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Day 4 of the 2026 World Series of Poker Main Event began with players hoping to survive the money bubble, and it ended with just over 500 still with their dreams of achieving poker immortality alive.
Sam Sweilem leads the remaining 533 players after bagging up 3,800,000 at the event’s halfway point. The Florida native took a big chunk off Chris Brewer with a full house, and then rivered a flush to bust Eugene Teibloom in another big pot to climb the leaderboard. Sweilem has just one recorded WSOP cash from 2019 and just over $130,000 in live tournament earnings, according to The Hendon Mob, but is in pole position to change that with a deep run over the coming days.
Day 4 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sam Sweilem | United States | 3,800,000 | 190 |
| 2 | Steven O’Nan | United States | 3,600,000 | 180 |
| 3 | Artur Martirosian | Russian Federation | 3,495,000 | 175 |
| 4 | Kyle Mart | United States | 3,480,000 | 174 |
| 5 | Chih Fan | Taiwan | 3,365,000 | 168 |
| 6 | Shreesh Hebbar | Canada | 3,340,000 | 167 |
| 7 | Felix Kuemayr | Austria | 3,125,000 | 156 |
| 8 | Arman Bezhanian | Russian Federation | 3,100,000 | 155 |
| 9 | Dan Stavila | Moldova | 3,060,000 | 153 |
| 10 | Farid Jattin | Colombia | 3,040,000 | 152 |
Sweilem is followed on the leaderboard by Steven O’Nan (3,600,000), Artur Martirosian (3,495,000), Kyle Mart (3,480,000), and Chih Fan (3,365,000). Other top stacks include Dan Stavila (3,060,000), Farid Jattin (3,040,000), WSOP Paradise third-place finisher Belarmino De Souza (2,725,000), Brock Wilson (2,415,000), last year’s 17th-place finisher Daniel Iachan (2,170,000), and Daniel Hachem (2,110,000).
Further down the leaderboard are Alex Foxen, whose day included hitting a royal flush on his way to 1,695,000, as well as Japanese vlogging superstar Masato Yokosawa (1,545,000), Sean Winter (1,525,000), Shaun Deeb (1,500,000), Dylan Smith (1,320,000), and Tony Dunst (1,245,000). The shorter stacks include Ryan Leng (990,000), 2005 finalist Scott Lazar (905,000), Aaron Barone (785,000), Stephen Chidwick (760,000), Chino Rheem (655,000), Josh Arieh (610,000), 2024 finalist Boris Angelov (580,000), Martin Zamani (545,000), David Peters (430,000), and Patrick Leonard (295,000).
Four past champions remain in contention for a second Main Event bracelet. Hossein Ensan leads the group with 2,580,000, while Greg Raymer (535,000), Ryan Riess (455,000), and defending champion Michael Mizrachi (440,000) will have some work to do if they want to make a run at another title.
PokerNews caught up with Ensan earlier this year, when he shared his plans to juggle both the World Cup and the World Series of Poker (WSOP) this summer. However, with both Germany and Iran now eliminated from the tournament, he’s entirely focused on the felt and preparing for the grueling grind ahead.
Now, seven years on since his life-changing victory, Ensan is particularly keen on is the return of an extended hiatus before the final table. After the final nine are confirmed on July 13, play will pause for several weeks before resuming on August 3.
“When you play the Main Event for seven straight days, the focus required is immense. You need a real break,” Ensan explained. “The Main Event is a different beast; it’s not a 100-player high roller or even a standard 1,000-player field. It’s a massive tournament.”
Moneymaker One of Three to Fall on the Bubble
Day 4 began with the field seven spots away from the money bubble. Three eliminations occurred simultaneously on the bubble, including 2003 champion and Poker Hall of Famer Chris Moneymaker, who called off his last chips playing the board against Antonio Vargas, only for Vargas to show down two aces. Inaugural WSOP Online Main Event champion Stoyan Madanzhiev also lost a race with ace-king against Gregory Brown’s fives, while Zhaken Seitbekov ran into Stavila’s flopped set. The three players split a min-cash of $10,000, with Seitbekov winning a three-way flip for a WSOP Paradise Main Event package.
The bustouts started coming fast once the bubble burst, with Kristen Foxen (1,331st), 2012 runner-up Jesse Sylvia (1,167th), Stephen Song (1,049th), Chris Moorman (1,041st), and Olivier Busquet (1,030th) being among the first to bust. They were followed by Jesse Lonis (921st), Alex Livingston (897th), Ren Lin (746th), 2017 champion Scott Blumstein (666th), and 2018 champion John Cynn (617th). Joe Hachem had his bluff picked off by Christopher Storie’s pair of fours as the 2005 champ fell in 803rd, while Charles “Woody” Moore, fully dressed up as Santa Claus, ran into “The Grinch” Nathan Fair’s kings to bust in 678th.
The remaining 533 players return tomorrow at 11 a.m. local time for Day 5. The action picks up on Level 20 with blinds of 10,000/20,000 and a 20,000 big blind ante. Everyone who remains has each locked up $32,500, with the next pay jump to $35,000 coming at 476th place. The plan is to play five more 120-minute levels tomorrow.
Stay tuned as PokerNews returns tomorrow to follow all the action and provide live updates from Day 5 of the 2026 WSOP Main Event.
