Will Givens was the loudest player at the 2026 WSOP Main Event – and he looked like he was going to go all the way in the summer before a crushing bad beat from eventual winner Lucas Jumalon led to his elimination in 19th for $325,000.
Givens was the loudest player in the room again at the WSOP Super Circuit in Canada. And he was flying, starting Day 4 second in chips, before a massive misstep cut him down to size.
You can watch the hand in the video below, but when it's titled, "What was he thinking?" you know it's not going to be good.
Before the cards were dealt, Givens predicted that he was going to "f**k" a few players up. He didn't predict that he was going to f**k himself up.
Will Givens implodes
Givens had a massive stack of 8.4 million when he called an open on the button with 
. Paul Klann woke up with 
in the small blind and three-bet to 330K.
"Please keep this stream going," Givens said, "I'm about to do some shit." Never a truer word was spoken.
Givens called to see the 
flop, which gave Klann the nut flush with a royal flush redraw.
Klann checked all three streets and called bets from Givens, before raising on the river with the board reading 
.
"You can't imagine anything happening with the 7-5," said James Dempsey on commentary, "but he has been drinking."
Givens didn't think for long before moving all in. Klann snap-called.
"Mmmm," said Givens when Klann revealed his hand, before sportingly offering a fist bump.
"What have we just watched?" said Dempsey.
From bad to worse
A total of 116 players started Day 4.
Klann ended it as the chip leader with a stack of 11.3 million, on a day that also saw the elimination of the two biggest remaining stars: Daniel Negreanu (99th – $14,500 CAD) and Michael Mizrachi (78th – $21,000 CAD).
Before Givens played the fateful hand above, he had a stack that would have been good for second place heading into Day 5, with 30 players left and $1,500,000 CAD up top.
It might be the way he plays that gets him the chips – but he's got to find a way to keep hold of them.
Givens' eventual demise came late in the day.
He lost the majority of his chips when his ran into Franco Tucci's 
on a brutal 
board. The chips went in on the river, leaving Givens with just 710K – less than 10 big blinds.
Givens lost the rest in one of the final hands of the night, with 
against Jack Salter's 
. Salter had raised to 200K and Givens three-bet to 500K. Salter jammed and Givens called. At that point, Givens looked set to end the day with just under 20 big blinds.
His chances of doubling up looked even better on the 
flop. The 
turn was safe for Givens, but the 
on the river was he nail in his coffin. He was eliminated in 33rd for $51,000 CAD.
It was déjà vu for Givens, who lost that 56.2 million-chip pot against Lucas Jumalon deep in the Main Event with AQ against AT.
Givens fist-bumped Salter, shook hands with others and gave one player a big hug. Say what you like about him, but he takes defeat well. He then went to talk to Jeff Platt on the rail.
"I should have walked away," Givens said. "Up there it was doomsday, never connected, never made a hand... when it's doomsday, it's doomsday.
"I played bad, I'll give you that, but it's hard to make a hand. That's what I do. I create. I'm a f*****g Picasso."
He also dropped a bombshell before leaving – that he's going to play the $100K Super High Roller at WSOP Paradise. That will be box office.
Rise of Nick Palma
One player who knows how to talk and hold onto chips is Nick Palma.
He's been promising a major win for a long time. Could this be the one where he gets it done?
Platt asked him if his confidence gives him an edge. "Definitely," Palma replied. "If you don't believe in yourself, who will?"
Palma got into some verbals with Givens on Day 4, but ended the day a lot happier with a stack of 7.6 million – the third-biggest going into Day 5.
Chance Kornuth was hovering around the top 10 all day and ended with the sixth-biggest stack. Jack Salter finished ninth.
WSOP Super Circuit Day 5 top-ten stacks
- Paul Klann (Canada): 11.3 million
- Guoyan Li (Canada): 8.1 million
- Nick Palma (USA): 7.6 million
- Fabian Gumz (Austria): 6.8 million
- Aaron Quon (Canada): 6.8 million
- Chance Kornuth (USA): 6.6 million
- Jonathan Bussieres (Canada): 6.6 million
- Deven Lane (Canada): 6.3 million
- Jack Salter (UK): 5.7 million
- Franco Tucci (Canada): 5.5 million
Day 5 of the WSOP Super Circuit Canada Main Event starts at 11am local time on Wednesday, and play is scheduled for six levels or until they reach the final table. In the meantime, you can catch up with all of the action from Day 4 on the WSOP YouTube channel.
