Day 7 of the WSOP Main Event should have been remembered for the poker. It had plenty of that, but the Will Kassouf drama will dominate the headlines. He was eliminated in 33rd for $300,000, but his story didn’t end there.
Instead, after being allowed to do a lengthy post-bust interview, he was informed that he would be escorted to the payout desk, then off the premises. He was also banned for the rest of the 2025 WSOP.
Plenty will be written about how things escalated to this level and whether it could have been avoided. It would be easy to take one side, but there’s always nuance. Things are never black and white, unless you exist solely on X.
One thing is certain — the flavor of Kassouf had changed today. There was nothing fun about it for anyone. And there was a huge crowd to witness it go down, with a confrontation between Kassouf and the WSOP floor from the very first hand. Top dog Jack Effel had to step in and have words, and a one-round penalty was issued.
It was hard to shake the feeling that Kassouf was unraveling. The noise was dialed up. But today it was directed at other players, with Kassouf feeling that he was a victim of what he saw as bullying.
Did he bring it on himself? Sure. But no one really came away looking great, and that’s what should be troubling the WSOP most.
Kassouf: 'Ruthless and relentless'
It’s also fair to say it probably could have been handled better. We don’t have the answers, but it can’t be beyond the scope of the greatest minds in poker to work out how to deal with a player who simply won't shut up. Kassouf has played poker a long time and hasn't changed — and things have never gotten this bad before.
Several flashpoints defined the day, but one confrontation with a senior floor was caught on the PokerGO stream. Kassouf wanted to play his hand. The floor demanded he come and speak with them.
“I will issue penalties,” the floor stated.
“But they’re bullying me,” Kassouf said. “They’re calling the clock after 10 seconds.”
The floor wasn't interested. “You caused all this… I want you to hear me out. Rule 1 says we’re going to play with what’s in the best interests and etiquette of the game. You’re not being professional. Please play your game properly and stop all the antics, or I will start issuing penalties.”
You can always rely on the commentary of Nick Schulman — newly installed in the Poker Hall of Fame — for a balanced take.
“I don’t know,” Schulman said. “To pluck him from the table and just miss a hand there, I’m just, I’m not sure.”
Kassouf got back just in time to pick up the hand he’d been looking for.
Michael Garner moved all-in with 
and Kassouf made the call with 
. The rail was split but the table certainly wasn’t. “The table’s rooting for a seven,” Kassouf said accurately. An ace on the flop and a king on the river will likely have made the WSOP officials weep.
“I’m feeling ruthless and relentless,” Kassouf said afterwards. “I will not stop until I get what I want. And I won’t rest until I’ve won. And God help anyone that gets in my way.”
Back to the poker as Hallaert crushes
The difference between Kassouf and Kenny Hallaert couldn’t have been any clearer. Hallaert was on the same table as Kassouf but was keeping himself to himself and growing his stack. Getting it quietly. As Kassouf doubled to 5.5 million, Hallaert eliminated Garner and got his stack up to 45 million.
Meanwhile, the last woman standing, Leo Margets, was still in and plugging away with a stack just north of Kassouf’s. She was on Michael Mizrachi’s table, and he’d been as active as ever on Day 7, with his stack currently residing around the 15-million mark with 40 players left.
And then they collided.
Margets called a raise with 
, Mizrachi three-bet with 
and all the chips went in to create a 13 million chip pot.
The 
runout was a great one for Margets and kept the hopes of a woman on the final table alive. It left Mizrachi with just 11 million from a Day 7 starting stack of 19,925,000.
Eric Afriat — who started the day in second — had dropped right down the field to 11 million. Daehyung Lee was the closest to Hallaert with 30 million.
At the dinner break, the field was down to just 36, with everyone now guaranteed $240,000. All but one would make $300,000.
Margets finds another double
That brings us full circle to Kassouf’s elimination and subsequent banning. It’s easy to sympathize with the players at this table who had to put up with a lot on what should have been one of the best days of their poker careers. It’s hard to sympathize with players waving in Kassouf’s face after he was eliminated.
Again, Schulman on comms got it right. “I hope he’s okay,” he said.
Hallaert just continued hoovering up chips. By the next break he had 63,400,000 — almost a full 20 million more than Muhamet Perati in second.
Mizrachi was trending the wrong way after losing a big pot with queens against the of Jarod Minghini. Watching the 
runout from the rail, he shook his head in visible frustration.
Afriat’s day got even worse. He started the day just behind Hallaert in second, but he was eliminated in 29th for $300,000.
We still had time for some monster hands as well. Daniel Iachan’s mum flew out on a red-eye to rail him, and he hit a miracle queen on the river to make a set and crack Lautaro Guerra’s aces in a 17 million pot.
Adam Hendrix knocked out two players with kings. Murilo Milhomem had 
and Giovanni Pupo had 
. The 
flop kept sweats alive, and Hendrix took a deep breath — but sixes on the turn and river took him to above 40 million in chips.
Then Margets found a big double. Kohei Arai raised to 1 million with 
and picked up calls from Guerra with 
and Margets from the big blind with . Margets check-raised all-in on the 
flop and eventually picked up a call from Guerra. That took her stack to 17 million, and she celebrated with a hug on the rail.
The last elimination of the night was Arai's. He picked up 
when Joey Padron found kings and that saw him bust late on, despite picking up almost 50% equity with three clubs on the flop. That was a flip that was worth a huge amount of money.
It's a day that will go down in WSOP history. And, despite things being a lot quieter since Kassouf's unceremonious exit, there are plenty of big stories waiting to be written on Day 8.
Main Event — end of Day 7 stacks
- Kenny Hallaert — 63,600,000
- Braxton Dunaway — 51,100,000
- Muhamet Perati — 50,100,000
- Adam Hendrix — 39,500,000
- Luka Bojovic — 33,900,000
- Richard Freitas — 32,500,000
- Joey Padron — 29,900,000
- Daniel Iachan — 28,100,000
- Ruben Correia — 26,700,000
- Daehyung Lee — 25,600,000
- Stefan Nemetz — 23,200,000
- Tony Gregg — 22,500,000
- Maksim Pisarenko — 18,900,000
- Lautaro Guerra — 18,000,000
- Leo Margets — 17,800,000
- Joseph Ozimok — 15,100,000
- Diego Ponce — 14,900,000
- Jarod Minghini — 14,200,000
- Michael Mizrachi — 11,400,000
- Sergio Veloso — 11,200,000
- Sebastian Schulze — 11,000,000
- Chris Dombrowski — 11,000,000
- John Wasnock — 9,500,000
- Tomas Szwarcberg — 5,400,000
