Asi Moshe, Daisuke Ogita Enjoy World Series of Poker Milestones

The 2026 World Series of Poker main event is in full swing, but there are still many milestones being achieved beyond that signature $10,000 buy-in event.

Asi Moshe navigated a tough final table to secure his fifth career WSOP bracelet. Daisuke Ogita continued a banner year for Japanese players at the 2026 WSOP, becoming a poker millionaire in his mini main event victory.

And one day after Canada Day, which falls on July 1, Canadian Patrick Stacey had a lot to celebrate as he took down his first-ever bracelet in a $2,500 mixed triple draw event.

Before the entirety of the poker world’s attention turns towards the WSOP main event, each of these players has earned their own individual moment to shine.

Five Times A Champion, As Asi Moshe Conquers $3,000 Freezeout

Asi Moshe won his first career WSOP bracelet back in 2014, and set a high bar for himself with a $582,321 first-place prize in that event. He narrowly beat that result in a massive field one year later, but for the first time in more than a decade, Moshe set a new high score.

Moshe took down this year’s $3,000 no-limit hold’em freezeout, outlasting a field of 1,792 entrants to claim the largest share of a $4,784,640 prize pool. He collected a career-best cash of $683,830, and the fifth bracelet of his career, the most of any player from Israel. In Moshe’s first qualifying result of 2026, he earned 1,620 Card Player Player of the Year points, good enough to crack the top 200 of the yearlong leaderboard presented by CoinPoker with this victory alone.

A hot start in the tournament did wonders for Moshe, who was the chip leader after day 1. Improbably, David Miscikowski, Chris Moorman, and Andrew Moreno also bagged top 10 stacks headed into day 2 with 226 players left, and all four managed to make the final table.

A Dominant Finish

Moshe sat in second place behind Moreno coming into the third and final day of the tournament, with 14 players left. 2014 WSOP main event champion Martin Jacobson was among the early day 3 casualties, finishing in 13th place ($37,990).

Moshe built a big chip lead heading into the final table, and then extended it when his pocket queens beat Moreno’s pocket jacks to knock the latter out in eighth place ($78,210). Moshe also dispatched Moorman, with K♠Q♣ against Moorman’s A♥4♠, knocking the 2026 Poker Hall of Fame nominee out in seventh place ($101,900). By the time he eliminated Miscikowski in sixth place ($134,330), there was seemingly no stopping Moshe.

At no point from the time the final table was set, through the final hand dealt, did Moshe concede the chip lead. Qiao Du of China battled hard and managed one double-up. But on the final hand, Du’s live Q♥10♥ failed to improve, leaving Moshe’s A♥K♦ best, and bringing the tournament to a close.

This bracelet win joins Moshe’s Las Vegas bracelets from 2014 and 2019, and his WSOP Europe victories in 2018 and 2019.

Final Table Results – $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout

Daisuke Ogita Wins $1 Million In WSOP Mini Main Event

Poker in Japan has exploded over the past decade and a half, and 2026 has been the most impressive year yet. Naoya Kihara, who was the first Japanese player to ever win a WSOP bracelet in 2012, kicked off the 2026 WSOP by winning his second career bracelet, followed shortly thereafter by his third. Kihara made three more deep runs from there, including a seventh-place finish in the $10,000 deuce-to-seven triple draw championship won by his Japanese countryman, Koji Fujimoto.

But the biggest win of all for a Japanese player this summer was still to come. Daisuke Ogita captured the fourth Japanese bracelet of 2026, along with the biggest prize by far, with his victory in the $1,000 buy-in mini main event. Ogita, an accomplished tournament player with wins on the Asian Poker Tour, the European Poker Tour, and at the Aria Poker Classic, more than doubled his career-best result, pocketing $1 million for his debut victory at the WSOP.

Ogita earned 1,440 Card Player POY points for his win, putting him just outside the top 200.

