2026 WSOP Day 29: Benny Glaser Leads the Final 15 in the $50,000 PPC

Matthew Pitt
Senior Editor
8 min read
Benny Glaser

The 29th day of the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) saw another nine events running inside the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, making it one of the busiest days yet. Despite so many events being in play, only one crowned its champion, although a handful of others whittled their fields down to the last few tables. One of those, the $50,000 Poker Players Championship, only has 15 players remaining, and what a 15 they are!

Prashanth Nataraj took down Event #59: $500 Salute to Warriors, banking $208,800 and his first bracelet. Nataraj told PokerNews that his initial goal was to beat his previous best cash of $40,000, and once he'd achieved that goal, he set out to become the tournament's champion. Nataraj succeeded and will forever be known as this event's champion.

Benny Glaser Leads $50,000 Poker Players Championship, But Phil Ivey is Lurking

Phil Ivey
Phil Ivey

Only 15 players remain in Event #60: $50,000 Poker Players Championship, and what a final 15 they are. It is the eight-time bracelet winner Benny Glaser (4,705,000) who leads from the front. Although Glaser goes into the penultimate day with the chip lead in tow, a ridiculously stacked chasing pack is attempting to close him down.

Paul Volpe (4,020,000) leads the charge of the chasing pack, followed by Day 2 chip leader Kristopher Tong (3,305,000), Nick Guagenti (2,850,000), and Josh Arieh (2,640,000).

Just below Arieh, with 2,555,000 chips, is the legendary Phil Ivey, who has a legitimate chance of becoming only the second player in history to accumulate a dozen bracelets.

Alex Livingston (2,530,000), Jason Mercier (2,180,000), Maxx Coleman (1,780,000), Chris Brewer (1,565,000), Chris Hunichen (1,550,000), Roy Thung (1,025,000), Jesse Lonis (840,000), Phil Hellmuth (545,000), and Maksim Pisarenko (135,000) make up the rest of the star-studded field.

Play resumes at 1:00 p.m. local time. By the time the curtain comes down on Day 4, we shall be one step closer to see where this event's bracelet and $1,343,764 top prize will be going.

Event #60: $50,000 Poker Players Championship Day 3 Top 10 Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip Count
1Benny GlaserUnited Kingdom4,705,000
2Paul VolpeUnited States4,020,000
3Kristopher TongUnited States3,305,000
4Nick GuagentiUnited States2,850,000
5Josh AriehUnited States2,640,000
6Phil IveyUnited States2,555,000
7Alex LivingstonCanada2,530,000
8Jason MercierUnited States2,180,000
9Maxx ColemanUnited States1,780,000
10Chris BrewerUnited States1,565,000

Michael Monroig Leads the Way at the Millionaire Maker Final Table

Michael Monroig
Michael Monroig

Regardless of where Michael Monroig (73,900,000) finishes at the final table of Event #50: $1,500 Millionaire Maker, is will at least double his lifetime earnings. Monroig hopes to be the last man standing and win his first bracelet and $1,250,000 in prize money.

Monroig leads the final nine into battle on the fifth and final day of this tournament. Only fifth-placed Bradley Gafford (25,500,000) has previously won a bracelet, doing so in the $1,000 Mini Main Event at the 2023 WSOP.

Each returning player is guaranteed at least $150,068 for their efforts, with the top two finishers becoming millionaires.

The nine finalists take their seats at 3:30 p.m. local time on June 24, with the final table being streamed on the usual 2-3 hour delay.

Event #50: $1,500 Millionaire Maker Final Table Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
1Michael MonroigUnited States73,900,00049
2Joseph BaghdalianUnited States52,300,00035
3Joseph LibertaUnited States46,400,00031
4Alex KimUnited States32,700,00022
5Bradley GaffordUnited States25,500,00017
6Halford FairchildUnited States24,700,00016
7Yifu HeUnited States15,100,00010
8Garry GurevichUnited States13,000,0009
9Jacob GagnonUnited States10,600,0007

$1,000 PLO Event Ends With 23 Instead of Five

Francois Scapula
Francois Scapula

The original plan for the penultimate day of Event #57: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha was to reduce the field to only five players. However, it soon became evident that this would not happen, and the tournament was paused with 23 players remaining.

Frenchman Francois Scapula (8,520,000) is the man to catch going into Day 3. He holds a sizable lead over Sasha Guerin (6,430,000 and Dechang Zhang (6,255,000), who round off the podium places.

