2025 WSOP Day 9: Extra Day Needed as Lamb Bags Big in $25,000 PLO/NLHE
The poker gods can be such a tease sometimes...
Welcome back to the PokerNews recap of Day 9 at the 2025 World Series of Poker! Four winners were set to be crowned, but poker fans were left with just two bracelets handed out as both the $1,500 PLO-8 Mixed and $25,000 PLO/NLHE Mixed headed to extra days.
Congratulations go to Christopher Staats, winner of the $1,500 6-Handed, and to Cristian Gutierrez for taking down the $600 PLO Deepstack.
However, attention now switches to a bumper day ahead as Ben Lamb hunts bracelet #3, with Benny Glaser and David Shmuel battling it out to grab a second bracelet of the summer.
Bookmark this page! All you need to know about the 2025 WSOP is here.
Meanwhile, Day 1s in the Colossus, Shootout and the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better all got underway, as the $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em and $10,000 Dealer's Choice moved closer to crowning their champions.
Extra Day Needed for $1,500 PLO8 Mixed
It looks like we could end up with our first double-bracelet-winner of the year in Event #15: $1,500 Mixed: Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better when it resumes for an unscheduled fourth day, with Benny Glaser and David Shmuel advancing.
Sandwiched between the two in the chip counts, and hoping to win his first bracelet and spoil the party, is Travis Pearson. Pearson came into the final table as one of the shorter stacks, but was responsible for half of the eliminations at the final table to sit second in chips.
After the elimination of Sean Remz in fourth place, the final three players played for a couple minutes longer before opting to bag up for the night.
Event #15: $1,500 Mixed: Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Final Day Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Benny Glaser | United Kingdom | 12,125,000 |
| 2 | Travis Pearson | United States | 11,800,000 |
| 3 | David Shmuel | United States | 7,050,000 |
Ben Lamb Battles Back to Lead Final Five in $25,000 PLO/NLHE High Roller
It was a rollercoaster day for Ben Lamb in Event #14: $25,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha/No-Limit Hold'em Mixed
Heading into the day with just over 2,700,000 chips, Lamb was down to two big blinds with 14 players remaining and is now bagging close to half the chips in play.
The remaining five players, which also features two-time bracelet-winner Robert Cowen have all guaranteed themselves $303,773, with the winner taking home $1,302,233. The Day 4 action will be streamed on PokerGO on a one-hour delay.
Event #14: $25,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha/No-Limit Hold'em Mixed Final Day Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ben Lamb | United States | 17,140,000 | 71 |
| 2 | Lou Garza | United States | 6,650,000 | 28 |
| 3 | Chongxian Yang | China | 5,170,000 | 22 |
| 4 | Robert Cowen | United Kingdom | 4,535,000 | 19 |
| 5 | Brandon Mitchell | United States | 3,160,000 | 13 |
Dusti Smith Leads Final Day in $2,000 NLHE
Dusti Smith has already notched up her best WSOP finish in Event #17: $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em, and holds a commanding chip lead at the end of Day 2 with just 19 players left from a field of 1,692.
Smith bagged 142 big blinds to lead from $25k Fantasy Draft picks Quan Zhou (Team Lady Gaga) and Scott Bohlman (Team Brown's Bargain Bin). The only other Draftee happens to be GPI World Number 1 Jesse Lonis who sits 15th in chips.
Event #17: $2,000 No-Limit Holdem Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dusti Smith | United States | 8,500,000 | 142 |
| 2 | Quan Zhou | China | 5,245,000 | 87 |
| 3 | Scott Bohlman | United States | 4,815,000 | 80 |
| 4 | Rafael Mota | Brazil | 4,290,000 | 72 |
| 5 | Benjamin Williams | United States | 3,535,000 | 59 |
| 6 | Ricardo Martinez | Costa Rica | 2,830,000 | 47 |
| 7 | Shuofei Geng | United States | 2,825,000 | 47 |
| 8 | Samy Dubonnet | France | 2,690,000 | 45 |
| 9 | Allen Shen | Canada | 2,500,000 | 42 |
| 10 | Xiaohu Liu | China | 2,340,000 | 39 |
Hoenig Leads Lucky 13 Ahead of Dealer's Choice Championship Final Day
As expected, there are big names everywhere you look heading into the final day of Event #18: $10,000 Dealers Choice 6-Handed Championship, with just 13 players remaining.
Ryan Hoenig ends Day 2 the way he started it, in the chip lead as he hunts for his first bracelet, with Dario Alioto and Daniel Zack behind him, both looking to add more bracelets to their poker resumes.
A sour-faced Phil Hellmuth was left to rue a near-miss, falling in 15th. He had some choice words for Allan Le before, during and after his elimination, with Le surviving into Day 3.
One player who did make it through is Adam Friedman, who will be looking for a fourth title in this event after winning three in a row between 2018 and 2021. He will start the final day ninth in chips.
Event #18: $10,000 Dealers Choice 6-Handed Championship Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ryan Hoenig | United States | 2,050,000 |
| 2 | Dario Alioto | Italy | 1,228,000 |
| 3 | Daniel Zack | United States | 813,000 |
| 4 | Bariscan Betil | United States | 770,000 |
| 5 | Philip Sternheimer | United Kingdom | 663,000 |
| 6 | Jon Turner | United States | 655,000 |
| 7 | Dylan Smith | United States | 511,000 |
| 8 | Allan Le | United States | 510,000 |
| 9 | Adam Friedman | United States | 504,000 |
| 10 | Nick Guagenti | United States | 393,000 |
Big Names Galore Advance in $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better
With the money bubble bursting in Event #21: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better, the remaining 176 players from a field of 1,176 can breath a sigh of relief knowing they've locked up a $3,022 payday.
