Alexandros Theologis limped in from the small blind and Christopher Nguyen checked in the big blind. Action checked through to the river for the board to read Q♠10♠4♠7♥7♦. Theologis bet 240,000 and folded out Nguyen.
Martin Kabrhel raised to 480,000 and Sam Soverel called out of his short stack from the big blind. Soverel check-folded to a bet of 240,000 on the Q♥7♣2♥ flop.
On the next deal, Alex Kulev made it 540,000 from the hijack before Christopher Nguyen three-bet to 1,200,000 from the button. Kulev jammed for around 5,300,000 and took down the pot.
After four rounds of open-folds action picked up with Biao Ding who opened to 480,000 from middle position. Action folded around to Alexandros Theologis who defended his big blind.
The 4♠6♣4♦ flop was checked by Theologis and Ding bet 300,000. Theologis called and the players went to the 9♦ turn.
Theologis check-called another 1,000,000 bet by Ding to see a 9♣ complete the board. Theologis made a quick check, Ding paused before moving out 2,200,000 and action was back on Theologis who went into the tank.
After just under 2-minutes, Theologis called and tabled A♥Q♣. Ding also turned over his J♠10♥ and Theologis picked up the pot.
Alex Kulev limped in from the small blind and Alexandros Theologis checked his option in the big blind. Theologis called for 280,000 on the K♠8♣5♥ flop before the 2♥ turn checked through to the 10♠ river. Kulev bet 640,000 and tooko down the pot.
In another limped pot between the blinds, Theologis check-folded to Christopher Nguyen's bet of 320,000 on the 10♦7♥2♣ flop.
Martin Kabrhel then raised to 480,000 from early position, and received no action.
Kabrhel was then under-the-gun, and noted that play had been quite fast with him in the big blind for the next hand.
Foxen asked the dealer to start Kabrhel's shot clock straight away, with the table joining in that they could be playing more hands if Kabrhel just cooled it a bit. The advice appeared to fall on deaf ears. Yuri Dzivielevski then raised to 480,000 from middle position, but folded when Teun Mulder made it 1,120,000 from the next seat over.
Mulder opened to 480,000 in the next hand, with Kabrhel taking his time in the big blind. Kabrhel and Foxen continued to trade words, with Kabrhel ending the conversation after saying: "I will bust you, don't worry."
Kabrhel has been extra loud it appears, and his audible "call" could've been heard across the entire Paris Ballroom. Players were getting fed up with the yelling.
"Why so small?" Kabrhel asked Mulder, after the latter continued for 720,000 on the A♠10♦9♥ flop. Kabrhel continued to think for a few more seconds, before folding.
Christopher Nguyen started the action by opening from late position for 480,000. Biao Ding three-bet to 2,000,000 from the cutoff and Yuri Dzivielevski four-bet to 4,000,000 from the big blind. Nguyen folded and Ding moved all in for 3,910,000.
Biao Ding: K♠Q♠
Yuri Dzivielevski: Q♣Q♥
The 4♦K♥7♦ flop saw Ding immediately pick up another king, putting him ahead of Dzivielevski's pocket queens.
Ding held on the 6♣ turn and 9♦ river to get a full double up and some change.
Alex Foxen opened the first hand of the day to 700,000 and got it through, but the action did not stay quiet for long.
On the next deal, Christopher Nguyen raised to 470,000 on the button before play was briefly held up by Martin Kabrhel, who erupted at Foxen on his direct left.
Kabrhel, very much not in his usual joking mood, appeared to take issue with Foxen allegedly moving his sunglasses. Whatever had happened, it flipped a switch. Kabrhel repeatedly told Foxen to shut up and asked the floor several times to penalize him.
Foxen stayed calm throughout and did not rise to it.
"You get to be on your soapbox all day, and you can't take it when someone talks back," Foxen calmly told him.
The outburst continued long enough for Biao Ding, who was still facing Nguyen's raise in the big blind, to ask Kabrhel to cool it while he thought through his decision. Ding eventually called, and Kabrhel began to simmer down as the dealer spread the A♣K♥9♦ flop.
Ding checked, Nguyen bet, and Ding folded.
On the following hand, Nguyen opened to 480,000 from the cutoff, only to quickly fold when Kabrhel jammed.
If the opening few hands are anything to go by, this one might have a bit of bite to it.
After a full day of action yesterday, the field was whittled to the final nine, who now return to play out the final day of Event #36: $100,000 High Roller No Limit Hold’em here at the Horseshoe and Paris in Las Vegas.
Each of them is chasing one of the most prestigious titles of the summer, along with the massive $2,841,432 top prize.
After more than 10 hours of play on both Day 1 and Day 2, the field was taken from 115 entries down to a final table.
The day begins with Christopher Nguyen leading the way after bagging an impressive 17,200,000. He will return to the table with a strong 72 big blinds.
Nguyen surged into the lead late in the evening, going on a blistering run which started with him cracking Artur Martirosian’s aces, then nearing the end of the night he scooped up one of the final pots after bluffing off Alex Foxen, securing the pole position heading into the final day.
Close behind is Brazilian star Yuri Dzivielevski, who brings 11,800,000 into the final day. Already a five time WSOP bracelet winner, he’s joined in the hunt for another title by Martin Kabrhel, who is also aiming for his his sixth piece of gold.
Rounding out the top three is Alexandros Theologis, who bagged 9,955,000 as he looks to break through for his maiden WSOP bracelet.
Final Table Seating and Chip Coutnts
Seat
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Teun Mulder
Netherlands
8,845,000
37
2
Alex Kulev
Bulgaria
5,550,000
23
3
Alexandros Theologis
Greece
9,955,000
41
4
Christopher Nguyen
Austria
17,200,000
72
5
Sam Soverel
United States
3,420,000
14
6
Biao Ding
China
4,750,000
20
7
Martin Kabrhel
Czechia
5,215,000
22
8
Alex Foxen
United States
2,220,000
9
9
Yuri Dzivielevski
Brazil
11,800,000
49
Alex Foxen
Also returning to the final table are Teun Mulder, Alex Kulev, Biao Ding, Sam Soverel, and Alex Foxen.
Foxen returns as the shortest stack, beginning the day with just nine big blinds, but his experience more than makes up for it. With more than $57.3 million in lifetime live earnings, Foxen arrived at the final table as one of the most accomplished players in the field, followed by Soverel and his $32 million career total.
In all, the nine finalists have accumulated over $191 million in live tournament winnings, making it one of the toughest final tables of the summer.
With $255,491 already guaranteed for each of the remaining nine players, the pressure now shifts to the steep pay jumps ahead, with seven figure payouts awaiting the top three finishers.
Remaining Payouts
Place
Prize
1
$2,841,432
2
$1,894,282
3
$1,326,537
4
$950,048
5
$696,221
6
$522,347
7
$401,446
8
$316,234
9
$255,491
Play will resume at 2 p.m. local time at Level 21 on 120,000/240,000 blinds with a 240,000 big blind ante, and as many 60-minute levels will be played as are needed for a winner to be declared.
Breaks will continue every two levels, and a dinner break will be determined based on the pace of play.
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Follow the PokerNews live updates throughout the day as the final nine return to battle for the $100,000 High Roller bracelet here at the 2026 World Series of Poker at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.
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