The end of Day 2 of the 2026 WSOPE Main Event saw 356 players bag up, all guaranteed at least a €10,000 payday after the bubble burst with 22 minutes left on the clock.
The record-breaking field in Prague created a huge €13,085,000 prize pool, and one player will take home €2 million and the WSOP bracelet.
A flurry of re-entries boosted the field, with ‘Texas’ Mike Moncek firing the maximum 12 bullets across the three Day 1s and first two levels of Day 2 – and still failing to make it through close of registration.
After six 90-minute levels, Daan Mulders bagged the second-biggest stack in the room and burst the bubble, calling a 107K shove from Symeon Alexandridis in the hijack. Action folded to Mulders in the big blind, who called with 
.
Alexandridis had 
and failed to improve on the 
runout.
There was still hope for Alexandridis. Shaun Deeb was also all-in holding pocket sevens. If he lost the hand, the two would split the first min-cash.
Deeb survived (and spun his short stack up to 689,000 in the final 20 minutes of the night). As Alexandridis exited, the room erupted in celebration. A wave of eliminations followed as Thomas Eychenne grabbed the overnight chip lead.
Kabrhel makes noise, Okamoto stays composed
Plenty of notable names made Day 3 – but one made himself heard throughout.
Martin Kabrhel started on the TV table, where he quickly found himself in an argument with the floor over an all-in bet from Shqiptare Varaku.
Varaku made a forward motion with calling chips before pulling them back, then used a time bank card before announcing all-in.
Kabrhel insisted it should be ruled a call, and after a 10-minute delay, WSOP TD Andy Tillman agreed, and the table got to play cards again.
On the other feature table, Shiina Okamoto was accumulating chips quietly.
She may appear reserved, but she’s aggressive where it counts. She ended the day with a stack of 982,000 – even after a rare misstep that saw her make a brilliant call with bottom pair in a 91,000 pot, only to muck the winning hand after her opponent confidently tabled king-high.
“First time,” she said with an embarrassed smile.
“Happens to the best of us,” remarked another player at the table.
Heart of a champion
2007 WSOPE Main Event champ Annette Obrestad was also accumulating on Day 2. She started with a shortish stack but ran it up to 581,000. You wouldn’t guess that she’s been out of the game for nearly eight years.
And there was some real poker being played on the streets today.
One of the standout pots of the day showed you don’t need a big hand to win a lot of chips – just heart.
- Jans Arends (HJ): 524K –
- Johan Espholm (BB): 477K –
Action picked up on the 
flop, where Espholm checked, and Arends bet 28K. Espholm called.
Espholm led out 28K on the 
turn, and Arends raised to 105K. Espholm made the call.
Espholm checked the 
river and Arends tanked before finally giving it up. He scratched his head when Espholm showed him fives but cracked a smile when he said he would have folded to a bet on the river.
Unfortunately, only one of those players will come back to fight again on Day 3, when action restarts at 12pm local time – Arends was eliminated late in the day in 384th place (€10,000).
WSOPE Main Event – notable stacks
- 1st: Thomas Eychenne – 2,010,000
- 18th: Jeff Madsen – 1,016,000
- 21st: Shiina Okamoto – 982,000
- 41st: Eugene Katchalov – 848,000
- 46th: Josh Arieh – 812,000
- 48th: Roberto Romanello – 803,000
- 71st: Shaun Deeb – 689,000
- 88th: Jose Barbero – 631,000
- 98th: Mike Leah – 590,000
- 104th: Annette Obrestad – 581,000
- 118th: Jesse Lonis – 540,000
- 149th: Steven Jones – 446,000
- 240th: Erick Lindgren – 246,000
- 281st: Martin Kabrhel – 162,000
- 306th: Terrance Reid – 138,000
Watch all of the Day 2 action below:
