Emilien Pitavy raised to 160,000 in early position. Both Eric Wasserson and Kristen Foxen called from the button and small blind, which tempted Zachary Grech to join in from the big blind.
Four ways to a 9♣A♣J♦ flop, Foxen and Grech both checked, and Pitavy continued for 300,000. Wasserson folded his 7♦7♥ before Foxen check-raised to 750,000. That removed Grech from the equation, as he folded Q♥5♥, and Pitavy called.
The 10♥ turn saw Foxen barrel for 1,150,000, which won her the pot with her J♣10♣, when Grech folded his K♣7♣.
Nick Schulman raised to 160,000 from the cutoff with J♠9♠, Biao Ding went all in from 170,000 from the big blind with A♦7♠, and Schulman called for 5,000 more.
Joey Weissman raised to 160,000 on the button, and quickly faced a three-bet to 350,000 from Zachary Camp in the small blind. The big blind got out of the way, and Weissman called.
Camp continued for 100,000 on the 5♥8♥7♣ flop, and Weissman responded with a raise to 500,000. Camp wasted little time in calling, and they headed to the Q♠ turn.
Camp checked in flow, and Weissman checked behind.
The 6♥ completed the board, and once again, Camp checked. Weissman wasn't content checking a second time, though, instead sliding a bet of 650,000 into the middle. Camp gave it some thought and ultimately chose to call.
Weissman tabled 9♠9♣ for the winner, as Camp mucked his A♦8♦.
Ignacio Moron opened to 160,000 in early position, and Galen Hall three-bet to 490,000 in the cutoff. The action returned to Moron, who four-bet to 820,000 before calling when Hall five-bet jammed for 1,590,000.
Galen Hall: Q♠Q♦
Ignacio Moron: Q♥Q♣
As it turned out, both players had the same pocket pair, and when the 5♣3♥9♦ flop was dealt, the chop was confirmed.
The 3♦ turn and A♦ river completed the board, and the players split the blinds.
Chad HollowayPhil Ivey has the most WSOP High Roller final tables with 16.
The 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) recently ended its $25,000 Heads-Up Championship, and the $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller is entering Day 3. While there are plenty of high rollers on this year’s schedule, that wasn’t always the case.
The first "High Roller" WSOP tournament with a buy-in of $25,000 or more was the 2006 $50,000 H.O.R.S.E., which has now become the $50,000 Poker Players Championship, won by Chip Reese for $1,784,640. He prevailed over a stacked field of 143 after an epic seven-and-a-half-hour heads-up battle with Andy Bloch.
It was the only game in town until 2009, when the $40,000 40th Anniversary NLH Event became the second high roller, although it was a one-time event won by Vitaly Lunkin for $1,891,018.
In 2010, the Poker Players Championship (PPC) officially joined the Las Vegas festival with a $50,000 buy-in and is now considered by many to be the de facto world championship.
WSOP Europe joined the party in 2013 with the €25,000 NLH High Roller (about $34,603 USD), while the first online High Rollers were the 2020 $25,000 NLHE Poker Players Championship and $25,000 Heads-Up NLH: People's Choice Event on GGPoker.
The floodgates opened in 2023 when WSOP Paradise debuted, featuring two $25,000, one $50,000, and one $100,000 events.
$25,000+ Buy-in Events By Year
Year
Events w/ Buy-ins $25K+
2006-08
1
2009-12
2
2013-15
4
2016
3
2017
5
2018
7
2019
10
2020
2
2021-22
12
2023
18
2024
21
2025
25
When it comes to WSOP High Roller bracelets, 11 players are tied with two each. The players with two high roller bracelets are Aleksejs Ponakovs, Alex Foxen, Chad Eveslage, Dan Cates, Daniel Negreanu, Fedor Holz, Jason Koon, Jonathan Duhamel, Martin Kabrhel, Santhosh Suvarna, and Stephen Chidwick.
Michael Mizrachi
Brian Rast, Joao Vieira, and Michael Addamo are tied with three apiece, while Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi and Shaun Deeb are tied for the all-time lead with four.
Most High Roller Final Tables
Place
Player
Final Tables
6
Brian Rast
10
6
Chance Kornuth
10
6
Daniel Negreanu
10
6
Martin Kabrhel
10
6
Stephen Chidwick
10
4
Ben Lamb
11
4
Isaac Haxton
11
3
Jason Koon
12
2
Adrian Mateos
13
1
Phil Ivey
16
Daniel Negreanu has the most WSOP High Roller cashes.
Most High Roller Cashes
Place
Player
Cashes
7
8 players tied
17
6
Alex Foxen
19
4
Jason Koon
20
4
Phil Ivey
22
2
Adrian Mateos
22
2
Stephen Chidwick
22
1
Daniel Negreanu
26
The players with 17 cashes are Chance Kornuth, Christoph Vogelsang, Dan Smith, Justin Bonomo, Martin Kabrhel, Nick Schulman, Scott Seiver, and Shaun Deeb.
