Kenny Hallaert Remains at the Top After Day 7 of $10,000 Main Event World Championship
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Just 24 of the game's finest players have bagged up chips after Day 7 of the 2025 World Series of Poker Main Event No-Limit Hold'em World Championship, in the gambling capital of the world of Las Vegas. Another five levels have been knocked off the schedule with just one day to go before the lights shine on the final table. Once again, it was PokerStars ambassador Kenny Hallaert who led the way from start to finish, bagging up a stack of 63,600,000 chips.
For someone who has been in the game for decades and claims to have seen "everything", Day 7 certainly brought back some good and forgettable memories for Hallaert, who made a deep run to sixth place in 2016 for a payday of over $1.4 million.
"In 2016, nine years ago, I think Will [Kassouf] hasn't changed much. I think I've changed a little bit since then, so it was easy for me to block out the noise. The experience from then definitely made me feel more comfortable," Hallaert reflected after another grueling day at the felt.
The good memories for the Belgian tournament director go back to the feeling of being grateful to once again be in this spot out of the 9,735 hopefuls that registered for this year's WSOP Main Event. "I'm enjoying the experience, grateful that I'm able to play this event. Luckily, I was one of them to get to this stage of the final twenty-four. I still love the game, whether it's the World Series Main Event or the PokerStars Open event."
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Not many players can say they've been in this situation once, let alone twice, within a decade. As for Hallaert, he believes that his second go around in the late stages of this event will turn out even better than the first with the experience that he gained. "I think it's definitely an advantage. Having played this event for the nineteenth time, it just helps. You have an idea of how people play, especially if they're here for the first time."
Speaking of players making another deep run, Michael Mizrachi has the best finish in the WSOP Main Event of all the remaining players. 'The Grinder' climbed all the way to fifth place back in 2010 and the four-time Poker Players Champion will be looking to top that performance with plenty of support from his rail in this year's rendition as he heads into Day 8 with a stack of 11,400,000.
Also joining those at the top of the leaderboard is Alaskan-born poker pro Adam Hendrix who finished the day fourth on the leaderboard with a stack of 39,500,000. Despite having over $8 million in career poker earnings, Hendrix will be looking to notch his career-best score if he can make it through to the final table when tomorrow is all said and done.
Last night, Hendrix posted on his social media that over the next couple of days, he has a chance to realize a life dream of his. "Clear mind, full heart, can't lose" is the motto he will be going by every time he takes a peek at his cards.
When asked if the expectations had changed throughout the Main Event journey so far, Hendrix said the following. "I mean the expectation is ... always win the whole thing. Do I think it is possible? It was hard to think that with so many people in the field. Now I am feeling very confident."
Hendrix had been switching to four-card poker for several years but racked up several big scores in no-limit hold 'em over the last few years, which has certainly brought back more confidence to his game with only two cards. "I have always been a No-Limit player and picked up PLO because I was getting bored just travelling the circuit and busting in No-Limit tournaments, and the cash games were more interesting. So yeah, it makes no-limit a lot more fun in this tournament."
Top Ten Chip Counts After Day 7 of WSOP Main Event
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenny Hallaert | Belgium | 63,600,000 | 127 |
| 2 | Braxton Dunaway | United States | 51,100,000 | 102 |
| 3 | Muhamet Perati | Italy | 50,100,000 | 100 |
| 4 | Adam Hendrix | United States | 39,500,000 | 79 |
| 5 | Luka Bojovic | Serbia | 33,900,000 | 68 |
| 6 | Richard Freitas | Brazil | 32,500,000 | 65 |
| 7 | Joey Padron | United States | 29,900,000 | 60 |
| 8 | Daniel Iachan | United States | 28,100,000 | 56 |
| 9 | Ruben Correia | Portugal | 26,700,000 | 53 |
| 10 | Daehyung Lee | Korea, Republic of | 25,600,000 | 51 |
The Kassouf Effect
It was nine years ago when tournament staff, media, and players were dealt with the difficult task of handling the erratic Will Kassouf when he made it all the way to 17th place. When they say some things never change, that is certainly the case for the man screaming "Show time, baby!" throughout the Horseshoe Events Center while being escorted out on multiple occasions.
Kassouf was given a one-round penalty early in the day for calling a tablemate a "prick" and then returned from dinner break to be given another orbit penalty for calling his entire table "little bitches". Throughout all of the drama, he continued to stall his way through pay jumps until Hallaert finally laid a beating on him - a poker one of course - ending Kassouf's run in 33rd place.
"I knew the king was coming," Hallaert said with a smirk in an interview with PokerNews at the end of the day.
Kassouf was dragged away from the table, screaming like a little child, and after his interviews were done, Caesar's security escorted him to payouts. From there, he was asked to leave the property and will not be allowed back for the rest of the summer. The players at his table were relieved of his screeching voice and were able to remove their earplugs, ones that Adam Hendrix bought for the entire table on the dinner break.
The Mighty Have Fallen on Day 7
There were plenty of big names and familiar faces still in the mix when the day began, but many of them saw their Main Event final table dreams crushed. An early bustout belonged to 2012 WSOP Main Event champion Greg Merson, who was hoping to add his name to the history books as a repeat champion.
He was followed to the payout desk by the likes of Leon Sturm, Thomas Eychenne, Johan Schumacher, Nick Pupillo, and one of the big stacks to start the day, Eric Afriat. After taking a couple of big losses throughout the day, the three-time WPT champion dwindled down to just a couple of big blinds before he saw the last of his chips evaporate.
The final 27 players were redrawn to three tables and it was Joshua Beckenstein who missed out the most recent pay jump, bowing out in 27th place for $300,000. Pedro Padilha was one of many players to hit the rail holding the dreaded ace-king today when he ran square into the pocket aces of Richard Freitas. The last elimination occurred in one of the last hands of the day just moments after Kohei Arai doubled his short stack. On the very next hand, Arai also ran his ace-king into a premium pocket pair and was unable to find any help on the runout.
Heading into the final day before the players get a breather with a day off in between reaching the final table and playing for millions of dollars, Leo Margets is still trying to make some history of her own. Although she wasn't ready to speak after bagging up tonight, Margets has already bested her previous performance of a 27th-place finish back in 2009. Margets is hoping to become the first woman to reach the Main Event final table in 30 years, since Barbara Enright did it back in 1995.
Other notables to keep an eye as the action unfolds include 2023 Monster Stack champion Braxton Dunaway, former professional snowboarder Jarod Minghini, long-time legend Tony Gregg, Pot-Limit Omaha specialist Lautaro Guerra, and Tomas Szwarcberg who has bettered last year's performance of 30th place.
The remaining 24 players will return to their same seats and positions tomorrow at 1 p.m. local time with their sights set on reaching the final table. The blinds will be resuming on level 35 at 300,000/600,000 and a 600,000 big blind ante. Each player has locked up at least $360,000 thus far but making it to the official final table will secure each of the remaining nine players a seven-figure pay day. The jackpot at the end of the rainbow comes in the form of $10,000,000 cold hard cash and a WSOP Main Event gold bracelet.
2025 WSOP Main Event Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000,000 |
| 2 | $6,000,000 |
| 3 | $4,000,000 |
| 4 | $3,000,000 |
| 5 | $2,400,000 |
| 6 | $1,900,000 |
| 7 | $1,500,000 |
| 8 | $1,250,000 |
| 9 | $1,000,000 |
| 10-11 | $750,000 |
| 12-13 | $560,250 |
| 14-17 | $450,000 |
| 18-24 | $360,000 |
