2025 WSOP Day 35: Daniel Negreanu On Course For His Eighth Bracelet
June 30 was the 35th day of the 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP) at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, and it had everything. Controversy, victory, multi-tabling, and more went down as we enter the latter stages of what has been another incredible WSOP.
First, let's get the controversy out of the way. The WSOP decided not to award a bracelet in Event #53: $1,500 Millionaire Maker after Jesse Yaginuma's comeback "victory" over James Carroll. The WSOP split the first and second place prize money between Yaginuma and Carroll, but states no winner of the event is recognized and the bracelet goes unwon. You can read all about this bizarre tale right here.
Now, let's have some positivity in the shape of a legitimate player winning a bracelet. Event #67: $300 Gladiators of Poker concluded on June 30, and Ian Pelz of Colorado, who finished third in the $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed event a couple of weeks ago, came out on top. He turned $300 into a career-best $420,680 and his first gold bracelet.
Amazingly, Pelz didn't intend to play this event, and entered on a whim after returning to the Horseshoe to pick up his car following a night on the tiles! What a decision that turned out to be.
Only 11 Remain in the $2,500 Mixed Big Bet; Daniel Negreanu Second in Chips
GGPoker ambassador Daniel Negreanu is only ten eliminations away from becoming an eight-time WSOP bracelet winner. The Canadian superstar returns for the final day of Event #76: $2,500 Mixed Big Bet with 2,513,000 chips, enough for second-place on the leaderboard.
Negreanu has reached four WSOP final tables this summer, including a runner-up finish in the $10,000 Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship. Should Negreanu emerge from this event with a bracelet on his wrist, he will become only the eighth player in history to accumulate eight bracelets.
Bookmark this page! All you need to know about the 2025 WSOP is here.
Four $25K Fantasy Draft picks are among those standing between Negreanu and bracelet number eight. Aaron Kupin (3,028,000) is one of them. Kupin leads the final 11 back into battle on July 1.
Marco Johnson (2,507,000) returns in third, Jeff Madsen (1,464,000) in fifth, with Christopher Vitch (1,240,000) just behind Madsen in sixth-place.
This event resumes at 1:00 p.m. local time and continues until only one player has all of the chips in play in their stack.
Event #76: $2,500 Mixed Big Bet Final Day Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds (NLSD) | Big Blinds (PL/NL) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aaron Kupin | United States | 3,028,000 | 100 | 126 |
| 2 | Daniel Negreanu | Canada | 2,513,000 | 83 | 104 |
| 3 | Marco Johnson | United States | 2,507,000 | 83 | 104 |
| 4 | Bariscan Betil | United States | 1,637,000 | 54 | 68 |
| 5 | Jeff Madsen | United States | 1,464,000 | 48 | 61 |
| 6 | Christopher Vitch | United States | 1,240,000 | 41 | 51 |
| 7 | Steve Billirakis | United States | 1,119,000 | 37 | 46 |
| 8 | Ofir Mor | United States | 1,035,000 | 34 | 43 |
| 9 | Hiroyuki Noda | Japan | 646,000 | 21 | 26 |
| 10 | Robert Mclaughlin | United States | 453,000 | 15 | 18 |
| 11 | Hye Park | United States | 388,000 | 12 | 16 |
Quan Zhou Leads the Final Seven in the $10,000 PLO Championship
China's Quan Zhou (16,750,000) is the player to catch going into the final day of Event #74: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship. Zhou is one of two players with more than 50 big blinds in their stack; Sean Rafael (13,250,000) is the other.
Two of the final seven have already tasted WSOP glory. Michael Wang (8,025,000) returns to the fray in third, while Alex Foxen (2,725,000) brings up the rear. Foxen was multi-tabling this event with another $10,000 at the Wynn Las Vegas, which could go some way to explaining why he is this event's shortest stack going into Day 4.
Dutchman Javier Francort (6,825,000), who led on Day 1 and Day 2, returns in fourth, while Michael Zulker (5,075,000) and Melad Marji (4,825,000) remain in contention.
These seven players return to the action at 2:00 p.m. local time, and they will play until a champion is crowned.
Event #74: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quan Zhou | China | 16,750,000 | 67 |
| 2 | Sean Rafael | United States | 13,250,000 | 53 |
| 3 | Michael Wang | United States | 8,025,000 | 32 |
| 4 | Javier Francort | Netherlands | 6,825,000 | 27 |
| 5 | Michael Zulker | United States | 5,075,000 | 20 |
| 6 | Melad Marji | United States | 4,825,000 | 19 |
| 7 | Alex Foxen | United States | 2,725,000 | 11 |
Ethan Yau Builds a Big Day 1b Stack in the Mini Main Event
Day 1b of Event #74: $1,000 Mini Main Event attracted 6,717 entrants to the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, taking the total attendance to 10,794. From that Day 1b field, 541 progressed to Day 2, with France's Bernard Kobis (7,770,000) leading the way.
This flight attracted more than its fair share of stars, and several of those finished with a top ten stack. Harry Lodge (4,955,000), fresh from winning an online bracelet, bagged up the fourth-largest stack. The polarizing Martin Kabrhel (2,275,000) finished Day 1b in tenth.
