button in Safari2026 WSOP Day 1: The Summer Starts Here!
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The wait for the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) finally ended on May 26, some 315 days since the last person out of the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas turned off the lights and brought the curtain down on the 2025 WSOP. May 26 marked the first of 50 days of summer action as the 57th edition of the WSOP burst into action in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Shortly after 12:00 p.m. local time, reigning WSOP Main Event champion, Michael Mizrachi, uttered those famous words, "Shuffle Up and Deal", and the first of 100 bracelet-awarding events of the summer was underway: Day 1a of Event #1: $550 Mini Mystery Millions.
Day 1a of Event #1: $550 Mini Mystery Millions was the first of five scheduled flights. It saw 1,635 players buy in, but they were reduced to a much more manageable 60 over the course of 22 action-packed levels.
Despite this event being one of the more affordable on the 2026 WSOP schedule, plenty of stellar names turned out for it, as they aimed to kick off the series with a cash.
Ryan Leng, Robert Sherwood, Darryll Fish, Ari Engel, Dylan Smith, and Ray Henson were among those who enter on Day 1a but failed to progress to Day 2. However, each of those mentioned players did progress deep enough to cash before they fell by the wayside.
Jansen Satparam is the player who earned the first chip leader title of the 2026 WSOP. They turned their 25,000 starting stack into a tournament leading 1,800,000 by the close of play. Peyman Luth and David Farber rounded off the podium places, while the likes of David Prociak (1,500,000), Chad Eveslage (690,000), Jeremy Becker (535,000), Jake Schwartz (385,000) and Dan Sepiol (215,000) punched their Day 2 tickets at the first time of asking.
Event #1: $550 Mini Mystery Millions Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jansen Satparam | United States | 1,800,000 | 59 |
| 2 | Peyman Luth | Germany | 1,700,000 | 57 |
| 3 | David Farber | United States | 1,600,000 | 53 |
| 4 | Steven Buckner Jr | United States | 1,500,000 | 51 |
| 5 | David Prociak | United States | 1,500,000 | 50 |
| 6 | Michael Renna | United States | 1,500,000 | 50 |
| 7 | Thomas Schmitter | Switzerland | 1,300,000 | 43 |
| 8 | Joe Tijerina | United States | 1,200,000 | 41 |
| 9 | "Camel Man" | Spain | 1,200,000 | 40 |
| 10 | Mark Yarbrough | United States | 1,100,000 | 37 |
Chip counts are approximate due to the WSOP+ App rounding chip amounts
Day 1b of this event starts at 10:00 a.m. local time on May 27, and another large turnout is expected. PokerNews' traditional coverage of the $550 Mini Mystery Millions begins on the tournament's Day 2 on May 31.
Peter Cross Leads an All-Star Cast Into Day 2 of the $5K NLHE
Japan's Peter Cross enjoyed a superb day at the tables in Event #2: $5,000 8-Handed No-Limit Hold'em. The five-time bracelet winner finished Day 1 with 525,000 chips in his stack, the equivalent of 210 big blinds!
Dzivielevski was one of 415 entrants in this event, and, obviously, one of the 142 surviving players. Both of those numbers should increase, as late registration remains open until the end of Level 12, around 3:15 p.m. local time on May 27.
Bulgaria's Yuliyan Kolev (470,500) and Benjamin Williams (456,000) rounded out the podium places, while the likes of Ren Lin (316,500), Martin Kabrhel (298,000), Renji Mao (270,000), and Maksim Pisarenko (268,500), bagged up top 15 stacks.
Lower down the counts, but still in contention, are a host of $25K Fantasy Draft picks and bracelet winners. Such luminaries as Chris Hunichen (249,500), Brian Yoon (226,000), Shaun Deeb (215,500), Viktor Blom (200,500), Justin Saliba (174,000), Josh Arieh (129,000), and Michael Gathy (120,000) will all fancy their chances in this event, if they can claw Dzivielevski back in.
Event #2: $5,000 8-Handed No-Limit Hold'em Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peter Cross | Japan | 525,000 | 210 |
| 2 | Yuliyan Kolev | Bulgaria | 470,500 | 188 |
| 3 | Benjamin Williams | United States | 456,000 | 182 |
| 4 | Daniel Vicente | Spain | 401,000 | 160 |
| 5 | Clemen Deng | United States | 358,500 | 143 |
| 6 | Peter Mugar | United States | 342,000 | 136 |
| 7 | David Chaput | United States | 335,500 | 134 |
| 8 | Fikret Kovac | Bosnia & Herzegovina | 320,000 | 129 |
| 9 | Ren Lin | China | 316,500 | 126 |
| 10 | Martin Kabrhel | Czech Republic | 298,000 | 119 |
Day 2 commences at 1:00 p.m. local time on May 27, and PokerNews' roving reporters will be on the ground throughout doing what they do best: bringing you all of the action as it happens.
What to Expect on Day 2 of the 2026 WSOP
In addition to Day 1b of Event #1: $550 Mini Mystery Millions and Day 2 of Event #2: $5,000 8-Handed No-Limit Hold'em taking place, another two bracelet-awarding events get underway.
At 12:00 p.m. local time, Event #3: $500 Industry Employees No-Limit Hold'em bursts into life. This event is open only to players in the poker and casino industries, giving them a chance to experience what life is like at a WSOP table.
Phovieng Keokham is the reigning champion. He banked a WSOP bracelet and $64,369 when he triumphed in this event in 2025.
Two hours after the Industry Employees begins, at 2:00 p.m. local time, Event #4: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better starts. The first non-Hold'em event of the series should attract a bumper crowd. Last year's event drew in 910 entrants, and David Shmuel outlasted them all. His reward? $205,333 and his first gold bracelet.
