button in SafariNakanishi and Yong Among Big Stacks After Day 1b of the 2026 WSOP Main Event
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.