Event #81: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship Day 1d 2025 World Series of Poker

For some reason, neither was inducted in the first year in a long time when there was an opportunity to induct more than one player. Now, look, I know there are a lot of other players who belong in this conversation, but I’m using Deeb and Seiver as examples because they’re two of the most recent players who I think we’d all agree deserve to be in. How many times did you have to rebuy in all of those combined events? It took just over three hours of play to knock out the first seven players, but McKeehen and Greufe were very deep, so finding a winner lasted even longer than that. McKeehen outlasted a wild final table that included Loni Hui, Darren Rabinowitz, Jose Nadal, Eddie Pak, and eventual runner-up David Greufe.

The WSOP portfolio of events includes approximately 50 WSOP Circuit Events annually across five continents, WSOP Europe (since 2007), WSOP Paradise (since 2023) and the record-breaking WSOP Online festival. Featuring a comprehensive slate of tournaments in every major poker variation, the WSOP is poker’s longest-running tournament dating back to 1970. The World Series of Poker® is the largest, richest and most prestigious gaming event and poker brand in the world, having awarded more than $4 billion in prize money over the past six decades. Lucas Jumalon of Spokane, Wash., holds a commanding chip lead entering the final table of the World Series of Poker Main Event. Lucas Jumalon will battle Lauri Saaskilahti in heads-up play when the World Series of Poker Main Event continues Wednesday at Horseshoe Events Center. Lucas Jumalon defeated Lauri Saaskilahti during heads-up play and outlasted a field of 9,208 entrants to win the World Series of Poker Main Event on Wednesday.

The brand-new poker series was highlighted by a $5,000 Main Event that offered a $15 million guarantee, as well as the introduction of GGPoker’s innovative OnLive concept. As always, PokerNews will be on the floor from first shuffle to last bag as the final table of the 2026 WSOP Main Event is set. Local time on Monday, July 13, with blinds of 300,000/600,000 and a 600,000 big blind ante.

The most recent WSOP Main Event in 2025 drew a field of 9,735, the third-largest turnout in the history of the tournament. Hailing from Barcelona, Spain, Margets is not new to success at the WSOP, having won her lone bracelet in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Closer for $376,850 in 2021. Still seeking his first career WSOP bracelet, Hallaert’s first title won in the United States could be the biggest one of them all. Already having a WSOP bracelet to his name, Dunaway won the $1,500 Monster Stack for $1,162,681 during the 2023 WSOP. Braxton Dunaway (Midland, Texas, United States) – 91,900,000 ChipsBraxton Dunaway, 42, lives in Midland, Texas, and is a family man who makes his living in the oil and gas industry.

Here’s everything you need to know about the WSOP main event final table, including TV channel and streaming options for the tournament title. The 2026 World Series of Poker main event final table starts Monday. The 2025 series has once again redefined live tournament poker, shattering multiple all-time records and further cementing its legendary status. The 2026 WSOP is in full swing, as shiny, gold WSOP bracelets continue to be bestowed upon poker players from throughout the world.

A dedicated mixed game player, Canada’s Patrick Stacey wins his first WSOP bracelet after defeating high-stakes professional poker player Danny Tang heads-up. Professional poker player Caitlin Comeskey continued her successful summer at the World Series of Poker by making Day 5 of the Main Event. Las Vegas resident Ralph Perry held the unofficial chip lead in the World Series of Poker Main Event on Day 6 Saturday with 90 players still standing. When Day 7 of the WSOP Main Event started Sunday, all the remaining players were notified a “shot clock” would be implemented in an effort to speed up play. Malcolm Trayner of Australia had the chip lead in the World Series of Poker Main Event when action was paused on Day 7 late Sunday with 21 players left.

The break gave players respite from the gruelling Main Event grind, the chance to drum up sponsorship deals, and fly family and friends to Las Vegas for the biggest final table of their lives. Seven-time WSOP bracelet winner and GGPoker ambassador Daniel Negreanu also pointed to expanded online qualification paths, encouraging players worldwide to “take your shot at the gold in 2026.” Returning to the WSOP for the second year and continuing to revolutionize how poker players experience WSOP events around the world, the WSOP Live App serves as a one-stop shop for everything poker players need throughout the 2026 WSOP. Taking one of the most popular events at the WSOP and lowering the buy-in to attract even more poker players, Flight A of the $550 No-Limit Hold’em Mini Mystery Millions serves as the perfect starting event for the 2026 WSOP.