The miniaturized version of the WSOP main event drew an astounding 12,560 entries over three starting flights, producing an $11,052,800 prize pool. Ogita was among 205 players who bagged chips on day 1a of the tournament, giving him a couple of days to prepare for the rest of his run.

Surviving, And Then Thriving

There were 934 players to start day 2 as all three starting-flight survivors combined into a singular field. By the close of a long day of poker, Ogita was one of just nine players to survive. With the elimination of Canadian Jason James in 16th place, a first-time bracelet winner was guaranteed.

Ogita started the final table in fifth place, as one of two Japanese players still in the hunt. He picked his spots well, and by the time the field was down to five players, Ogita had taken the lead. Jaehwa Son earned the second double elimination of the final table to reduce the field from five to three, and pass Ogita for the chip lead.

With the blinds reaching a pressure point, Ogita picked up his first elimination of the final table, knocking out Jeffrey Evans in third place ($475,000). That pot gave Ogita a lead of more than 4:1 over Son going into heads-up play.

On the final hand, Ogita’s A♠10♠ battled Son’s K♥J♦ and found an A♥ on the flop to lock up the bracelet.

Final Table Results – $1,000 Mini Main Event

Patrick Stacey Navigates Veteran Final Table To Win Mixed Triple Draw Bracelet

Almost all of the attention in Las Vegas is understandably centered around the July 4 weekend and the semiquincentennial of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. But July 1 represented another holiday elsewhere in North America, as Canada Day was celebrated. The Canadian men’s national soccer team is set to play the biggest World Cup match in the country’s history on July 4, and another Canadian-born got to enjoy his own moment of attention at the 2026 WSOP.

Patrick Stacey won his first career WSOP bracelet in a $2,500 mixed triple draw event. The tournament, which saw a rotation of deuce-to-seven triple draw, ace-to-five triple draw, and badugi, drew 508 entrants and a $1,130,300 prize pool. The winner’s share was worth $223,177,  the first six-figure live tournament result of Stacey’s career.

The path to victory was not easy. Stacey defeated six-time Triton champion and bracelet winner Danny Tang heads-up to seal his victory. Mixed game tournament veterans Mark Gregorich (3rd – $96,888) and Allen Kessler (4th – $66,103), long in search of their own first WSOP bracelets, also reached the final table. Andrew Kelsall, a 2020 bracelet winner at his second WSOP final table of the week, finished in fifth place ($46,191).

A Path To Victory

Stacey had a relatively strong start to the tournament, ending day 1 in 25th among 151 survivors. Day 2 was a little less kind, as Stacey sat 15/18 heading into the final day. He remained one of the shortest stacks as the final table drew near, but a key badugi hand earned him a crucial double-up through Poker Hall of Famer Eli Elezra with 11 players left.

Stacey was in the middle of the pack with seven players remaining. Tang jumped out to a considerable chip lead, but the swings from six-handed play gave several players time on top. Stacey eliminated Arthur Morris in sixth place, and though it wouldn’t be a straight line to victory, Stacey claimed the last five eliminations of the tournament on his way to hoisting the bracelet.

Tang opened up an early lead heads-up, but Stacey came roaring back and blitzed his way to the win. The tournament ended in ace-to-five triple draw, as Stacey’s 8-4-3-A low draw made a king-low, enough to defeat Tang’s 7-6-5-A low draw when Tang paired his ace.

For his win in this event, Stacey earned 1,260 Card Player POY points. He has 1,520 for the year thus far, placing Stacey just outside the top 200 on the overall leaderboard. Tang, who received 1,050 POY points for second place, is fourth in the standings, trailing only Alex Foxen, Brandon Wilson, and Eelis Parssinen. This was Tang’s 11th POY-qualified final table of the year, with one title and more than $6.9 million in POY earnings accrued along the way.

Final Table Results – $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw

Photo credits: WSOP / Dominic Iaquinto, Tyler Abrams