SATURDAY, JULY 11

50K High Roller gets tense. The final two tables are battling it out for a spot on Day 3. Negreanu is in the mix, but he now trails a mighty group. A few top chip-havers as the hour gets late:

Daniel Smiljkovic - 8.3M

Daniel Rezaei - 7.5M

Timur Margolin - 6.4M

Erik Seidel - 6M

Bryn Kenney  - 4.6M

Daniel Negreanu - 4.6M

Matthew Shepsky wins $1K Mystery Bounty PLO ($305,000): He also gets his first WSOP bracelet after coming out on top of a huge field of 4,764. Shepsky beat Alex Manzano heads-up, with Chris Vitch finishing in fourth. 

Matthew Shepsky.            Matthew Shepsky.
Miguel Cortes

Better luck next year: In a post-elim interview with Jeff Platt, Michael Mizrachi's spirits were high despite the obvious disappointment. 

"Whatever. It's all good. Next year, right?" he said. "It's been an amazing year. I can't complain." 

No back-to-back Main Event wins for Mizrachi: The 2025 champ was bobbing and weaving late on Day 5 as only he can, but ran into it. 

After moving in for his 365K with , 'Grinder' found a caller in 2019 Main Event winner Hossein Ensan. It was champ-on-champ violence for the third time today, but Mizrachi failed to improve against Ensan's pocket aces and his title defense came to an end. 

"One of the most legendary players of all time," said Nick Schulman in the commentary booth. "We say good game to you, sir. Very."

Michael Mizrachi Michael Mizrachi
Omar Sader

Negreanu in the driver's seat: We've got a new chip leader in the $50K High Roller. 

Negreanu's pocket aces held up against the pocket queens of Pavel Plesuv to deliver a monster pot to the Canadian and send the Moldovan to the rail. 

With more than 4M in his stack, he now leads ahead of Daniel Smiljkovic, Bryn Kenney, and the rest of the field. 

Daniel Negreanu Daniel Negreanu
Omar Sader

Alex Foxen out of the Main Event: Kristen Foxen will retain her grip on the record for deepest run in the Main Event within the Foxen household as her husband Alex is now out of the Main Event late on Day 5. 

Foxen ran into it – twice over – when he jammed his 365K with . Ryan Miller called behind with before Dan Stavila woke up with in the big blind. It all went in the middle and Stavila's top boat delivered him a Foxen KO and more than 6M chips while Miller was left on fumes. 

Alex Foxen Alex Foxen
Hayley Hochstetler

 

Suvarna bubbles $50K, players on dinner break: After notching a third bracelet earlier in the series, Santhosh Suvarna served as the bubble boy in the $50K High Roller NLH. 

With his elimination, 31 players made the money – of which 29 now remain and are on dinner break. 

Bryn Kenney holds a slim chip lead over the field, followed closely by Daniel Smiljkovic and Eelis Parssinen. 

Santhosh Suvarna Santhosh Suvarna
Omar Sader

Double double: Michael Mizrachi has breathing room again. The 2025 Main Event champ committed his 445K with in the face of an open and a three-bet from Hossein Ensan. It was too good of a price for Ensan to turn down and he made the call with

The two champs locked horns for a second all-in clash and Grinder emerged victorious once again to return to the seven-figure stack club. 

Mizrachi hangs in there. The reigning champ is on the ropes, but he's a hard target. Fellow former champ Hossein Ensan went for the KO with , but survived to keep Grinder in it with around 500K. 

And of course it did, because that's the exact hand Mizrachi has tattooed on his arm. 

Lose some, win some: Only moments after taking a tumble with bottom set against an opponent's flopped flush, Alex Foxen has found a resurgence to the seven-figure stack club. 

The livestream picked up the action with Philipp Hasenburger all-in and at-risk for his 475K stack with against Foxen's

On the flop, Hasenburger found himself with only one out to stay alive. The turn card restored his other out, however, providing just a faint glimmer of added hope. 

"Quite rare, you go from one out to two," observed Nick Schuman from the booth. 

The river completed the board, however, and Hasenburger was sent to the payout desk as Foxen hauled in the pot to take him back over the million-chip mark. 

