2025 WSOP Day 38: Michael Mizrachi Bags Main Event Day 1b Chip Lead

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Jul 04, 2025 7 min read

The $10,000 Main Event dominated Day 38 of the 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP) at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas as you would expect and rightly so. A huge crowd of 1,096 players turned out for Day 1b. Phil Hellmuth made a polarizing grand entrance, and Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi topped the end-of-day chip counts.

While the Main Event was ramping up, Qinghai Pan was busy capturing his third bracelet. Having won two online events previously, Pan triumphed in Event #77: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship, earning him $411,051 and another piece of WSOP hardware.

Shaun Deeb became a seven-time WSOP bracelet winner after coming out on top in Event #79: $100,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller. Deeb, who has two bracelets in the $25,000 buy-in edition of this event, defeated Isaac Haxton heads-up for his seventh bracelet and a career-high score of $2,957,229.

The Grinder Continues His Incredble Run

Day 1b of Event #81: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship drew in another 1,096 entrants, who were whittled to 799 survivors over the course of five two-hour levels. Sat proudly at the top of the Day 1b chip counts is none other than Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi (297,000).

Mizrachi is in hot form, having recently won the $50,000 Poker Players Championship for a record fourth time and capturing his seventh bracelet. Fifteen years ago, Mizrachi finished fifth in the Main Event for $2,332,992. Though it's too early to predict a similar result in 2025, "The Grinder" has done his chances of going deep no harm at all by being fast out of the blocks.

Dakota Baggett (270,400) and Raoul Kanme (270,000) were Mizrachi's nearest rivals in the chip counts, followed by the Ladies Championship finalist Juliet Hegedus (267,000) and Adrien Guyader (259,700).

Five past Main Event champions chose Day 1b to start their quest for a second title, and all made it through. Max Neugebauer (193,300) won the 2023 WSOP Europe Main Event and bagged the most chips of any former Main Event champ. Qui Nguyen (94,500), Phil Hellmuth (85,000), the latter arriving fashionably late to much fanfare, Johnny Chan (57,800) and Greg Merson (47,300) also punched their Day 2abc tickets all have a chance of become two-time WSOP Main Event champions.

Other stellar names to progress to Day 2abc include Yuri Dzivielevski (161,300), Mike Matusow (158,200), Daniel Negreanu (122,500), David "ODB" Baker (96,100), Leo Margets (95,000), Jason Mercier (78,700), John Hennigan (53,200), Stephen Chidwick (51,600), and Ryan Leng (47,300).

_{Check out the full WSOP Main Event Day 1b chip counts here}

Day 1c starts at 12:00 p.m. local time on July 4, and it should be the busiest flight yet. As always, PokerNews is where you will find all of the 2025 WSOP Main Event live updates.

Event #81: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship Day 1b Top Ten Chip Counts

Only Six Players Remain in the PokerNews Deepstack Championship

Day 3 of Event #78: $600 PokerNews Deepstack Championship saw 55 players return to their seats. It ended with only six players vying for the $302,165 top prize, the event's bracelet, and a 24-carat gold commemorative PokerNews Deepstack Championship coin.

Just as he did at the end of Day 2, Daniel Schill (41,000,000) bagged the Day 3 chip lead. Although Schill leads the way, there's not a huge difference in chips between him and Narimaan Ahmadi (36,200,000) in second and Ran Kadur (31,300,000) in third.

Jason Li (23,500,000), Nicolas Godard (23,200,000), and Jorge Dominguez (15,600,000) are also still in the mix.

These six players return to the action from 11:00 a.m. local time, and PokerNews will be on hand to bring you all of the action as this event crowns its worthy champion.

Event #78: $600 PokerNews Deepstack Championship Chip Counts

Keven Stammen Bags Big On Day 1b of the Summer Celebration

Day 1b of Event #80: Summer Celebration saw another 4,024 players buy in, taking the total attendance to 7,078. Of those Day 1b starters, only 193 progressed to Day 2. Canada's Darrin Oremba (2,475,000) claimed the overnight chip lead, followed by Zizhu Zhao (2,285,000) and Shawn Pilot (2,190,000).

Nine of the surviving players have previously tasted success at the WSOP, including Keven Stammen (1,490,000), who bagged up enough chips to place him 19th on day 1b. Stammen won his bracelet in 2009 in the $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em event. He has just shy of $7 million in recorded live tournament earnings. Stammen has just the two cashes this summer, but looks like a contender to go all the way in this event.

Kenneth O'Donnell (1,415,000), Rob Wazwaz (1,360,000), Joseph Roh (1,355,000), and four-time bracelet winner Asi Moshe (1,010,000) punched their Day 2 tickets from this flight. Chris Hunichen (730,000) is the $25K Fantasy Draft's sole survivor, while Jimmy Setna (430,000), Jack Duong (400,000), and Lara Eisenberg (355,000) are hunting their second bracelets.

