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Event #82: $10,000 WSOP Main Event NLH World Championship
Day 1b Completed
2026 World Series of Poker
Event #82: $10,000 WSOP Main Event NLH World Championship
Day: 1b
Players Left 1,303 / 1,810
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Chip Counts
Chip Counts
Level 5
: Blinds 300/600, 600 ante
There is a common saying that you cannot win the World Series of Poker Main Event on Day 1, but many hopes and dreams can be shattered in the most cherished live poker tournament of the year. It is a bucket list item for people from all over the world to play the Main Event, some taking part for the first time, others not missing it for decades in a row.
The price tag hasn't changed, still $10,000 to enter, but the location and field size have changed throughout the last few decades. With the new home set at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, hundreds of poker players took their seats, with the second of four starting flights attracting a total of 1,038 entries to bring the overall tally to 1,810. However, thousands of hopes and dreams will be added to the equation in the next few days with two more starting flights and another two levels of Day 2 remaining for entry, which will significantly boost the attendance figure.
There was no runaway chip leader on Day 1b with Brazil's Osmar Rockenbach likely finishing atop the leaderboard on a stack of 286,900, followed by Michael Stembera (270,300) and Damarjai Davenport (263,000). The WSOP bracelet winners Ali Eslami (256,200) and Shota Nakanishi (242,000) advanced with very healthy stacks, as did Cassandra Yong who scored a late double to jump into the unofficial top ten after bagging up 224,300.
Unofficial Top Ten Chip Counts for Day 1b
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Osmar Rockenbach | Brazil | 286,900 | 478 |
| 2 | Michael Stembera | United States | 270,300 | 451 |
| 3 | Damarjai Davenport | United States | 263,000 | 438 |
| 4 | William Watson | United States | 262,000 | 437 |
| 5 | Shawn Savage | United States | 261,500 | 436 |
| 6 | Ali Eslami | United States | 256,200 | 427 |
| 7 | Shota Nakanishi | Japan | 242,000 | 403 |
| 8 | Adam Matues | United States | 228,000 | 380 |
| 9 | Cassandra Yong | United Kingdom | 224,300 | 374 |
| 10 | Tomas Teran | Venezuela | 223,500 | 373 |
Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi was handed his ninth WSOP gold bracelet during the first break and then got to work at the tables in his attempt for an unprecedented title defence in recent years. During the final three levels, Mizrachi was on the live stream table and bagged up 73,200 in chips. He was joined there for the last few minutes by fellow WSOP Main Event champion Greg Raymer, who advanced with 122,300.
Fan-favorite Nicholas Rigby, who already has two deep runs in the WSOP Main Event to his name, ran up a stack early on and peaked at nearly three times the starting stack but had to settle for 75,700 upon completion of level five. However, that is still more than double what Antonio Esfandiari put in his bag as he finished the night with a mere 34,300 on the other feature table.
The unfortunate honor of being the first casualty of Day 1b went to Stephen Lee, who flopped a set of sevens after around 45 minutes of play and was up against the pocket aces of Shraga Vrubel. Running diamonds gave Vrubel the nut flush and Lee a bad beat story to tell. Vrubel made it through with an above-average stack of 136,000, although he already held a lot more than that during a topsy-turvy affair.
Siegfried Friedl ended the hopes of Kelly Lucas in the second level of the day when he made the right call holding a low flush on a paired board to take almost all of Lucas' chips and her bid to become the last woman standing in the competition once again came to a very early end.
Speaking of an early end, the tournament could have been over for Justin Young in the very first hand after entering somewhat late in level one. Right after sitting down, he found pocket aces and got the entire stack in against Benjamin Purser, who was on the wrong end of a cold deck with pocket queens. The same pocket pair also ended the 2026 WSOP Main Event for Jean-Robert Bellande when he ran into the pocket kings of Scott Nicol.
Did we mention pocket queens yet? They can also be on the right side of variance, too, as proven by Konstantin Held during the final hands of the night, albeit at the expense of Oscar Dorantes in very cruel fashion. Dorantes had flopped a full house with pocket nines, but a quartet of fours on the river gave Held the victory by high card to leave the entire table flabbergasted.