Phil Hellmuth eliminated from $50K High Roller: He nearly made it to the bubble after max late-regging, but came a cropper with a pair of eights. 33 players are left and 31 get paid. 

  

Foxen takes a tumble. One of many major storylines playing out on the ESPN telecast, Alex Foxen was hard-charging with 1.7M before running into Ryan Miller's flush. 

Foxen had on a flop of , but Miller had . It went in on the turn, and Miller survived to double to 2.2M. The big pot left Foxen with 705K. 

Main Event players reach third break on Day 5: Of the 533 players who started the day, only 288 remain – and they're all off on a 20 minute break. 

If they haven't already considered it, we've now reached the point where realistic dreams of a final table appearance – and maybe even the bracelet below – begin to take shape for all still in the hunt. 

2026 WSOP Main Event Bracelet 2026 WSOP Main Event Bracelet
Hayley Hochstetler

Final table set in $1K PLO Mystery Bounty: Jeremy Kerbel is the chip leader after eliminating Shawn Stroke in 9th place. There's $305,000 up top. 

  1. Jeremy Kerbel: 45M
  2. Chris Vitch: 37.7M
  3. Matthew Shepsky: 21.8M
  4. Alex Manzano: 21M
  5. Mark Radoja: 19.M
  6. Nick Pupillo: 15.5M
  7. Wojciech Barzantny: 9.2M
  8. Andre Rieder: 9M
Jeremy Kerbel. Jeremy Kerbel.
Monique Marestein

We caught up with Caitlin Comeskey ahead of her evening on ESPN: "I don't feel overwhelmed. I feel calm. I feel good. I had a great break. Had three cigarettes. Took some deep breaths, did some breathing exercises, just watched Lilias White sing Don't Rain on My Parade."

Read more below and watch her on ESPN Now!

Check out the WSOP Main Event feature tables: They've now got full chip counts, cards and all the action, so you can actually sweat and see what's going on. We expect the bleachers to start filling between now and Monday evening. 

6pm Main Event livestream tables are bangers: Caitlin Comeskey and Tony Dunst are on one, Alex Foxen and Masato Yokosawa headline the second, while the third has Michael Mizrachi, Hossein Ensan and Lara Eisenberg. 

 

Caitlin Comeskey @CaitlinComeskey
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Finna be on @ESPN playing 50bb deep on Day 5 of the Main Event. Tune in for the show.

FRIDAY, JULY 10

Late reg boosts $50K High Roller field to 202: 59 players are left to play for the first prize of $2,276,691. Martin Kabrhel, Isai Scheinberg and Ren Lin have all been eliminated Paulis Vaitiekunas is still chip leader.

Ren Lin Ren Lin eliminated.
Hayley Hochstetler

Four former Main Event champs still playing: Hossein Ensan is leading the charge and he's on the same feature table as Michael Mizrachi. Not everyone's happy about the mid-afternoon break, though.

  • Hossein Ensan: 2,255,000
  • Greg Raymer: 1,285,000
  • Michael Mizrachi: 1,195,000
  • Ryan Riess: 810,000
Greg Raymer @FossilMan
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From 320K -> 1.285M on the still ridiculous and insulting mid-afternoon dinner break. @WSOP #MainEvent day 5

Late reg shut in $50K High Roller: Phil Hellmuth is one of a number of players who have jumped into the $50K with a 15-big-blind-stack. Naoya Kihara, Martin Zamani, Michael Moncek and Santhosh Suvarana are also playing. 

Phil Hellmuth navigated his way through Day 2ABC and has a day off now before his Day 3. Phil Hellmuth.
Hayley Hochstetler

Sasha Liu eliminated in massive pot: She had an epic run this summer, but unfortunately it's come to an end. The Day 3 chip leader check-raised the turn and was put all-in on the river by John Hardie. Liu tanked and called with two pair, but Hardie had turned a set of nines. 

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Patrick Leonard on the rise: Unlike countryman Stephen Chidwick, the UK's own Patrick Leonard is still in the hunt for a Main Event Day 6 appearance. 