• This was his fourth final-table finish of the series, having placed third in both the $25,000 six-max no-limit hold’em and $25,000 PLO/NLH mix, as well as fourth in the $250,000 super high roller.
• The official home of the WSOP, poker players can find the Poker Hall of Fame within the Horseshoe, just outside of the WSOP Hall of Fame Poker Room.
• Here’s everything you need to know about the World Series of Poker Main Event, including TV channel and streaming options for the national tournament.
• With our new ownership’s commitment to growth, this is the perfect time to bring the ‘World Championship’ back to the biggest stage in sports.”

Media Summary: WSOP Day 38 of 51

The richest, most prestigious and longest-running poker series returns to the Las Vegas Strip in 2025. After just over eight hours of play, with the field three eliminations away from the money, it was time for what would be a lengthy two-and-a-half-hour session of hand-for-hand play to burst the bubble. The 2026 APT Incheon Main Event has become the largest international poker tournament ever held in the city, and the second-largest APT Main Event ever held in South Korea. Regardless of the WPT’s game plan, Las Vegas will be here, and we will be playing poker either way. Three different $26,000 NLH events will scatter themselves in between to make up a complete Super High Roller Series.

Michael Mizrachi (Las Vegas, Nevada, United States) – 93,000,000 ChipsMichael Mizrachi, 44, is the most decorated poker player to reach the 2025 WSOP Main Event final table. John Wasnock (North Bend, Washington, United States) – 108,100,000 ChipsJohn Wasnock, 50, is a poker player from North Bend, Washington who will be proudly representing the Evergreen state at the WSOP Main Event final table as the overall chip leader. LAS VEGAS (July 15, 2025) – Out of 9,735 total entrants in the third-largest World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event in history, only nine players remain as the lineup is set for the 56th annual WSOP Main Event final table.

Where to watch World Series of Poker main event final table: Schedule, live stream, channel for 2026 WSOP

\”I caught some cards and I won some big pots. It seemed every time the pot got really big, especially three-handed, I had the best hand. That was helpful.” “It feels like every time I get into the pokernewsdaily.com situation, I just can’t. “Down here in Florida, I don’t feel like I’ve ever done as well as I should have,” McKeehen told SHRPO live reporter BJ Nemeth.

For the second time in his career, Mizrachi made the final table of the WSOP main event. In addition to all of the live events on offer, 30 WSOP online bracelet events are set to take place in parallel to the Las Vegas live action. The 57th annual edition of the most famous poker festival in the world once again features 100 live gold bracelet events inside the Horseshoe Las Vegas and Paris Las Vegas. Two-time bracelet winner Martin Zamani, who had finished fourth in the $10,000 pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better event just a couple of days earlier, scored Castro’s bounty. Leo Margets finished seventh in 2025 for $1.5 million, following in the footsteps of Barbara Enright to record just the second final-table showing ever by a female player in this tournament.

Winning his first WSOP bracelet online in 2023, Karapet Galstyan now has a live WSOP bracelet added to his collection, winning the $600 Deepstack No-Limit Hold’em for $259,829. Surviving a turbulent final table, Toby Price is taking his first WSOP bracelet and largest career score back to Arizona. Starting his poker career as a young online prodigy, Poland’s Dzmitry Urbanovich now has a WSOP bracelet to his name, finishing on top of the podium in the 8-Game Mixed Championship.

All other WSOP bracelet events will be live-streamed for free on the official WSOP YouTube channel. Thousands of poker players from all over the world have already made the trip to Las Vegas, helping kick off what is set to be one of the most pivotal WSOPs in recent years. During the 20-day hiatus, ESPN will air specially curated prime-time episodes to build momentum and introduce the final table competitors to a global audience. In a strategic return to a “cliffhanger” television format, once the tournament reaches the final table on July 13, play will be paused. There are 100 live bracelet events scheduled for the 2025 WSOP. Today, CardPlayer.com is the best poker and gambling information portal for free poker and casino content, offering online poker site and casino reviews and exclusive online gambling bonus deals.