Ethan "Rampage" Yau (2,350,000) is sandwiched between those two players. Earlier in the series, Yau spoke to PokerNews about how frustrating the 2025 WSOP had been for him. However, he has stuck to his guns, continued with his aggressive playing style, and now finds himself among the frontrunners going into Day 2.
Others who progressed from Day 1b include Justin Liberto (1,185,000), Yilong Wang (965,000), Thomas Cazayous (660,000), Uri Reichenstein (640,000), Matt Affleck (485,000), Joe Cada (470,000), and Alexandre Reard (245,000).
Day 2 kicks off at 11 a.m. local time on July 1 with 859 hopefuls returning to the action. The plan is to whittle that large crowd to the final five players. Will that happen? Return to PokerNews on July 1 to find out.
Event #75: $1,000 Mini Main Event Day 1b Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bernard Kobis | France | 7,770,000 | 194 |
| 2 | Chakib Mhiri | Turkey | 7,480,000 | 187 |
| 3 | Jens Ullrich | Germany | 7,355,000 | 184 |
| 4 | Harry Lodge | United Kingdom | 4,955,000 | 124 |
| 5 | Freedom Burrows | Bermuda | 3,610,000 | 90 |
| 6 | Jonathan Fhima | France | 2,815,000 | 70 |
| 7 | William Blais | Canada | 2,670,000 | 67 |
| 8 | Ethan Yau | United States | 2,350,000 | 59 |
| 9 | Tao Chu | Taiwan | 2,280,000 | 57 |
| 10 | Martin Kabrhel | Czech Republic | 2,275,000 | 57 |
Shaun Deeb Second in Chips in the $10,000 Stud Hi-Lo Championship
Day 1 of Event #77: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship drew in 160 entrants, but more than half of them fell by the wayside over the course of ten levels. Shaun Deeb (384,500) not only survived and progressed to Day 2, but did so with the second-largest stack of the remaining 68 players.
Deeb has 15 cashes at this summer's series, including two final table appearances. He finished third in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship and was the runner-up in the $1,500 Razz. The mixed game specialist now has a legitimate chance of reaching another final table and, maybe, adding to his haul of six bracelets.
Walter Chambers (372,500) bagged the chip lead, while Scott Bohlman (284,500), Anthony Zinno (273,000), and Paul Houvener (259,500) finished Day 1 with top five stacks.
Also safely through to Day 2 are players such as Christopher Claasen (229,000), Brian Hastings (221,000), Brad Ruben (200,000), Blaz Zerjav (197,000), Nick Guagenti (175,000), Mike Gorodinsky (156,500), Viktor Blom (143,000), Allen Kessler (141,000), Benny Glaser (102,000), David "Bakes" Baker (75,500), Chad Eveslage (55,000), and Todd Brunson (42,500).
Play resumes at 1:00 p.m. local time, with late registration open until the end of the first level. Should eight players take advantage of late registration, this event's attendance will be another that surpasses the 2024 edition.
Event #77: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Bets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Walter Chambers | United States | 372,500 | 47 |
| 2 | Shaun Deeb | United States | 310,000 | 39 |
| 3 | Scott Bohlman | United States | 284,500 | 36 |
| 4 | Anthony Zinno | United States | 273,000 | 34 |
| 5 | Paul Houvener | United States | 259,500 | 32 |
| 6 | Qinghai Pan | United States | 250,500 | 31 |
| 7 | Nikolay Fal | Russian Federation | 232,500 | 29 |
| 8 | Christopher Claassen | United States | 229,000 | 29 |
| 9 | Brian Hastings | United States | 221,000 | 28 |
| 10 | David Lin | United States | 215,500 | 27 |
What to Expect on Day 36 of the 2025 WSOP
Two bracelets will be awarded on July 1, both in non-hold'em tournaments. Event #74: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship and Event #76: $2,500 Mixed Big Bet are both scheduled to conclude. The former kicks off at 2:00 p.m. local time and the latter at a slightly earlier 1:00 p.m. local time.
Day 2 of Event #75: $1,000 Mini Main Event explodes into action at 11:00 a.m. with the 859 survivors from Day 1a and Day 1b coming together for the first time. PokerNews' live reporting from this event starts today.
Late registration is still open in Event #77: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship, so there will almost certainly be more than the 78 Day 1 survivors in the mix. Join PokerNews from 1:00 p.m. local time for all the stud action you can handle.
It's a 10:00 a.m. local time start for one of the most anticipated tournaments on the schedule: Event #78: $600 PokerNews Deepstack Championship. No other media outlet has a branded bracelet-awarding event at the WSOP, and we are immensely proud to have our name in WSOP lights. Hector Berry left 5,109 opponents in his wake in 2024, turning his $600 into $282,876, a WSOP bracelet, and a 24K gold PokerNews coin. Will you be this year's champion?
At noon, poker's big guns will be out in force when Event #79: $100,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller kicks off. This event is new for the 2025 WSOP and is expected to see some and all-star cast descend on the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.