As we just saw on stream, Leonard scored a full double when his improved to the nut flush against an opponent's on a runout. 

Patrick Leonard Patrick Leonard
Hayley Hochstetler

New Moneymaker vlog has dropped: Chris Moneymaker bubbled the Main Event on Thursday. Now you can find out what really happened – including a miscount of chips in that fateful hand. 

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Stephen Chidwick out of the Main: It's bad news for the Brit, but good news for the rest of the field as one of the all-time greatest tournament players is no longer in the running. 

Stephen Chidwick Stephen Chidwick
Hayley Hochstetler

We've lost more notables in the Main Event: As play resumes for the second level of the day, a few more notable names find themselves headed to the payout desk. 

Amongst them are 25K Fantasy players Joshua McCully and Ryuta Nakai, PokerStars Sunday Million 15th Anniversary winner Vanessa Kade, and WPT Season 23 Player of the Year Harvey Castro. 

Vanessa Kade Vanessa Kade
Omar Sader

Main Event players take first break: With the first level of Day 5 play out of the way, the remaining players head off for the first 20-minute break. 

We've already seen the departure of more than 100 players, leaving 425 still in the hunt for poker's most prestigious prize. 

There's no shortage of notables still at it, including: Artur Martirosian, Shaun Deeb, Alex Foxen, Hossein Ensan, Soheb Porbandarwala, Farid Jattin, Greg Mueller, Sean Winter, Brock Wilson, Sasha Liu, Terrance 'TJ' Reid, Daniel Hachem, Michael Rossitto, and Caitlin Comeskey. 

Caitlin Comeskey Caitlin Comeskey
Hayley Hochstetler

Zamani and Rheem amongst early Day 5 elims: We're about an hour into the first level of Day 5 play and already the eliminations are mounting. 

After starting the day with 533, the field has thinned to 477 players remaining. 

Amongst the early exits are Martin Zamani, Chino Rheem, Brian Hastings, and David Peters. 

Martin Zamani Martin Zamani
Hayley Hochstetler

Four former Main Event champs still in the mix: As well as Michael Mizrachi, Hossein Ensan (2019), Ryan Riess (2013) and Greg Raymer (2004) are looking to win the Main Event for a second time. Ensan is on the feature table with Shaun Deeb.

WSOP - World Series of Poker @WSOP
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Four former Main Event champions are still in contention heading into Day 5 of the 2026 WSOP MAIN EVENT! @TheGrinder44 still has sights set on back-to-back championships and etching his name in the history books again.Hossein Ensan, @FossilMan, and @RyanRiess1 are also looking…

Day 4 highlights: While you're waiting for the livestream to start, check out the highlights from an action-filled Day 4. 

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Day 5 of the WSOP Main Event is go! Cards are in the air for the 533 players left in this year's Main Event. The livestream starts at 12pm on ESPN+ (and the WSOP YouTube channel outside the US). 

Shaun Deeb, Alex Foxen and Michael Mizrachi are headlining the feature tables. 

Alex Foxen. Alex Foxen.
Omar Sader

And here's how he got those chips: If you're wondering how Daniel Negreanu managed to bag up a milly stack in the $50K – here's your answer. 

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WSOP Day 46: It's crunch time, folks – here's what we're keeping an eye on today in Las Vegas. 

The Main Event train rolls on to Day 5 play with 533 players still in the hunt. Russia's Artur Martirosian is amongst those with the biggest stacks. When play resumes at 11:00am local time, we'll bring you updates with all the key moments as players battle through another five blind levels. 

Artur Martirosyan Artur Martirosian
Hayley Hochstetler

The $1,000 Mystery Bounty PLO was scheduled to end yesterday on Day 2, but with such a large turnout tournament organizers have been forced to extend play into Day 3. When play resumes at 1:00pm local time, the 34 remaining players will battle down to a winner. 

The $300 Gladiators of Poker continues with action in Day 1C – as does the $3,000 Mid-Stakes Championship. 

The $50K High Roller NLH drew a field of 131 entries on Day 1, of which only 51 will return for Day 2 play later today at 1:00pm local time. 