Former WSOP Main Event finalist Malo Latinois flopped a royal flush and his opponent held broadway to lose plenty of chips, eventually vaulting the Frenchman to a healthy 136,900 in chips. In contrast, last year's fourth-place finisher Kenny Hallaert has plenty of work cut out as he advanced with just 22,400.
The third and penultimate starting day kicks off at 11 a.m. local time and historically has a lower turnout given it's Independence Day in the United States. However, the final flight thereafter tends to test the table capacity at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, with thousands of players from all over the world expected to join.
Stay tuned for the continued PokerNews live coverage of the 2026 WSOP Main Event from Las Vegas to find out who will be poised for a deep run within the next two weeks.
Level 5
: Blinds 300/600, 600 ante
A total of 760 players have advanced from Day 1b of the $10,000 WSOP Main Event No-Limit World Championship. Stay tuned here at PokerNews for a recap of today's action.
Level 5
: Blinds 300/600, 600 ante
Level 5
: Blinds 300/600, 600 ante
On one of the last hands of the day, the board read 4♣9♣4♥4♦, and with around 30,000 in the pot, Konstantin Held bet 12,000 from the small blind. Oscar Dorantes jammed for around 40,000, and Held quickly called.
Oscar Dorantes: 9♠9♥ 
Konstantin Held: Q♠Q♦
Dorantes had flopped a full house and looked destined to end Day 1b with a healthy double-up.
However, the poker gods had other ideas. The 4♠ river counterfeited Dorantes' hand, leaving him playing the board. Held's queen-kicker played, giving him quad fours with a queen to win the pot, while Dorantes departed the Paris Ballroom with a brutal bad beat to remember.
Level 5
: Blinds 300/600, 600 ante
Diane Zimmerman opened to 1,200 from middle position. Randall Cummins called from the hijack. This led to calls from Javier Gonzalez from the cutoff and Daniel Buckley in the small blind.
Hernan Novick wanted more in the pot, and chose to re-raise to 7,200 from the big blind. Zimmerman folded, but Cummins, Gonzalez, and Buckley all called to create a bloated pot as they took a pot four-handed.
The 3♣4♥2♥ flop led to a pair of checks from the blinds before Cummins bet 8,900. Gonzalez and Buckley folded, but Novick decided to check-raise all-in for 38,600.
Cummins went into the tank before the clock was called on him.
Cummins made the call shortly after the clock started to put Novick at risk.
Hernan Novick: K♦K♣
Randall Cummins: 9♥9♣
Novick was ahead with his pocket kings, and the 8♠ turn and 2♦ river did not alter that as Novick scored a double late on Day 1b.
Level 5
: Blinds 300/600, 600 ante
In one of the last hands of the night, Xia Wang opened to 18,000 and Osher Zehavi called from middle position. Ioannis Angelou Konstas three-bet to 5,000 from the cutoff and only Zehavi called.
The 5♣6♠4♥ flop was checked by Zehavi and Angelou Konstas checked behind.
A 9♠ turn saw Zehavi bet 2,200. Angelou Konstas made a call after around 30 seconds.
The 2♦ came on the river and Zehavi asked for 8,000. Konstas mucked his hand.
Level 5
: Blinds 300/600, 600 ante
The tournament director has announced that each table will be dealt five more hands before players bag and tag for the night.
Level 5
: Blinds 300/600, 600 ante
Michael Knieps opened to 1,700 before Jonathan Bussieres called on the button.
The 9♥10♦Q♦ flop led to a bet of 3,800 from Knieps. Bussieres called.
Both players checked the K♠ turn to bring the 6♥ river. Knieps checked again on the river, which led to a bet of 6,500 from Bussieres.
Knieps made the call, and Bussieres showed 10♥10♠. Knieps could not top it as he mucked his hand in response.
Level 5
: Blinds 300/600, 600 ante
With roughly 20,000 in the pot and a full board showing 4♥10♣8♣2♠9♠, Fahir Han had checked in the hijack, over to Dan-Florin Ciltan on the button.
Ciltan moved all in, a bet worth more than Han's remaining stack of 15,800. Han gave it serious thought before choosing to put his chips into the middle.
It was bad news for Han as his top pair with K♥10♥ was no good versus the two pair of Ciltan, who tabled 8♥4♦.
