2026 WSOP Day 11: Naoya Kihara Leads Event One Day After Bracelet Win

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Last updated: Jun 06, 2026 Published: Jun 05, 2026 5 min read

Day 10 of the 2026 World Series of Poker was a one-bracelet day at the Paris and Horseshoe Las Vegas. It was a big bracelet, Jeff Madsen's fifth. Madsen took down Event #20: $1,500 Dealer’s Choice for $161,057.

In doing so, Madsen joined a group of just 27 players who have ever earned five or more bracelets.

Elsewhere at the series, Naoya Kihara followed up his bracelet win by taking the chip lead in an event the very next day, Josh Arieh closed in on his seventh bracelet, and dozens of big names battled down to just 22 in the $25,000 High Roller event.

Barak Wisbrod Has Solid Lead After Day 2 of $25k High Roller

There are 22 players left in Event #19: $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em. All 22 will be eyeing up the $1,773,083 top prize, but no one is closer to it than Barak Wisbrod, who leads the field with 5,000,000 in chips.

He is followed by Zachary Grech (4,100,000) in second and Joey Weissman (3,300,000) in third.

There are plenty of big names still in play. Kristen Foxen (2,800,000) and Jesse Lonis (2,700,000) are both in the top ten. Further down the leaderboard are players like Poker Hall of Famers Nick Schulman (2,000,000) and Brian Rast (875,000), as well as players like Eric Wasserson (2,000,000), Shannon Shorr (1,600,000), and Biao Ding (245,000).

The remaining players will be back to play for their cut of the $8,107,500 prize pool at 3 p.m. local time.

Event #19: $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts

Kihara Follows Victory With Next Day Chip Lead

Naoya Kihara went straight from winning his second bracelet in $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Championship to being chip leader on Day 1 of Event #23: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship.

Kihara leads the 47 survivors out of a field of 97 entries to Day 1 of the stud event. This turnout sets the prize pool at $902,100 and counting. Both the prize pool and the field size could still increase as late registration will remain open for the first level of Day 2.

The top ten chips counts below Kihara include several big names including Leonard Carrillo (291,500), David Benyamine (252,000), Ryan Miller (243,000), and Patrick Leonard (241,000).

They will all return, along with the rest of the field, at 1:00 p.m. local time tomorrow when the action will pick back up with betting limits of 4,000/8,000.

Event #23: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts

Blom In Top Ten of $1,500 Big O

Viktor Blom finished Day 1a of Event #22: $1,500 Big O in eighth place, having bagged a stack of 393,000.

Ahead of him, at the top of the day's table is John Holley (694,000). Michael Estes (564,000) is in second, and Dion Kaba rounds out the podium positions with 563,000 for third.

These players are among the 133 players who made it through Day 1a to bag a stack for Day 2. They are the remnants of a 995-strong field that put $1,320,862 in the prize pool so far.

The second and final Day 1 flight begins at 2:00 p.m. local time today.

Event #22: $1,500 Big O Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts

Josh Arieh Close To 7th Bracelet

Event #21: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better started Day 2 with 173 players left in the field. Ten blind levels later, just 13 remain.

This lucky group of 13 will advance to Day 3 of the event and are all guaranteed at least $11,369. However, with $235,377 up top, action is likely to be fierce.

Frederic Normand is in pole position with 3,915,000 chips, less than one big blind ahead of Tobias Hausen (3,885,000) in second place.

Josh Arieh is in third, chasing his seventh bracelet with a stack of 3,310,000. Arieh's last bracelet was in a PLO event, the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8-Handed Championship. He will be looking to repeat his performance at 1:00 p.m. today when the tournament starts back up for Day 3.

Event #21: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better End of Day 2 Chip Counts

Kenny Hallaert Bags Big In $1.5k Monster Stack

Event #18: $1,500 Monster Stack had another day of overlapping flights as Day 1c and Day 2b played in parallel.

Day 1c got 2,896 entries, the biggest flight of the event so far, adding $3,844,440 to the prize pool, which hit $9,734,557. A total of 1,002 of the Day 1c entries made it through the day to play in Day 2c.

Some of the enormous prize pool comes from late registration for Day 2b, which also took place on Day 11 of the WSOP. The field was made up of 667 Day 1b survivors and 311 late registrations.

These 978 entries were trimmed back to 126 players in the course of another 10 levels of poker. Among the big names who bagged on Day 2c was Kenny Hallaert (2,405,000), who finished eighth for the day.

Day 1d begins today at 10:00 a.m. local time, followed by Day 2c at 11:00 a.m.

Event #18: $1,500 Monster Stack Day 1c Top 10 Chip Counts

Event #18: $1,500 Monster Stack Day 2b Top 10 Chip Counts

What to Expect on Day 12 of the 2026 WSOP

Day 12 at the 2026 World Series Of Poker takes place on Saturday, June 6.

There are two bracelets to be won, and one of them is massive. Event #19: $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em will see some of the biggest players in the game battle it out for a $1.7m first-place prize at a live-streamed final table.

While one High Roller ends, another will kick off. Event #24: $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Handed shuffles up and deals at midday local time, providing even more high stakes action.

Event #18: $1,500 Monster Stack will be running two flights in parallel. Day 1d at 10:00 a.m., the final Day 1 flight, and Day 2c at 11:00. Late registration is available for both flights.

Day 2 of the Event #23: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship will see if Naoya Kihara can make it to the final table again in his search for his second bracelet this week.

Last but not least, two Omaha variant tournaments will be playing out. Event #22: $1,500 Big O has its Day 1b and Event #21: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better will be playing down to a winner, awarding the second bracelet of the day.

You can keep up with all the action right here on PokerNews.

• Tags WSOP26 2026 WSOP Biao Ding Brian Rast David Benyamine Eli Elezra John Holley Joey Weissman Jeff Madsen Josh Arieh Kenny Hallaert Kristen Foxen Naoya Kihara Shannon Shorr