And, last but not least, the $1,500 Pick Your PLO – a brand-new tournament offering on this year's schedule – enters Day 2 play. 

Main Event Day 4 is in the bag: Michael Mizrachi survived an all-action day to end with 440,000. 

“I’ve been in worse situations," he told us after he bagged. "I was here with two blinds when I won the tournament last year. We got 22, we got plenty.”

Read our full Day 4 report, below.

Eric Weber wins $600 Ultra Stack ($400,000): He beat Henry Benamram after a heads-up battle that lasted almost three hours. 

Eric Weber. Eric Weber.
Tyler Abrams

Main Event players back from final break: 655 players are left and we've got a new chip leader – Dan Stavila, with 3,826,000. 

Chris Moneymaker on bubbling the Main: 

WSOP - World Series of Poker @WSOP
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Chris Moneymaker Reflects After Main Event Bubble Exit@CMONEYMAKER shares his thoughts after a heartbreaking bubble elimination from the 2026 WSOP Main Event, reflecting on the run, the disappointment, and why he's already looking ahead to next year.

Main Event champions still in the field: It's not just Mizrachi who's looking to win it again.

  • Hossein Ensan: 2.2M
  • Michael Mizrachi: 709K
  • Ryan Riess: 710K 
  • John Cynn: 447K
  • Greg Raymer: 328K
  • Scott Blumstein: 220K 
Hossein Ensan. Hossein Ensan.

Michael Mizrachi still riding the rollercoaster: The 2025 champ just found aces and got a double up through Brian Nguyen to get his Main Event stack back up to 684,000. 

Michael Mizrachi.
Hayley Hochstetler

Shaun Deeb heading to the Main Event feature table: He's got a stack of 2.2 million, which puts him near the chip leaders. You can see him on the stream in about an hour. 

Shaun Deeb.
Hayley Hochstetler

Heads-up in the $600 Ultra Stack: It's France's Henry Benamram vs. the USA's Eric Weber for the gold and the $400,000 first prize, after Mikko Torkki was eliminated in third. 

Henry Benamram. Henry Benamram.
Tyler Abrams

THURSDAY, JULY 9

Livestream on break: It will be back at 6pm to see Day 4 through to the end. 

Here's what a million chips looks like in the Main Event: Caitlin Comeskey is enjoying herself this summer.

Caitlin Comeskey @CaitlinComeskey
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In the money in the Main Event with over one million chips 🤑🤑🤑🤠🙏🍀🐎🐎

All-time high for women in the Main Event: 431 women played the Main Event, which makes up 4.68% of the field.  

Anuj Arora @anuj2212
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Another encouraging trend from the @WSOP Main Event:👩 Women's participation hit an all-time high of 431 players this year.2025: 3692026: 431 (+17%)That's 4.68% of the entire field, the highest we've seen in recent years.@pokerfuse

Main Event breakdown: Some great stats from Anuj Arora from the 2026 Main Event. 

Anuj Arora @anuj2212
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Alright, we have the @WSOP Main Event player breakdown (2025 vs 2026)The field got smaller. But here's the interesting part...🌍 Players from 111 countries (103 last year)🌎 ROW players made up 38.8% of the field (highest in the last 3 years)🇺🇸 US, Canada, and UK down🔻

Main Event on extended 70-minute break: There are 887 players left and unofficial counts still have Sasha Liu on top with a stack of 2.8 million. 

Sasha Liu Sasha Liu.
Hayley Hochstetler

Isai Scheinberg enters the $50K High Roller: The PokerStars founder and 2026 Hall of Fame nominee is in the field of 54. Adrian Mateos, Andrew Lichtenberger, Joao Simao and Brandon Wilson are also playing. Late reg is tomorrow at 3:15pm. 

Isai Scheinberg. Isai Scheinberg.

Huge Main Event pot: Dylan Smith and Alex Foxen just played a 925K pot with all the chips going into the middle preflop. 

After Foxen raised with , Smith three-bet to 80K with , Foxen four-bet, Smith five-bet jammed and Foxen called. Smith was at risk.

The runout was safe for Smith and Foxen was cut down to just 225K or 22.5 big blinds.