2026 WSOP Day 24: Shaun Deeb Dominates $3K Nine Game Mix Day 2

Will Shillibier
Managing Editor
6 min read
Shaun Deeb

With the weekend rapidly approaching, the 2026 WSOP rumbled on at Paris and Horseshoe Las Vegas.

One winner was crowned, as Marco Johnson denied Chino Rheem a maiden bracelet and a Triple Crown heads-up in the $2,500 Freezeout, but with three winners set to be crowned on Friday it was somewhat of a moving day in tournaments dotted around the venue.

Deeb Leads 21 Remaining in Nine Game Mix

From a starting field of 472 players, 164 made their way back to the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas to continue their run in Day 2 of Event #52: $3,000 Nine Game Mix. Following a full day of mixed-game action, Shaun Deeb emerged as the chip leader of the remaining 21 players after bagging up 3,500,000 — more than twice that of his closest competitor.

Since his fantastic showing at the 2026 World Series of Poker Europe, wherein Deeb had two runner-up finishes and a ninth-place, the eight-time bracelet winner has been in a bit of a dry spell, with just one cash this series prior to today. However, Deeb is now in pole position to get back into a top spot on the Player of the Year leaderboard with a podium finish.

Sitting in a distant second is 2004 Main Event runner-up David Williams with 1,742,000. The deep run marks Williams' first cash of the series as he looks to add a second bracelet to his resume.

Event #52: $3,000 Nine Game Mix Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip Count
1Shaun DeebUnited States3,500,000
2David WilliamsUnited States1,742,000
3Richard FreitasBrazil1,565,000
4Antonios OnoufriouCyprus1,474,000
5Danny NoamUnited States1,323,000
6Thomas TaylorCanada930,000
7Eli ElezraIsrael901,000
8Mike GorodinskyUnited States832,000
9Maximilian SchindlerUnited States795,000
10Allan LeUnited States780,000

Parssinen Eyes Second Bracelet in $25,000 PLO Final Table

Eelis Parssinen

The final table plodded along at a tepid pace for much of the night, but Eelis Parssinen ended up making the loudest bang on his way to taking control of Event #47: $25,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha.

Parssinen and Alex Foxen tangled in the biggest pot of the day, getting all their chips in the middle before the flop. Both players showed two aces, but Parssinen spiked a set of sevens on the flop and the nut flush on the turn to double up into an overwhelming chip lead. He continued climbing from there, and is in a commanding position over the final five players to capture his second World Series of Poker bracelet once action resumes tomorrow at 2 p.m local time.

Event #47: $25,000 High Roller PLO End of Day 3 Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
1Eelis PärssinenFinland35,225,00088
2Levon KhachatryanUnited States20,100,00050
3Aaron MermelsteinUnited States5,300,00013
4Sergio Martinez GonzalezSpain4,225,00011
5Jeremy DruckmanUnited States2,850,0007

Sverko Makes $10k Mystery Bounty Final Table After Pulling $250k Prize

Gregor Sverko

Of the 84 runners who started Day 2 in Event #51: $10,000 Mystery Bounty, only nine players will return for the final day on Friday.

Alex Anton was one of two players to break the six-million chip mark alongside Josh Reichard. Although short-stacked, Gregor Sverko will head into the final day safe in the knowledge that he pulled the $250,000 bounty prize earlier in the day.

The field have all locked up $50,310, with the winner taking home the first-place prize of $678,300 plus bounties.

Event #51: $10,000 Mystery Bounty Day 2 Chip Counts

SeatPlayerCountyChip CountBig Blinds
1Alex AntonUnited States6,600,00083
2Josh ReichardUnited States6,555,00082
3Kent StephensUnited States5,490,00069
4Jovan KenjicSerbia5,300,00066
5Vadzim LipaukaBelarus2,540,00032
6Julien SitbonFrance2,140,00027
7Champie DouglasUnited States1,950,00024
8Jakob MiegelGermany1,865,00023
9Gregor SverkoCroatia1,050,00013

Big Names Advance After $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship Day 1

Scott Seiver

A total of 153 of the finest mixed game players in the world convened this afternoon for eight hours of limit poker in Event #54: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship, with only 69 advancing to Day 2 in this freezeout format.

Last year's edition of this event attracted 207 runners, but there is still time to catch up with registration open until the start of Level 12 at 2:15 p.m. tomorrow.

Leading the way after today's action was Jason Daly, who bagged an incredible 460,000 from a 60,000 starting stack, well over three times the average stack.

Also advancing was seven-time WSOP bracelet winner Scott Seiver, who sits sixth in chips, with Maksim Pisarenko the only player inside the top six chip counts not to have won at least two bracelets.

Event #54: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip Count
1Jason DalyUnited States460,000
2Maksim PisarenkoRussian Federation410,000
3Jesse LonisUnited States298,000
4David BachUnited States288,500
5Daniel StrelitzUnited States286,000
6Scott SeiverUnited States277,500
7Daniel WalmsleyAustralia260,500
8Ariel MantelArgentina256,500
9Walter ChambersUnited States251,500
10Eddie BlumenthalUnited States247,000

Mohammadi Leads Final 25 in Seniors Championship

Homan Mohammadi

The field in Event #46: $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold’em Championship was whittled down 239 entries to just 25 hopefuls heading into Day 4. Each player is guaranteed $28,000.