As another exciting stretch of the series comes to a close, take a look back at the newly crowned champions from the past few days at poker’s most prestigious tournament festival. The final three players then enjoyed a short break before returning to the table. The $25,000 buy-in event saw China’s Yinan Zhou navigate a final table that included Liv Boeree and Justin Bonomo to win his first bracelet and $6 million. Other events included a $1,500 Mystery Bounty, a $25,000 GGMillion$ High Roller, and two pot-limit Omaha tournaments. In partnership with GGPoker, the WSOP announced the opportunity for players to win one of 15 WSOP bracelets in the Caribbean in December of 2023. The series made its debut in 2023 from December 3-14 and featured 15 bracelet events across different variants with over $51 million in guarantees.

Starting May 26, the streams will bring live action from a revamped TV set featuring some of poker’s most familiar voices. WSOP Circuit tournaments usually enjoy large crowds, but the ones in Las Vegas this summer could break attendance records with so many grinders being in Sin City for the 2026 WSOP. How do you top perhaps the greatest summer in poker history? In any other year, Michael Mizrachi winning the PPC for an unprecedented fourth time might have been the story of the summer, but you might remember “The Grinder” went and added something else to his record as well. Last year, the Millionaire Maker was one of the most talked-about stories of the series, controversial but compelling, it remains a standout event that always draws a massive crowd. The format, which ran from 2008 to 2016, featured a four-month gap between the Main Event final table being set and the next world champion being crowned.

So apart from the summer WSOP series in Las Vegas, I spend most of my time in Asia. After winning two APT events earlier this year, did you decide to play more APTs? How is the competition different from American players? We experimented with short-form videos, guest blogs from players, including how many blinds a player had, and even just invented a recap show no one at WPT ever asked for called Jess & BJ.

Since I mostly play high-stakes events in the US, which normally start and finish late, I might be more suited to the pace of US high-stakes tournaments because I’m a night owl. How are APT events different from tournaments that you play in the United States? Tony ‘Ren’ Lin has become one of the most recognizable and successful players in the world, crushing the high-stakes tournament scene to the tune of over $20M in Hendon Mob-recorded earnings. Towards the tail end of my career, as Black Friday’s immediate effects had worn off and people realized the new status quo was never going to be the boom again, players became very wary of the media. Poker players during that era had television identities, online personas, forum reputations, and private selves that could be very different from one another.

With only a handful of exceptions, I don’t think any player really struck me as wildly different from how they were on television. Everyone on the team at that time really was committed to putting on the best event they could and doing so in a way that revered the brand. Nothing compared to that format of podcast where you heard the news of what was going on in the tournament, what the gossip was, where people ended up after play ended, and, my personal favorite, the table talk. I would listen to Gavin Smith, Joe Sebok, and what started as Scott Huff on the CardPlayer podcast and then Joe Stapleton on PokerWire radio every day during the summer and when they were on the road with the WPT. Honestly, if Chops hadn’t outlined the vision for others, I don’t think I would have ended up doing as much multimedia as I did because the industry was so stuck in the paradigm of girl in poker video equals ‘hot girl.’

Starting the day with over three-quarters of the chips in play, Mizrachi made quick work of the competition, eliminating fourth-place finisher Kenny Hallaert ($3,000,000) and third-place finisher Braxton Dunaway ($4,000,000) during the first two hands of the day. Here’s a look at the broadcast schedule for the 2026 final table. The WSOP portfolio of events includes approximately 40 WSOP Circuit Events annually across five continents, WSOP Europe (since 2007), WSOP Paradise (since 2023) and the record-breaking WSOP Online festival. In 2025, the flagship event in Las Vegas attracted 246,960 entrants and awarded more than $481 million in prize money – setting all-time records for the second consecutive year. More information on individual WSOP events, including schedules and structure sheets, can be found at

With over $2 million in live tournament winnings, Margets looks to not only add $10 million to her career total but also become the first woman to ever win the WSOP Main Event. Leonore Margets (Barcelona, Spain) – 53,400,000 ChipsLeonore “Leo” Margets, 41, is not only the last woman standing in the 2025 WSOP Main Event but is also the first woman to reach the WSOP Main Event final table since 1995. Dunaway’s $1.5 million in live tournament earnings could increase tenfold by winning the $10 million top prize in the 2025 WSOP Main Event.

