2026 WSOP Day 16: The Controversial Ren Lin Leads the $100K NLHE High Roller

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Jun 11, 2026 8 min read

Event #18: $1,500 Monster Stack finally wrapped up, and it was Richard Alsup who was the last player standing. Alsup got his hands on the second bracelet of his career and a new highest haul worth $1,302,125. The champion locked horns with the likes of Kevin Eyster, John Ripnick, and runner-up Salvatore Dicarlo at the final table.

Santhosh Suvarna showed his high roller prowess once again by adding a third WSOP bracelet to his wrist, his third in events commanding massive buy-ins. The Indian star won the €50,000 NLHE Diamond High Roller at the 2023 WSOP Europe festival, then won the $250,000 NLHE Super High Roller at the 2024 WSOP, and completed an impressive hat trick by triumphing in Event #29: $50,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em here at the 2026 WSOP.

Suvarna's latest victory earned $1,992,870, bringing his recorded earnings to more than $22.7 million and further extending his lead at the top of India's all-time money list.

Germany's Dennis Weiss became a WSOP champion for a third time after coming out on top of Event #30: $1,500 Limit Hold'em 7-Handed. Weiss, who primarily plays Pot-Limit Omaha, told PokerNews he has only recently dipped his toes into mixed games and thinks Limit Hold'em is fun to play. Of course, games are more fun when you are winning!

Ren Lin Leads After Day 1 of the $100,000 NLHE High Roller

Event #36: $100,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em may have cost more than many people's net worth to enter, but that didn't stop 67 entries being processed before first day concluded. At the end of 10 high-stakes levels, only 31 players remained, and WPT Global's Ren Lin (3,175,000) topped the end of night chip counts.

Lin has more than $19.6 million in live poker tournament earnings, yet a WSOP bracelet has eluded him thus far. He does have a trio of runner-up finishes in bracelet-awarding events; Lin will be hoping to finally capture some WSOP hardware in a couple of days' time.

As you would expect from a $100,000 buy-in tournament, the biggest names were at the tables. Galen Hall (2,525,000) and Mikita Badziakouski (2,255,000) finished in the top three, while Vinny Lingham (2,200,000), Sean Winter (1,920,000), Jason Koon (1,715,000), Brandon Wilson (1,660,000), Daniel Rezaei (1,650,000), Artur Martirosian (1,590,000), and Nick Petrangelo (1,560,000) all return with top 10 stacks.

"It's Like a Dream" Santhosh Suvarna Wins Third WSOP Bracelet in $50,000 High Roller

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Alex Foxen (1,440,000), Bryn Kenney (1,295,000), Stephen Chidwick (1,210,000), and Daniel Negreanu (1,190,000) all doubled their 600,000 starting stacks, while Kristen Foxen (590,000), Andrew Lichtenberger (360,000), and Indian high-stakes guru Santhosh Suvarna (260,000) are among those with a little more work to do on Day 2.

Speaking of which, Day 2 starts at 1:00 p.m. local time on June 11 on Level 11. Late registration remains open until the end of Level 12, which is expected to be around 3:15 p.m. local time. Anyone buying in late on the first level of the day will sit down with 24 big blinds. Let's see how many well-heeled players opt to jump into this $100,000 buy-in event at the last minute.

Event #36: $100,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts

Jessica Vierling Bags a Top Five Stack the $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em After Day 2

Day 2 of Event #32: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em started with 616 players returning to their seats, and ended with only 57 of them progressing to Day 3. Sitting among the chip leaders, in fourth place when play resumes, is Jessica Vierling.

Vierling ended the night with exactly 2,000,000 chips, giving her 100 big blinds when Day 3 begins. Vierling is no stranger to going deep in mid-stakes events, evident by her raft of final table appearances, and her victory in the $1,700 WSOP Circuit Commerce Casino in May 2024, which earned her $328,273 of her $1,773,732 total winnings.

Only Christos Argyriadis (2,835,000), Daniel Wokoun (2,650,000), and the reigning $1,700 U.S. Circuit Championship winner Antonio Vargas (2,065,000) finished Day 2 of this event with more chips than Vierling.

Twenty-one of the 57 survivors have either already won a bracelet, are a $25K Fantasy Draft pick, or a combination of both. They include Samuel Laskowitz (1,920,000), Christian Roberts (1,600,000), and Darren Rabinowitz (1,580,000) in the top 10, plus such luminaries as Jim Collopy (930,000), the 2015 WSOP Main Event champion Joe McKeehen (790,000), Nick Pupillo (420,000), Bradley Jansen (350,000), and a short-stack Joseph Cheong (230,000).

Day 3 commences at 12:00 p.m. local time on June 11, with the plan to reduce the field to only five players.

Event #32: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts

Only 25 Remain in the $10K PLO8 Championship

Ryan Hughes (1,995,000) has given himself every chance of becoming a four-time WSOP bracelet by claiming the chip lead on Day 2 of Event #33: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship, where only 25 players remain in contention for the $767,395 top prize.

Hughes won a $2,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo in 2007 and a $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo event in 2008 before claiming a third bracelet online in 2023. This series has seen several champions claim long-overdue live bracelets, and Hughes could be considered among them.

Standing between Hughes and that fourth bracelet is Martin Zamani (1,925,000), who is a four-time bracelet winner. Shota Nakanishi (1,840,000), Matthew Beinner (1,615,000), and Nick Guagenti (1,160,000) bagged up top 10 stacks and will also prove to be formidable opponents for Hughes.