Day 2 begins at 11 a.m. local time on July 4, with 361 players returning to their seats. The plan is to play until a champion is crowned, so keep your browsers locked and loaded to PokerNews to discover who that champion is.

Event #80: $800 Summer Celebration Day 1b Top Ten Chip Counts

Thomas Taylor Leads Final 13 in the Eight Game Championship

Thomas Taylor (1,800,000) is only 12 eliminations away from becoming a WSOP champion because he leads the final 13 players as Event #82: $10,000 Eight Game Mix Championship enters its third and final day.

Taylor has now racked up 11 cashes at the 2025 WSOP and is on course for his first bracelet. He has two runner-up finishes in bracelet-awarding events. Could this be the tournament where Taylor finally strikes gold?

An all-star cast stands between Taylor and that elusive bracelet. Jon Turner (1,589,000) is the best-placed of the chasing pack who want to spoil Taylor's party. Kahle Burns (1,588,000) is just behind Turner in third.

Eric Wasserson (1,200,000), Bradley Jansen (953,000), Mike Gorodinsky (937,000), Brian Hastings (800,000), Jeremy Ausmus (572,000), and Todd Brunson (555,000) are also still in contention to claim this event's title.

Play resumes at 1:00 p.m. local time on July 4 and continues until a champion emerges.

Event #82: $10,000 Eight Game Mixed Championship Top Ten Chip Counts

Vitor Dzivielevski Among the Day 1 Leaders in the $2,500 NLHE Freezeout

Brazilian Vitor Dzivielevski (568,000) is flying high in Event #83: $2,500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em after the first of three scheduled days. Dzivielevski, the older brother of five-time bracelet winner Yuri Dzivielevski, may have bagged the chip lead in this event. However, the WSOP+ App states Noel Rodriguez (840,000) bagged a colossal stack. PokerNews will verify Rodriguez's chips at the start of Day 2.

Day 1 saw the 1,299-strong field reduced to 247 over the course of 15 levels. Joining Dzivielevski and Rodriguez into Day 2 are such luminaries as Shawn Daniels (395,000), Phil Hui (370,000), Alex Keating (305,000), Boris Kolev (289,000), Stoyan Madanzhiev (253,000), Alex Livingston (128,000), Renan Bruschi (109,000), and Mike Holtz (59,000).

Cards are back in the air from 1:00 p.m. local time on July 4, where ten 60-minute levels are scheduled.

Event #83: $2,500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em Top Ten Chip Counts

What to Expect on Day 39 of the 2025 WSOP

Day 39 of the 2025 WSOP, which happens to be Independence Day in the United States, kicks off at 11:00 a.m. local time with the final day of Event #78: $600 PokerNews Deepstack Championship. Only six players remain in contention for the $302,165 top prize and the all-important gold bracelet.

Event #80: $800 Summer Celebration's Day 2 shuffles up and deals at the same time as the PokerNews Deepstack Championship. The 361 surviving players from Day 1a and Day 1b return to the felt and will play until a champion is crowned.

At noon local time, Day 1c of Event #81: $10,000 WSOP Main Event World Championship begins. Last year, 2,528 players bought into the penultimate flight, so expect similar numbers this time around. July 4 celebrations could affect the number of entrants. However, the Main Event's attendance is up 15.6% at this stage compared to last year.

An hour after Day 1c of the Main Event bursts into life, the third and final day of Event #82: $10,000 Eight Game Championship begins. At 1:00 p.m. local time, Thomas Taylor leads the final 13 into battle. A few hours later, one of them will become this event's champion and take home $422,421 and a bracelet.

Also at 1:00 p.m. local time is Day 2 of Event #83: $2,500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em, where ten 60-minute levels are the plan.

The only new tournament starting on July 4 is Event #84: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em. It kicks off at 5:00 p.m. local time, with Day 1 slated to continue until only 15% of the field remains. Thirty-minute blinds should help progress this tournament along. Aditya Agarwal won this event in 2024, finishing ahead of 1,423 opponents, and taking home $189,661 and his first gold bracelet.

Matthew Pitt hails from Leeds, West Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom, and has worked in the poker industry since 2008, and worked for PokerNews since 2010. In September 2010, he became the editor of PokerNews. Matthew stepped away from live reporting duties in 2015, and now concentrates on his role of Senior Editor for the PokerNews.

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• Tags WSOP25 $25K Fantasy Chris Hunichen Brian Hastings Greg Merson Isaac Haxton Jason Mercier Jeremy Ausmus John Hennigan Johnny Chan Kahle Burns Michael Mizrachi Phil Hellmuth Phil Hui Daniel Negreanu Shaun Deeb Ryan Leng Renan Bruschi Todd Brunson
• Related Players Daniel NegreanuPhil HellmuthJohnny ChanShaun DeebTodd BrunsonMichael Mizrachi