At the top of the leaderboard is Canada's Homan Mohammadi, ahead of Scott Ruegsegger who began the day fourth in chips and steadily accumulated chips over the course of the day.

Several accomplished players remain in contention, including four-time bracelet winner Farzad Bonyadi and bracelet winner Fred Goldberg

Event #46: $1,000 Seniors Championship Top 10 Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
1Homan MohammadiCanada13,955,00093
2Scott RuegseggerUnited States13,365,00089
3Yossi MaymonIsrael10,940,00073
4Ablahad SalimUnited States10,840,00072
5Keith RomerUnited States9,700,00065
6Todd GermanUnited States9,035,00060
7Larry QuangUnited States8,370,00056
8Ronald MooreUnited States6,655,00044
9Adam AgaevUnited States5,940,00040
10Farzad BonyadiUnited States5,775,00039

Shankar Leads First-Ever WSOP 5-Card PLO Event

Ravi Shankar

Ravi Shankar will return for Day 2 in Event #53: $1,500 Five Card PLO in pole position after bagging the chip lead over Garth Paul.

The format, which is making its debut at the 2026 WSOP, attracted 1,319 entries with just 76 players remaining.

Also inside the top 10 is 2024 $50,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha champion Daniel Perkusic and Finnish poker legend Juha Helppi

Event #53: $1,500 Five Card PLO Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
1Ravi ShankarUnited States1,446,000145
2Garth PaulUnited States980,00098
3Craig JonesUnited States965,00097
4Ghassan HossWales934,00093
5Kai YangUnited States930,00093
6Daniel PerkusicGermany863,00086
7Juha HelppiFinland847,00085
8Bouwe ClaushuisNetherlands841,00084
9Mohamed KerkeniFrance829,00083
10Miltiadis KyriakidesCyprus819,00082

Another Huge Millionaire Maker Flight on Day 1b

Casey Sandretto

After a deep run in the U.S. Circuit Championship at this year's WSOP, where he finished 18th, Casey Sandretto is off to a good start on Day 1b of Event #50: $1,500 Millionaire Maker.

According to the WSOP LIVE app, he was the only player to bag over 1,000,000 chips, and leads ahead of Jon Shoreman at the top of the counts.

Day 1b attracted 2,370 entries with 625 players heading into Day 2b on Friday.

Event #50: $1,500 Millionaire Maker Day 1b Top 10 Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
1Casey SandrettoUnited States1,055,000528
2Jon ShoremanUnited Kingdom888,000444
3Patrick ViretFrance635,000318
4Louis SeguinFrance463,000232
5Josef SnejbergCzechia365,000183
6Christopher PuetzGermany346,000173
7Franco SpitaleArgentina346,000173
8Daniel JonesUnited States345,500173
9Rolando SoriaArgentina340,000170
10Akshay NasaIndia328,000164

Kuhn Bags Enormous Lead in Millionaire Maker Day 2a

Rob Kuhn

From the 460 players who made it through the opening flight of Event #50: $1,500 Millionaire Maker, just 67 have survived for Monday's Day 3 with American Rob Kuhn the overwhelming chip leader.

He bagged 2,700,000, almost twice as many as his nearest competitor Natural 8 Ambassador Thai Ha.

Ha sits alongside Dean Cimera and Day 1a chip leader Will Givens as the only other players above 1,400,000 in chips.

Event #50: $1,500 Millionaire Maker Day 2a Top 10 Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
1Rob KuhnUnited States2,700,000132
2Thai HaVietnam1,465,00073
3Dean CimeraCroatia1,430,00072
4Will GivensUnited States1,410,00071
5Kunal PatniIndia1,240,00062
6Dustin NelsonUnited States1,170,00059
7Michael GathyBelgium1,150,00058
8Chisa MatsutaniJapan1,114,00056
9Spyridon ApartoglouGreece1,110,00056
10Jed FriedmanUnited States1,085,00054

What to Expect on Day 25 of the 2026 WSOP

WSOP Branding 2026

Friday features a packed schedule with three bracelets on the line. Eelis Pärssinen looks to close out his final table lead in the $25,000 High Roller PLO, while the $10,000 Mystery Bounty crowns its winner from the final nine. Meanwhile, Shaun Deeb will try to convert his massive chip lead into a ninth career title as 21 players return for the conclusion of the $3,000 Nine Game Mix.

Deep runs continue elsewhere on the floor. The $1,000 Seniors Championship plays down its final 25 players to set up Saturday's finale, while the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship starts Day 2 with late registration open until 2:15 p.m. The massive $1,500 Millionaire Maker also remains in full swing with Day 1c and Day 2b running concurrently.

New action kicks off today with a pair of highly anticipated events. The nosebleed stakes return with the launch of the $50,000 High Roller PLO, alongside a projected large field for the $3,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold'em. PokerNews will provide live coverage of the $50k, as well as Day 2 of the debuting $1,500 Five Card PLO.

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Will Shillibier
Managing Editor

Based in the United Kingdom, Will started working for PokerNews as a freelance live reporter in 2015 and joined the full-time staff in 2019. He now works as Managing Editor. He graduated from the University of Kent in 2017 with a B.A. in German. He also holds an NCTJ Diploma in Sports Journalism.

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