Michael Mizrachi thinks he can win the WSOP Main Event two years in a row. He has said so many times.
Why wouldn't he think so? If you're going to play, you should believe that you will win.
The rest of us might find that to be a far-fetched idea. It's unthinkable to win the Main Event twice in the modern era, let alone back-to-back. Yet, somehow, it feels slightly more possible when it comes to Mizrachi. He seems to have the type of attitude to pull that off.
If he does it, Mizrachi would join a long list of underdogs to go back-to-back in something.
The odds were stacked against the Houston Rockets in 1995 when they had to go through Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway for a second NBA title. They were a 6-seed in the playoffs for the follow-up run, having added Clyde Drexler to a team that was having trouble coming together.
The Rockets were underdogs in every playoff series in 1995 after winning the title as favorites in every series in 1994, but they pulled it off. The team meshed at the right time, and the magic was there.
Spencer Tracy won a second straight Oscar in 1938 for Boys Town. Katharine Hepburn did it in 1968 with The Lion in Winter. Tom Hanks is also on that list with the Philadelphia-Forrest Gump exacta in 1993 and 1994.
Marie Curie was the first to win two Nobel Prizes, and in two different sciences. Two US Presidents have been elected for a second time after losing. Venezuela won Miss Universe in 2008 and 2009. Frank Sinatra won a Grammy for Album of the Year in 1966 and 1967. Stevie Wonder did it in 1974 and 1975.
There are countless examples, so don't count Mizrachi out.
Now he rests
The champ spent his evening at the featured table, but it was a busy day. Mizrachi entered the tournament with Hellmuth levels of fanfare, and then he dragged a big pot in the closing seconds of Level 1 before he was whisked off to accept his ninth WSOP bracelet from his father in a ceremony with Jack Effel.
Mizrachi was flanked by a cast of film star Sarah Jackman, and later, 2004 WSOP Main Event champion Greg Raymer, who told a joke about acupuncture. Both spent their time above the 100K mark, while Mizrachi remained marginally profitable and finished with 73,200. Jackman bagged 104,900 and Raymer will return with 122,300.
"I was doing really well. I got it up to 150, and the lights shut off," Mizrachi told Jeff Platt afterwards. "I got tired. When I get tired, I shut down. I didn't have a starting pair for six hours and twenty minutes."
The champ will now take two days to get some sleep. A few other familiar faces survived, as well:
Assorted Day 1B WSOP Main Event chip counts
- Justin Young - 157,000
- Joao Simao - 134,000
- Kevin Martin - 122,900
- Sean Perry - 116,200
- Michael Gathy - 111,000
- Dan Shak - 99,500
- Mike Matusow - 77,700
- Antonio Esfandiari - 34,300
Mike Matusow talked about his rocky day on X afterward.
Rigby gambles
Meanwhile, another late ESPN table featured Nick Rigby, and he was ready to gamble. Nikolaus Angelou was down to around 15K and ready to double up with 
. It was a match made for TV.
Rigby said, "Let's gamble," and called with 
. He had around 50K behind, so it wouldn't kill him, but it might have been a stretch for Day 1.
The board rolled out with 
, and Rigby pulled a second pair on the river. Jacks were no good, and Angelou hit the bricks.
"Good game," Nick Schulman said from the booth. "That's a salty one."
But it wasn't necessarily a stretch.
"I'm not justifying that," Schulman continued. "But there can be future EV (expected value) in such procedures."
It was an announcement more than a call. If you're playing in the 2026 WSOP Main Event, know that Rigby is ready to gamble.
Pocket kings no good
Other players on the big table were gambling, but with better cards, like Jonathan Kendall and Paris Sitzoukis. Both of them thought they had all the right moves, but only one got all the chips.
Kendall had five-bet to 45,200 with 
, but Sitzoukis was in the tank with 
. He had 78,200 left, and it was either jam or call.
He called, and both players rushed the rest into the pot after a flop of 
. The board finished up with 
and 
, giving Sitzoukis one of the big stacks with around 190K. Kendall went from 119K to around 26K, and he'd bow out before the end of the night.
A graphic popped up, claiming that kings will run into aces 3.88% of the time. Ali Nejad expressed some doubt but asked Schulman.
"Maybe. That makes some sense."
The rest of the night made sense, as well. A total of 1,038 runners turned out, and 760 of them will return for Day 2. They'll join the 634 players remaining from Day 1A. It's a long road to the bubble. Here's a look at the top chip stacks, according to the unofficial overnights in the WSOP LIVE app.
2026 WSOP Main Event Day 1B top stacks
- Osmar Rockenbach - 286,900
- Michael Stembera - 270,300
- Damarjai Davenport - 263,000
- William Watson - 262,000
- Shawn Savage - 261,500
- Ali Eslami - 256,200
- Shota Nakanishi - 242,000
- Adam Matues - 228,000
- Cassandra Yong - 224,300
- Tomas Teran - 223,500
Everything will rewind for Day 1C on Saturday, a penultimate Independence Day session before a giant Day 1D on Sunday. Action kicks off at 11am local time, with the livestream to grace ESPN at 5pm.