Also still in the hunt for this event's bracelet and $390,300 top prize are the likes of Schuyler Thornton (4,850,000), Toby Joyce (4,550,000), Narcis-Gabriel Nedelcu (3,830,000), Thomas Skaggs (2,615,000), Tony Cousineau (2,200,000), Xing He (1,460,000), and Gary Benson (1,060,000).

Day 3 starts at 12:00 p.m. local time on June 24, and play will continue until a champion is crowned.

Event #57: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Top 10 Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
1Francois ScapulaFrance8,520,000107
2Sasha GuerinUnited States6,430,00080
3Dechang ZhangUnited States6,255,00078
4Harry RubinUnited States5,395,00067
5Schuyler ThorntonUnited States4,850,00061
6Toby JoyceIreland4,550,00057
7James SedlacekUnited States4,040,00051
8Narcis-Gabriel NedelcuRomania3,830,00048
9Paul ZappullaUnited States3,770,00047
10Nuno DuartePortugal3,735,00047

Kelley Slay Leads After Day 2 of the Super Seniors

Kelley Slay
Kelley Slay

Event #61: $1,000 Super Seniors played out its Day 2 on June 23. The day ended with only 103 players requiring overnight chip bags, and with nobody bagging more chips than Kelley Slay (2,085,000).

Slay reached the final table of the $1,000 Battle of the Ages event at the 2025 WSOP and has put himself in an excellent position to reach another WSOP final table. Slay has around 14 more big blinds than Behrouz Keshtavar (1,800,000) and 25 more than Dean Rutledge (1,585,000), who currently occupy second and third place.

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Only a handful of the returning pack have won bracelets in their careers. Rob Hollink (690,000), Kevin Song (605,000), Greg Raymer (345,000), and Antonin Teisseire (322,000) are the only returnees who could add to their collection of WSOP hardware.

Day 3 is scheduled to play down to only five players, with the first cards being pitched at 11:00 a.m. local time.

Event #61: $1,000 Super Seniors Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
1Kelley SlayUnited States2,085,000104
2Behrouz KeshtavarUnited States1,800,00090
3Dean RutledgeUnited States1,585,00079
4Barbara SargentUnited States1,515,00076
5Jeffrey CampUnited States1,485,00074
6Istvan ToroHungary1,320,00066
7Mehrdad YousefzadehUnited States1,300,00065
8Timothy GarnerUnited States1,285,00064
9Lionel BarracanoFrance1,275,00064
10Paul McmullinUnited States1,235,00062

Robbie Bull Looking Solid in the $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Title

Robbie Bull
Robbie Bull

There are only 34 players in contention for the $555,198 top prize that Event #62: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em will award to its champion. Scotland's Robbie Bull (4,755,000) has done his chances of becoming a WSOP champion no harm at all after finishing the penultimate day with the third-most chips.

Bull has more than $1.3 million in live scores, with his largest tipping the scales at £113,405 ($183,875), his reward for winning the PokerStars UKIPT London Main Event back in 2013. That remains his only six-figure haul, a fact he will change if he finishes sixth or better in this event.

Turkey's Maher Achour (6,435,000) leads from the front; he recently burst through $1 million in earnings.

Others to look out for on Day 3 include Daniel Smiljkovic (1,725,000), Josh Reichard (1,585,000), Zachary Gruneberg (1,050,000), Roman Hrabec (1,045,000), Eoghan O'Dea (975,000), Orson Young (945,000), Aaron Kupin (880,000), and Blaz Zerjav (720,000).

Cards are back in the air from 12:00 p.m. local time on June 24, with play continuing until only one player remains.

Event #62: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
1Maher AchourTunisia6,435,000107
2Corentin SoulierFrance4,975,00083
3Robbie BullUnited Kingdom4,755,00079
4Jose LatorreSpain4,090,00068
5Spyridon ApartoglouGreece3,380,00056
6Myles MullalyUnited States3,225,00054
7Mauro FerreiraPortugal2,275,00038
8Cameron WidergrenUnited States2,250,00038
9Hang XuChina1,750,00029
10Daniel SmiljkovicGermany1,725,00029

Day 1a of the $1,000 Mystery Millions Attracts 1,643 Entrants

JC Tran
JC Tran

There is a familiar name in the top 10 of Event #63: $1,000 Mystery Millions after the first of six scheduled flights, that of JC Tran (1,610,000). Tran has two bracelets to his name, but he's not struck WSOP gold since 2009 despite having more than $13 million in live tournament earnings.

The WSOP LIVE app claims Leo Soma (3,180,000) has the largest stack right now, although his chip count does look on the large side. Vincent Lavollee (2,200,000), and Emmanouil Chalkiotis (2,120,000) also ended the night with substantial stacks.