Most High Roller Winnings
hPlace
Player
Winnings
10
Aleksejs Ponakovs
$10,722,275
9
Adrian Mateos
$11,951,321
8
Alejandro Lococo
$12,833,420
7
Ben Heath
$14,764,795
6
Fedor Holz
$15,028,689
5
Justin Bonomo
$15,041,128
4
Daniel Negreanu
$16,089,417
3
Dan Colman
$17,038,561
2
Alex Foxen
$17,072,233
1
Antonio Esfandiari
$20,293,720
Antonio Esfandiari
This final list is, of course, dominated by results from the three $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop tournaments. If you remove those results, the list looks like this:
Most High Roller Winnings Without Big One for One Drop
Place
Player
Winnings
10
Fedor Holz
$9,028,689
9
Stephen Chidwick
$9,113,517
8
Chris Hunichen
$9,150,441
7
Bernhard Binder
$10,000,000
6
Martin Kabrhel
$10,400,948
5
Aleksejs Ponakovs
$10,722,275
4
Adrian Mateos
$11,951,321
3
Alejandro Lococo
$12,833,420
2
Ben Heath
$14,764,795
1
Alex Foxen
$17,072,233
If you also remove the 2024 Paradise Island $500,000 Triton Million, Heath and Lococo drop off the list, replaced by Joao Vieira and Isaac Haxton.
After 17 hours of play across two starting flights and a Day 2, Event #19: $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em at the 2026 World Series of Poker returns to the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas at 3:00 p.m. local time, with play scheduled to continue until just six players remain, and the biggest payouts in the $5,804,500 prize pool come into focus.
The 22 players still in contention have already locked up a minimum payout of $64,442, but much larger prizes await. By the time play concludes for the night, the final six players will each be guaranteed at least $300,942 and will return with a shot at the title.
There is no shortage of firepower returning when cards go in the air, with a combined 31 bracelets won between the field.
Sitting among the chip leaders, five-time bracelet winner Kristen Foxen returns with 2,800,000, good for 35 big blinds when play resumes.
Also returning are two Poker Hall of Fame inductees. Despite starting in the lower half of the leaderboard, both Nick Schulman (2,000,000) and Brian Rast (875,000) will be looking to keep their deep runs alive as they each chase an eighth WSOP bracelet.
Top 10 Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Barak Wisbrod
Israel
5,000,000
63
2
Zachary Grech
United States
4,100,000
52
3
Joey Weissman
United States
3,300,000
42
4
Ihar Soika
Belarus
3,200,000
40
5
Giuseppe Calio
United States
2,800,000
35
6
Kristen Foxen
United States
2,800,000
35
7
Dejan Kaladjurdjevic
Montenegro
2,700,000
34
8
Jesse Lonis
United States
2,700,000
34
9
Philip Sternheimer
United Kingdom
2,500,000
32
10
Zachary Camp
United States
2,500,000
32
Barak Wisbrod
Despite the wealth of WSOP success still in the field, it is Israel's Barak Wisbrod who enters the day as chip leader. Returning with 5,000,000, Wisbrod is looking for his second career bracelet, after taking down Event #61: $1,000 Tag Team No-Limit Hold'em at the 2019 World Series of Poker.
Further down the leaderboard, but no less noteworthy, players such as Joey Weissman (3,300,000), Jesse Lonis (2,700,000), Zdenek Zizka (2,300,000) and Shannon Shorr (1,400,000) will also be in the mix when the chips are emptied back onto the tables at the start of the day.
Kicking off at 3:00 p.m. local time, Day 3 will begin on Level 18 with blinds of 40,000/80,000 and an 80,000 big blind ante, with the action continuing until just six players remain.
There will be a 15-minute break after every two completed levels, with an extended break for dinner currently scheduled at the end of Level 24. All action will be streamed on the WSOP YouTube channel, with reporting from the tournament floor set to follow a 150-minute delay to align with the broadcast to avoid spoilers.
All surviving players will bag and advance to Day 4, one step closer to the title, the trophy, and the $1,773,083 first-place prize.
Stay closer than ever to the action with MyPlayers. This brand new, free feature on PokerNews puts your favorite poker players front and center. Whether you're keeping tabs on legends like Daniel Negreanu or following a friend grinding their way through a Day 2, MyPlayers delivers real-time updates tailored just for you. No subscriptions, no paywalls - just the hands, chip counts, and bustouts that matter most.
It’s simple: log in, search for any player in our live coverage, hit the star, and they’ll be added to your personalized MyPlayers list. You’ll see their progress across all live-reported events, with chip counts and updates pinned right where you need them at the top.
From railbirds to backers, MyPlayers is the smarter way to stay connected to the game.
As always, stay tuned to PokerNews as we bring all the major moments as they happen.
button in Safari