Lower down the counts are players such as Marco Johnson (980,000), Dylan Weisman (950,000), Joao Vieira (865,000), Nathan Gamble (370,000), and Jason Mercier (315,000), the latter returning with the second-shortest stack.

Day 3 shuffles up and deals at 1:00 p.m. local time on June 11, with play continuing until just five players have chips in front of them.

Event #33: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts

Day 1a of the COLOSSUS Attracts 2,684 Players

Today saw the first of four flights in Event #34: $500 COLOSSUS No-Limit Hold'em run. It attracted 2,684 players to the table, but only 501 of them navigated to Day 2a from Day 1a.

Pennsylvanian Joseph Ozimok (1,065,000) now has a Day 1a chip leader badge next to his name in the overnight chip counts after bagging up an early lead. Ozimok, who finished 12th in last year's Main Event for $560,250, returns on his Day 2 with 133 big blinds in his arsenal. Another deep run beckons.

John Hardie (1,046,000) is the other chip-millionaire, although Arash Vaziri (996,000) came close to bagging a seven-figure stack.

Among the other Day 1a survivors, you will find Andreas Frohli (735,000), Sandro Carucci (644,000), Justin Fawcett (545,000), Jason James (507,000), JJ Liu (437,000), Bernd Gleissner (330,000), Tom Franklin (327,000), Alex Keating (180,000), and Dylan Wilkerson (159,000).

Day 1b shuffles up and deals at 10:00 a.m. local time on June 11, and should see 3,000+ players take to their seats. At 11:00 a.m., the 501 surviving players from this flight will battle it out on Day 2a, where another 12 levels are scheduled.

Event #34: $500 COLOSSUS Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts

Qiang Xu Bags Big on Day 1a of the $1,500 PLO

The first of two flights in Event #35: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha saw its 976-strong field whittled to a more manageable 61 over the course of 17 levels. Emerging from Day 1a with the chip lead in tow was China's Qiang Xu (1,188,000).

Xu, Jason Zipfel (1,097,000) and Amir Mirrasouli (1,000,000) were the only three players to cram seven figures worth of chips into their overnight chip bags, although Dutch grinder Jorryt van Hoof (996,000) came agonizingly close.

Among the 61 survivors were Espen Sandvik (540,000), Artur Koren (503,000), poker veteran Steve Zolotow (438,000), JC Tran (435,000), Toby Joyce (395,000), Uri Reichenstein (325,000), Ankush Mandavia (283,000), and former PokerNews live reporter and editor Mo Nuwwarah (264,000).

The Day 1a survivors aren't back in action until 12:00 p.m. local time on June 12, but a new flight, Day 1b, kicks off on June 11 at 12:00 p.m. local time.

Event #35: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts

Stephen Hubbard Rides Off With a Big Day 1 $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. Stack

Day 1 of Event #37: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. is in the bag, with 171 of the 780 entrants bagging and tagging their chips after 15 levels of mixed game action. Daniel Makowsky (390,000) and Clayton Mozdzen (383,000) were neck and neck at the top of the overnight counts, with recent bracelet winner Stephen Hubbard (312,500) finishing in third.

Hubbard won his first bracelet earlier this series in the $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw event. He is now one step closer to joining the two-bracelet club, although there's still a lot of poker to be played before he can make that happen.

Scott Clements (232,000) is another 2026 WSOP bracelet winner gunning for more poker gold. He returns on Day 2 in the top 10.

Others to look out for when PokerNews' coverage of this event begins on Day 2 are such luminaries as Jon Kyte (215,500), David Bach (204,500), Eric Baldwin 9199,500), Brian Hastings (158,500), Nick Schulman (133,000), John Monnette (83,000), Mike Matusow (70,000), and Todd Brunson (38,000).

Cards are back in the air from 1:00 p.m. local time, with the plan to complete another 10 levels.

Event 37: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts

What to Expect on Day 17 of the 2026 WSOP

Day 1b of Event #34: $500 COLOSSUS is the first in-play event to kick off on June 11. Cards are in the air from 10:00 a.m. local time, and another bumper crowd is expected to descend on the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.

An hour later, the 501 Day 1a COLOSSUS survivors return to the action for Day 2a.

Event #32: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em has reached its penultimate day. The 57 players who have made it this far sit down from 12:00 p.m. local time with the plan to continue playing until only five players remain.

Also at noon is Day 1b of Event #35: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed.

Three events resume at 1:00 p.m. local time. They are Day 3 of Event #33: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship, where Ryan Hughes leads the final 25. Day 2 of Event #37: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. and the second day of Event #36: $100,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em will also shuffle up and deal at 1:00 p.m. local time.

Only one new event gets underway on Day 17 of the 2026 WSOP. The first day of Event #38: $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship kicks off at 2:00 p.m. local time. It continues until 10 levels are done and dusted.

Ian Johns is this event's reigning champion. Johns defeated online legend Viktor Blom heads-up to secure his fourth WSOP bracelet and a top prize that tipped the scales at $282,455.

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 WSOP26 Andrew Lichtenberger Ankush Mandavia Artur Martirosian Bracelet Brian Hastings Bryn Kenney Christian Roberts Daniel Negreanu Daniel Rezaei Darren Rabinowitz Dylan Weisman Dylan Wilkerson JC Tran Ian Johns Jason Mercier Jason Koon Joao Vieira Joe Mc

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