The final numbers are now pouring in from the 2026 World Series of Poker, and the pros are comparing notes after a long and hopeful summer.
A summer of hope for everyone, until hope gave way to discontent — and now reckoning. It's hard to win money at the WSOP. Top pros spend their entire summer chasing big scores with endless volume, and it can be relatively easy to leave Las Vegas empty-handed.
Poker's marquee star, Daniel Negreanu, had a banner year. He added an eighth bracelet and more than $1.6 million in profit, along with a win in the $25K Fantasy poker league. It took 79 buy-ins in 54 events for 15 cashes to get there.
Not everyone is always so transparent with the public, but this year's post-WSOP discussions have bubbled up with a lot of information on how many buy-ins the top pros will burn in a given summer.
Profit and loss
Shaun Deeb kicked off the discourse on X, where he posted his final total of 122 bullets, six cashes, and 62 chicken tenders. It was good for his Player of the Year hopes, but a strain on the bankroll.
Jeremy Ausmus responded with his total, and the thread kicked off.
Ausmus, who tossed in 44 entries and had nine cashes, "hardly played anything small." Four of his cashes were in the six figures, and the highest was $259K, but that was in a $100K High Roller. Ausmus didn't disclose his profit & loss.
Matt Salsburg did. He fired 41 bullets for seven cashes and $23K profit. It wasn't easy, according to Salsburg, he cashed the Main Event for $65K and the Closer for $23K at the end of the series. The Main Event cash brought him even, and the Closer was pure profit.
Darren Rabbinovitz enjoyed a shot at the buzzer, as well, with a late bracelet win over Phil Hellmuth in the $5K. The finish brought his total to 69 bullets in 38 events, with seven cashes for $792,551. His total buy-ins? $105,220.
Others were closer to the vest on their profit and loss totals, but were happy to share their buy-ins.
- Naoya Kihara - 90 buy-ins / 18 cashes.
- Ryan Riess - 56 buy-ins / 18 cashes (33 events)
- Josh Arieh - 69 buy-ins / 15 cashes (42 events)
- Ryan LaPlante - 70 buy-ins / 15 cashes
- Ronnie Bardah - 36 buy-ins / 8 cashes (28 events)
- Chris Vitch - 75 buy-ins / 13 cashes (49 events)
- John Richards - 85 entries / 10 cashes
- David Baker - 72 buy-ins / 10 cashes
- Kenny Hallaert - 65 buy-ins / 14 cashes
Meanwhile, Bryce Yockey is among the humble and transparent, noting his place in the loss column with 61 entries and 12 cashes. That included one final table and one victory, but he still lost money at the WSOP.
"I should work on my bubble skills," he said.
Yockey wasn't the only one to openly admit to a loss on X. Other players were equally humble:
- Francis Anderson - 73 buy-ins / 11 cashes (-$77,500)
- Chris Hunichen - 89 buy-ins / 14 cashes (-$492,000)
- Brian Luo - 28 buy-ins / 6 cashes (-$32,000)
All of the stats add up to one simple fact: the WSOP is difficult, even for the best in the world. Almost everyone will go home with less money than they showed up with, but that's no secret. The allure of the big score is too big to keep poker players from chasing bracelets every summer.
