PLFCD & 2-7 NL: 15,000-30,000, 45,000 Ante
PLO - PLO 8 - Big O - PLTD: 12,000-24,000, 24,000 Ante
No-Limit Hold’em: 12,000-24,000, 36,000 Ante
Hiroyuki Noda
Pot-Limit 5-Card Double Draw
Hiroyuki Noda raised to 75,000 from under the gun and Woody Deck three-bet to 250,000 from the small blind. Noda called.
On the first draw, Deck drew one while Noda stood pat. Deck checked, then called a bet of 150,000 from Noda.
Noda then accidentally exposed his hand of 6♣5♣4x3♦2x for a straight. Realizing his mistake, he quickly scooped his cards back up and turned them face down.
With that extra information, Deck elected to draw two on the final draw instead of the one he had originally intended to take.
Both players checked after the final draw, and Noda's straight was good enough to win the pot as Deck tabled 6♥6♦6♠5♦2♠ for three of a kind.
PLFCD & 2-7 NL: 15,000-30,000, 45,000 Ante
PLO - PLO 8 - Big O - PLTD: 12,000-24,000, 24,000 Ante
No-Limit Hold’em: 12,000-24,000, 36,000 Ante
Pot-Limit 5-Card Double Draw
Ryuta Nakai raised to 105,000 from early position and, when the action folded to Dylan Smith in the big blind, Smith took some time before reraising the pot. Nakai got his stack of 367,000 into the middle with Smith calling. Smith drew three cards while Nakai drew one on the first draw.
Smith again drew three on the second draw, while Nakai took one, before the players revealed their hands.
Ryuta Nakai: J♥J♣2♦2♥
Dylan Smith: A♦A♣
Nakai held two pair against Smith's aces, and after Smith failed to improve on the final draw, Nakai peeled the irrelevant A♥ to secure the double-up.
PLFCD & 2-7 NL: 15,000-30,000, 45,000 Ante
PLO - PLO 8 - Big O - PLTD: 12,000-24,000, 24,000 Ante
No-Limit Hold’em: 12,000-24,000, 36,000 Ante
Steve Chanthabouasy
Pot-Limit 5-Card Double Draw
Steve Chanthabouasy potted to 105,000 from early position. Action folded to big blind Matt Vengrin, who repotted. Chanthabouasy called all in for his 162,000 total.
On the first draw, Chanthabouasy took one and Vengrin took three. Here, Chanthabouasy tabled quad nines, despite there being one draw still to go. Vengin then realised that he had to draw four.
Steve Chanthabouasy: Q♦9♦9♥9♣9♠
Matt Vengrin: A♠
Vengrin turned over the A♦ as his second card, meaning he was still in with a chance. Unfortunately, Steve Billirakis who was on Vengrin's left decided to tell him that he had folded an ace. Vengrin then mucked K♥10♣3♥
PLFCD & 2-7 NL: 15,000-30,000, 45,000 Ante
PLO - PLO 8 - Big O - PLTD: 12,000-24,000, 24,000 Ante
No-Limit Hold’em: 12,000-24,000, 36,000 Ante
Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo
Brad Owen came in for a raise to 70,000 from middle position and Woody Deck potted it to 246,000 from the cutoff. Owen called, and the dealer fanned the Q♥8♣3♦ flop.
Owen started with a check, and Deck fired a pot-sized bet. Owen released his hand before asking, "Aces again?"
Deck's cards were already in the muck, but he replied to Owen with, "Better."
PLFCD & 2-7 NL: 15,000-30,000, 45,000 Ante
PLO - PLO 8 - Big O - PLTD: 12,000-24,000, 24,000 Ante
No-Limit Hold’em: 12,000-24,000, 36,000 Ante
Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo
Steve Billirakis completed from the small blind and Matt Vengrin checked his option in the big blind.
Both players checked through the 7♠9♣8♠ flop to see the J♣ on the turn. Billirakis checked again, while Vengrin bet 25,000. Billirakis continued with a call.
A final check came from Billirakis on the 10♦ river, and Vengrin fired for 50,000. Billirakis instantly folded, allowing Vengrin to drag in the small pot.
Day 3 of Event #71: $2,500 Mixed Big Bet Event at the 2026 World Series of Poker sees just 13 returning to Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas to battle it out for victory. The Mixed Big Bet, offering no fixed limits, is left with just the final two tables from a 386 strong field.
Topping the charts of those remaining is none other than Naoya Kihara, eyeing up a third bracelet of the summer, as well as those all-important Player of the Year points. He ended the day with 2,560,000 in chips, nearing double that of second place.
His nearest competitor is Matt Vengrin, who will make it two bracelet-winning summers in a row should he take down the event. His stack of 1,331,000 is still incredibly impressive, but he has a lot of catching up to do if he wants to stop the force that is Kihara. Dylan Smith comes into the final day hot on Vengrin’s heels, as his stack of 1,314,000 is good for third on the leaderboard.
Matthew Vengrin
Final Day Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
1
Naoya Kihara
Japan
2,560,000
2
Matt Vengrin
United States
1,331,000
3
Dylan Smith
United States
1,314,000
4
Nicholas Marchington
United Kingdom
1,287,000
5
Renan Bruschi
Brazil
1,152,000
6
Steve Billirakis
United States
1,097,000
7
Hiroyuki Noda
Japan
937,000
8
Danny Chang
United States
892,000
9
Brad Owen
United States
800,000
10
Woody Deck
United States
703,000
11
Scott Abrams
United States
619,000
12
Ryuta Nakai
Japan
592,000
13
Steve Chanthabouasy
United States
230,000
Kihara’s countrymen make for a Japanese trio still in the hunt, with Hiroyuki Noda (937,000) and Ryuta Nakai (592,000) sit in 7th and 12th, respectively, both looking to earn their maiden piece of WSOP hardware. Nakai lost a sizeable chunk of his stack during the last level of play, but that certainly won’t dent his hopes of victory.
Ryuta Nakai
There is further worldwide representation in the mixed game streets, with Nicholas Marchington (1,287,000) of the United Kingdom just missing out on the Day 2 podium. Doing it for Brazil is renowned pro Renan Bruschi, who bagged up 1,152,000 and sits just one place behind the Brit.
The rest of the field hails from the USA and includes poker-vlogger turned mixed-game aficionado Brad Owen. Having bagged 800,000, he looks to get another notch on his belt of mixed game tournament wins, but this time for the most prestigious prize of all. Steve Billirakis (1,097,000) and Danny Chang (892,000) will be joining him on the felt
Bradley Owen
Those left battling have already locked up, at the very least, a respectable score of $9,456. That being said, the total prize pool of $858,850 offers a huge $182,591 payout for the eventual champion, which is undoubtedly equally as important as the gold bracelet on offer.
Remaining Payouts
Place
Prize
1
$182,591
2
$118,647
3
$78,984
4
$53,889
5
$37,706
6
$27,075
7
$19,964
8-9
$15,789
10-11
$11,789
12-13
$9,456
Action will resume at 1 p.m. local time at Level 23, with blinds at 15,000/30,000 alongside an ante of 45,000 posted by the big blind for the two no-limit games (Hold’em and 2-7 Single Draw). In the Omaha variants (PLO, PLO Hi-Lo, Big O), the blinds are 12,000/24,000 with an ante of 24,000. For the non-Omaha pot-limit games (5-Card Double Draw and 2-7 Triple Draw), the split is 12,000/24,000 (36,000).
Level duration remains at 60 minutes throughout, and play will go on until a champion has been crowned. Stay tuned as PokerNews brings you full live updates during the final day of Big Bet action.
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