma (3,180,000) has the largest stack right now, although his chip count does look on the large side. Vincent Lavollee (2,200,000), and Emmanouil Chalkiotis (2,120,000) also ended the night with substantial stacks.

Among the 76 Day 1a survivors are players such as Yen Han Chen (760,000), Zdenek Zizka (665,000), David “ODB” Baker (665,000), Antoine Saout (570,000), and David Shmuel (313,000).

Day 2 of this event isn’t until June 28. However, Day 1b shuffles up and deals at 10:00 a.m. local time on June 24.

Event #63: $1,000 Mystery Millions Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts

Rank Player Country Chip Count Big Blinds
1 Leo Soma France 3,180,000 80
2 Vincent Lavollee France 2,200,000 55
3 Emmanouil Chalkiotis Greece 2,120,000 53
4 Brad Sailor United States 1,950,000 49
5 Jian Levine United States 1,701,500 43
6 Donald Fulton United States 1,700,000 43
7 Jakob Miegel Germany 1,650,000 41
8 JC Tran United States 1,610,000 40
9 Andre Cullins United States 1,610,000 40
10 Armen Minasyan Armenia 1,535,000 38

Juha Helppi Leads After Day 1 of the $25,000 NLHE/PLO Event

Juha Helppi
Juha Helppi

Finnish star Juha Helppi (936,000) leads from the front after Day 1 of Event #64: $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha. Day 1 saw 60 players advance from 140 entrants, and both numbers will increase, as late registration remains open until the end of Level 12 on Day 2, at around 2:15 p.m. local time.

Helppi already has two bracelets, having won the $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship in 2019 and a $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha online event in 2020. The former professional paintballer could soon be adding a third bracelet to his wrist.

Those who advanced from Day 1 read like a who’s who of the poker world. They include Sergio Martinez Gonzalez (751,000), Naoya Kihara (635,000), Klemens Roiter (613,000), Cary Katz (571,000), Chance Kornuth (558,000), Jeremy Ausmus (527,000), Sam Soverel (523,000), seven-time bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu (399,000), Dan Cates (392,000), Scott Seiver (379,000), Joao Vieira (279,000), Joao Simao (261,000), Nick Schulman (231,000), and Erik Seidel (134,000).

Day 2 starts at 12:00 p.m. local time on June 24, and PokerNews will be on hand to bring you all of the high-stakes action.

Event #64: $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts

Rank Player Country Chip Count Big Blinds
1 Juha Helppi Finland 936,000 187
2 Sergio Martinez Gonzalez Spain 751,000 150
3 Naoya Kihara Japan 635,000 127
4 Klemens Roiter Austria 613,000 123
5 Edward Leonard United States 590,000 118
6 Dylan Smith United States 585,000 117
7 Cary Katz United States 571,000 114
8 Artem Maksimov United States 570,000 114
9 Yang Wang China 560,000 112
10 Chance Kornuth United States 558,000 112

Almost 85 Percent Are Eliminated On Day 1 of the $1,500 NLHE Freezeout

Martin Zamani
Martin Zamani advanced to Day 2

By the time late registration closed in Event #65: $1,500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold’em, there had been 2,617 entrants. After 15 levels, only 410 of those starters had chips left after firing their solitary bullet.

Mario Boos (728,000), Shawn Puri (675,000), and Leonardo Camera Alves (566,000) were the trio who claimed the top three spots on the overnight chip counts. However, some of poker’s well-known stars also punched their Day 2 tickets.

Martin Zamani (341,000), Jason Wheeler (289,000), Frederic Normand (284,000), Eric Baldwin (268,000), Michael Gathy (203,000), Brian Hastings (128,000), Martin Jacobson (127,000), and Ben Yu (67,000) are just a small selection of poker heroes to look out for on Day 2.

Event #65: $1,500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold’em Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts

Rank Player Country Chip Count Big Blinds
1 Mario Boos France 728,000 121
2 Shawn Puri United States 675,000 113
3 Leonardo Camera Alves Brazil 566,000 94
4 Roman Nuraev Czech Republic 551,000 92
5 Tsubasa Itani Japan 536,000 89
6 Julien Montois France 514,000 86
7 Arash Sarraf United States 503,000 84
8 Dennis Stevermer United States 480,000 80
9 Quirin Heinz Germany 465,000 78
10 Marcelo Mereles Paraguay 431,000 72

What to Expect on Day 30 of the 2026 WSOP

WSOP Branding 2026

It is another busy day on Day 30 of the 2026 WSOP, with another 10 events crammed into the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.

The first shuffles up and deals at 10:00 a.m. local time. That timeslot is reserved for the start of Day 1b of Event# 63: $1,000 Mystery Millions. An hour later, at 11:00 a.m. local time, we will see Day 3 of Event #61: $1,000 Super Seniors begin.

At 12:00 p.m. local time, three events continue to whittle down their respective fields. Event #57: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha will continue playing until a champion is crowned, as will Event #62: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em. Noon also marks the time that Day 2 of Event #64: $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha commences.

The star-studded final 15 of Event #60: $50,000 Poker Players Championship return to their seats at 1:00 p.m. local time, which is also when Day 2 of Event #65: $1,500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold’em begins.

Event #50: $1,500 Millionaire Maker is the last of the in-play events to resume, doing so from 3:30 p.m. local time.

Kelvin Kerber and Peter Patricio
Kelvin Kerber and Peter Patricio

Two new events start on June 24, starting with Event #66: $1,000 Tag Team No-Limit Hold’em at 12:00 p.m. local time. Brazilians Kelvin Kerber and Peter Patricio are this event’s reigning champions. They topped a 1,373-strong field in 2025 and collected $184,780.

Alexander Wilkinson
Alexander Wilkinson

At 2:00 p.m. local time, we have Event #67: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw Championship, which should see many of poker’s elite buy in. Alexander Wilkinson won this event in 2025, leaving 140 opponents in his wake and banking $333,054.


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Matthew Pitt

Senior Editor

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.





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