Michael Mizrachi's dream of back-to-back Main Event wins and Shaun Deeb's pursuit of the WSOP Player of the Year title were on the marquee for Day 5 of the 2026 WSOP Main Event, but stiff drinks and emerging stars stole the show on Friday night.
Mizrachi's dream is dead, and Deeb's continues on to Day 6, whether he likes it or not. The rest of the room is up for grabs, and the 174 remaining players threaten to create one of the craziest final tables of all time.
But it's still a long road, and plenty of heartbreak awaits before we get there.
Deeb still standing
Deeb's leaderboard rival, Alex Foxen, remained in the tournament through Day 5, but he would bust out mid-day. His elimination was a good sign for Deeb's POY hopes, but a big pot forced the nine-time WSOP champ to miss registration for the TORSE tournament.
Deeb remains better off chasing POY in other events, but the allure of the Main Event is too strong, and it's starting to get very real.
Deeb started with 1.5 million and nearly tripled it before a trip to the TV table for the last level of the night. It was a relatively uneventful trip, and Deeb bagged 4.3 million for Saturday. He's in too deep now.
The Caitlin Comeskey Show
Meanwhile, Mizrachi's attempt to win back-to-back Main Event championships ran out of room after the dinner break when he clashed with fellow champion Hossein Ensan.
They were two of four returning champs in the 2026 edition, with Ryan Riess and Greg Raymer joining Mizrachi on the Day 5 rail. Ensan finished up with 3.45 million, and he's the only former champ left.
It was all part of a Day 5 that turned into a circus of emerging stars on the TV tables.
Caitlin Comeskey is one of those emerging stars, having shed her recent ambassador job for a full-on commitment to poker. It's working, and she's having a banner summer, but previous deep runs could all be preamble for a career-making score in the Main Event.
"I wished for this," she told us in an interview.
Comeskey spent some time on the TV table, where she had the magic touch in a hand against Tony Dunst. Dunst would get the chips, but Comeskey found the right move.
She started with 
against the 
of Dunst, and they both faced a flop of 
. Comeskey check-called 75K, and then did it again for 260K on the 
turn. The river was 
, but Dunst shoved more than one million, and Comeskey's pair of aces felt small.
Comeskey talked it out and got away from the hand, likely a big boost on the break when she found out the read was correct.
A short time later, it looked like the end of the road when Comeskey was all in with 
against Christopher Selami. Selami had , but the board ran out with 
and Comeskey doubled over two million with the flush. She would give some back away from the TV table and end the day with just over 1.4 million.
'Let's make memories'
Elsewhere, Canadian DJ Sharma emerged with one of the big stacks at a very loud, somewhat (very) drunk table.
It was a hard table to put into words. At one point, it appeared they were operating with an unofficial straddle. That's not how the WSOP Main Event works, but they were doing it anyway.
Will Givens stood out, gobbling up chips and talking non-stop. The 2014 bracelet winner left the room several times. He also busted Joey Weissman. Givens ran his stack up to 8.8 million before some late trouble led to 5.7 million in the bag.
"It's a freeroll to me," Givens told Jeff Platt. "Let's make memories."
Sharma would take advantage of the energy at the end of the night, snatching chips from Givens with a big call after eliminating Loui Elayday and Michael Rossitto.
Givens had 
, and he fired 500K at a board of 
with a pair of fives. Sharma had 
, and he was in the tank with his flush before a raise to 1.2 million. Givens fired back immediately with a raise to 2.5 million, and Sharma spent some more time before he flicked in a chip to call.
"I'm just living a dream, to be honest," Sharma told us at the end of the night. "You know, in terms of fun. In terms of fun and in terms of how much I'm enjoying this."
Givens and Sharma shared a big hug.
"I had full houses!" Givens screamed. Sharma didn't care. "I know, I know!"
"I'm meeting such great people and having a great time," Sharma continued later. "Oh my God, this is a great experience. I think this is my second time playing this. The first time, I had no chance. I busted after a few hands."
The rest of the story
Sharma will have an incredible chance on Day 6, as he returns with one of the top stacks. He only trails Zhao Liu, who charged to the overnight lead at the outer tables.
Those were just a few of the big storylines that barreled through Day 5. Some others:
- Masato Yokosawa was down and out early in the day, but a card rush on the TV table spun him all the way back up to 3.2 million for Day 6.
- Legendary cash player and WSOP bracelet winner Ralph Perry quietly added chips all day, ending with just over 4.6 million.
- Todd Brunson has quietly popped up on the big storyline radar with more than 3.6 million.
- Patrick 'Pads' Leonard is lurking in the middle of the pack with 2.8 million.
- Dutch Boyd is hanging around, too. He's a lawyer now, but the three-time champ has 2.8 million.
- Terrance Reid has 2.6 million for another run after his career-making finish in the 2026 Super Main event.
- 2021 Womens champ Lara Eisenberg took a big bite out of Michael Mizrachi, and she returns with some of his chips (1.8 million) for Day 6.
The final 174 players are back on Saturday at 11am to play another five levels. We'll be there, live on the floor, with all the sights and sounds from this year's WSOP Main Event.
2026 WSOP Main Event top ten chip counts
- Zhao Liu - 10.2M
- DJ Sharma - 9.8M
- Xingyu Liu - 9M
- Allan Sannier - 8.7M
- Sachin Joshi - 8.4M
- Mario Boos - 7.9M
- Nicola Karl - 7.8M
- Justin Manjares - 7.8M
- Tyler Gaston - 7.1M
- Malcolm Trayner - 6.7M