But take a closer look at the field and they'll notice some sharks circling, with big names popping up everywhere you look. With Canada's Juan Lamprea leading the way, even the top 10 is filled with the likes of two-time bracelet winner Bryce Yockey, Marco Johnson, Jon Kyte and Maxx Coleman.
Look further down still and you'll find Calvin Anderson, and six-time bracelet winner Shaun Deeb, among others.
Will the cream rise further on Day 2? Only time will tell.
Event #21: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Juan Lamprea | Canada | 1,050,000 | 175 |
| 2 | Nitesh Rawtani | United States | 985,000 | 164 |
| 3 | Christopher Vitch | United States | 684,000 | 114 |
| 4 | Nicolas Milgrom | France | 597,000 | 100 |
| 5 | Bryce Yockey | United States | 515,000 | 86 |
| 6 | Marco Johnson | United States | 507,000 | 85 |
| 7 | Filippos Stavrakis | United States | 495,000 | 83 |
| 8 | Davis Aalvik | United States | 491,000 | 82 |
| 9 | Jon Kyte | Norway | 488,000 | 81 |
| 10 | Maxx Coleman | United States | 472,000 | 79 |
Sinclair Among Survivors as Colossus Gets Underway
The first of four starting flights took place today in Event #19: $500 COLOSSUS with Day 1a attracting 3,378 entries.
After 17 levels just 410 players had secured their place in Day 2. Leading the way is Gulnara Taul who bagged a whopping 4,520,000 chips — good enough for 377 big blinds. She leads from Lok Chan, whose only previous bracelet came in Event #35: $2,500 Mixed Big Bet in 2022. Other bracelet-winners advancing from Day 1a include Brett Shaffer (696,000), WSOP Europe champion Jack Sinclair (602,000), Benjamin Ector (549,000) and Pei Li (379,000).
Event #19: $500 COLOSSUS Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gulnara Taul | United States | 4,520,000 | 377 |
| 2 | Lok Chan | Taiwan | 1,635,000 | 136 |
| 3 | Matheus Lima | Brazil | 1,305,000 | 109 |
| 4 | Sergei Petrushevskii | Russia | 1,252,000 | 104 |
| 5 | Alex Bergfors | United States | 1,169,000 | 97 |
| 6 | Haik Kyurumyan | United States | 1,096,000 | 91 |
| 7 | Tal Herzog | Israel | 1,000,000 | 83 |
| 8 | Kennon Perez | United States | 998,000 | 83 |
| 9 | Cole Uvila | United States | 992,000 | 83 |
| 10 | Zdenek Zizka | Czech Republic | 966,000 | 81 |
Nguyen, Arieh and Baldwin Advance in $1,500 Shootout
After two starting flights, just 150 players emerged victorious from their table in Event #20: $1,500 SHOOTOUT.
Whether you were Joshua Thomas, who conquered his table after just five hours, or Craig Mason who took over 11 hours before bagging up his chips, they're all safely through to Day 2.
Three former champions fell on Day 1a, with 2019 winner Brett Apter falling at the last hurdle after a gruelling heads-up match. Neither 2023’s champion Faraz Jaka nor 2024’s winner Dan Sepiol could advance from either flight, meaning this event will have a new face taking home the bracelet on Friday.
Notables through to Day 2 include 2016 Main Event winner Qui Nguyen, Angela Jordison, Anthony Zinno, Josh Arieh, Eric Baldwin and Yuri Dzivielevski.
What's Happening on Day 10 of the 2025 WSOP?
If you're a poker fan looking to be on top of all the action on Day 10 of the 2025 World Series of Poker, well, set your alarm for 1 p.m. local time.
Not only will both additional days in the $25,000 PLO/NLH Mixed and $1,500 Mixed Omaha get underway, but the $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em and the $10,000 Dealer's Choice will also resume. Winners will be crowned in all four events, with four bracelets set to be handed out in a single day for the first time this summer.
Meanwhile, also at 1 p.m., all surviving players from the Shootout will be hoping to run as well as Day 1 and win another table when that tournament gets back underway. And finally, Day 2 of Event #21: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 Better will also resume at, you guessed it, 1 p.m. local time.
The schedule has two new events getting underway on Day 10, and they couldn't be more different.
The third-ever instalment of Event #22: $25,000 High Roller 6-Handed starts at noon, with defending champion Brek Schutten hoping to defend his title. Last year, he defeated a field of 272-player field to win $1,405,641 and his first WSOP bracelet.
There's also another mixed game event starting, with Event #23: $1,500 Badugi the latest to attract some of the brightest poker minds.
Badugi is a four-card lowball poker variant where players must make the best "badugi," a four-card hand with no duplicates in rank or suit. Like the $25k 6-Max, this is only the third edition of this event won in the past by Michael Rodrigues and last year by David Prociak.
Lastly, the second starting flight of the Colossus gets underway bright and early at 10 a.m. with 17 levels of 40 minutes each in store for players in that one.
With the 2025 WSOP still less than two weeks old, the action is heating up on the Strip as Day 10 promises to be one of the busiest days yet!