Artur Martirosian will be one to watch once again, having already taken down two WSOP bracelets in the format, including in 2025. Sixty-four of the world’s best will go head-to-head, each trying to win six straight matches for a bracelet. On May 29, the $25,000 Heads Up No-Limit Hold’em Championship looks set to be an early highlight of the series. Aside from the Main Event, there’s plenty to get excited about this summer.

Probably not, and that’s exactly what She Wong did by taking down the final event of the summer at Paris and Horseshoe Las Vegas, the $1,000 Super Turbo No-Limit Hold’em. The Millionaire Maker in Paradise will play out across WSOP NJ/NV and GG Poker platforms until just 118 players remain. In addition to packages available on GGPoker, players on WSOP US had the opportunity to win Main Event packages. “GGPoker is delighted to launch WSOP Paradise and welcome hundreds of players from all over the world to Atlantis Paradise Island this December,” Daniel Negreanu said in a press release.

The third and final day began with five players remaining and Frank in the lead. Earlier this series, he became the first player to surpass $25 million in bracelet-event cashes. It has been a truly incredible week at the 2026 World Series of Poker, with four players near the very top of the all-time bracelet leaderboard adding to their legacies with massive wins in Sin City.

The biggest buy-in event in WSOP history is the $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop, held in 2012, 2014 and 2018. In 2026, the lowest buy-in event was $300 (The Gladiators of Poker) and the biggest buy-in event was $250,000 (Super High Roller). The World Series of Poker is held ever summer at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino. There was also still time for another legend to write himself into the record books. That year saw the first non-American win the Main Event as Mansour Matloubi triumphed, and 1991 saw the first prize reach $1,000,000 for the first time. The start of the 1980s was heralded by back-to-back wins for Stu Ungar and the following year, the field surpassed 100 for the first time.

Its storied poker room and upgraded amenities make it the perfect setting for this year’s poker spectacle. A true landmark in Las Vegas poker history, Horseshoe Las Vegas combines decades of tradition with modern flair. Whether you’re aiming to play or follow the action, PokerNews is your ultimate hub for all things WSOP.

Big Shake Up for 2026 WSOP Main Event

It was simply that I knew which online screennames belonged to which real-life poker tournament participants. This time around, he was the player with the big pocket pair facing two overcards. Throughout this tournament, I played like very, very good poker. Jamie Shaevel is in sixth place, with 33,000,000, while three-time bracelet winner Greg Mueller rounds out the final seven with 29,500,000. The two players then doubled through each other before Wong made a good river call to seize a commanding lead.

The 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) is scheduled to take place from Tuesday, May 28 through Wednesday, July 17 at the Horseshoe and Paris Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. With MyPlayers, you can track your favorite pros, friends, or family members across every reported event. Other sites may post summaries, but only PokerNews has the full hand histories, photos, and chip counts reported live from the floor. PokerNews is the official source for official WSOP live reporting coverage. Expect on-the-fly video content, and daily recaps to keep you up to speed even if you miss the live action.

Saaskilahti became the second player to hit the 100-million mark when he pulled off a big bluff with queen high. I just prepared a little bit, like psychologically,” he said when asked about the three-week layoff from when the final table was set back on July 13th. Jumalon continued to fall from his early high water mark when his preflop raising war with Saaskilahti ended the Finnish player five-betting A♣K♠. Neither player improved on the end and Jumalon opted not to continue bluffing with six high. After taking down that pot, he chipped up to 214,000,000, or just shy of 3,567 times the initial starting stack of 60,000 for this championship event. Bruce Buffer, the famous voice of mixed martial arts and a poker tournament regular, kicked off the proceedings with his signature catchphrase.

Three-time bracelet winner Greg ‘FBT’ Mueller, one of two remaining Canadians, still has high hopes as he enjoys the deepest main event run of his career. Two-time WSOP winner Antonio Galiana of Spain is one of eight European players still in the field. Ensan, and Trayner for that matter, still have a lot of work left to do before the 2026 WSOP main event final table is set.

“Poker is filled with unexpected storylines, and nobody is better equipped to showcase the stories that unfold throughout a tournament more than ESPN. With our new ownership’s commitment to growth, this is the perfect time to bring the ‘World Championship’ back to the biggest stage in sports.” See the full 2025 WSOP schedule below and find the buy-in and date of every single official event at this year’s Series. This was the German pro’s second seven-figure score, with the earlier also coming in a $100,000 PLO event.