Among the 76 Day 1a survivors are players such as Yen Han Chen (760,000), Zdenek Zizka (665,000), David "ODB" Baker (665,000), Antoine Saout (570,000), and David Shmuel (313,000).

Day 2 of this event isn't until June 28. However, Day 1b shuffles up and deals at 10:00 a.m. local time on June 24.

Event #63: $1,000 Mystery Millions Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
1Leo SomaFrance3,180,00080
2Vincent LavolleeFrance2,200,00055
3Emmanouil ChalkiotisGreece2,120,00053
4Brad SailorUnited States1,950,00049
5Jian LevineUnited States1,701,50043
6Donald FultonUnited States1,700,00043
7Jakob MiegelGermany1,650,00041
8JC TranUnited States1,610,00040
9Andre CullinsUnited States1,610,00040
10Armen MinasyanArmenia1,535,00038

Juha Helppi Leads After Day 1 of the $25,000 NLHE/PLO Event

Juha Helppi
Juha Helppi

Finnish star Juha Helppi (936,000) leads from the front after Day 1 of Event #64: $25,000 No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha. Day 1 saw 60 players advance from 140 entrants, and both numbers will increase, as late registration remains open until the end of Level 12 on Day 2, at around 2:15 p.m. local time.

Helppi already has two bracelets, having won the $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship in 2019 and a $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha online event in 2020. The former professional paintballer could soon be adding a third bracelet to his wrist.

Those who advanced from Day 1 read like a who's who of the poker world. They include Sergio Martinez Gonzalez (751,000), Naoya Kihara (635,000), Klemens Roiter (613,000), Cary Katz (571,000), Chance Kornuth (558,000), Jeremy Ausmus (527,000), Sam Soverel (523,000), seven-time bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu (399,000), Dan Cates (392,000), Scott Seiver (379,000), Joao Vieira (279,000), Joao Simao (261,000), Nick Schulman (231,000), and Erik Seidel (134,000).

Day 2 starts at 12:00 p.m. local time on June 24, and PokerNews will be on hand to bring you all of the high-stakes action.

Event #64: $25,000 No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
1Juha HelppiFinland936,000187
2Sergio Martinez GonzalezSpain751,000150
3Naoya KiharaJapan635,000127
4Klemens RoiterAustria613,000123
5Edward LeonardUnited States590,000118
6Dylan SmithUnited States585,000117
7Cary KatzUnited States571,000114
8Artem MaksimovUnited States570,000114
9Yang WangChina560,000112
10Chance KornuthUnited States558,000112

Almost 85 Percent Are Eliminated On Day 1 of the $1,500 NLHE Freezeout

Martin Zamani
Martin Zamani advanced to Day 2

By the time late registration closed in Event #65: $1,500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em, there had been 2,617 entrants. After 15 levels, only 410 of those starters had chips left after firing their solitary bullet.

Mario Boos (728,000), Shawn Puri (675,000), and Leonardo Camera Alves (566,000) were the trio who claimed the top three spots on the overnight chip counts. However, some of poker's well-known stars also punched their Day 2 tickets.

Martin Zamani (341,000), Jason Wheeler (289,000), Frederic Normand (284,000), Eric Baldwin (268,000), Michael Gathy (203,000), Brian Hastings (128,000), Martin Jacobson (127,000), and Ben Yu (67,000) are just a small selection of poker heroes to look out for on Day 2.

Event #65: $1,500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em Day 1 Top 10 Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
1Mario BoosFrance728,000121
2Shawn PuriUnited States675,000113
3Leonardo Camera AlvesBrazil566,00094
4Roman NuraevCzech Republic551,00092
5Tsubasa ItaniJapan536,00089
6Julien MontoisFrance514,00086
7Arash SarrafUnited States503,00084
8Dennis StevermerUnited States480,00080
9Quirin HeinzGermany465,00078
10Marcelo MerelesParaguay431,00072

What to Expect on Day 30 of the 2026 WSOP

WSOP Branding 2026

It is another busy day on Day 30 of the 2026 WSOP, with another 10 events crammed into the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.

The first shuffles up and deals at 10:00 a.m. local time. That timeslot is reserved for the start of Day 1b of Event# 63: $1,000 Mystery Millions. An hour later, at 11:00 a.m. local time, we will see Day 3 of Event #61: $1,000 Super Seniors begin.

At 12:00 p.m. local time, three events continue to whittle down their respective fields. Event #57: $1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha will continue playing until a champion is crowned, as will Event #62: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em. Noon also marks the time that Day 2 of Event #64: $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em/Pot-Limit Omaha commences.

The star-studded final 15 of Event #60: $50,000 Poker Players Championship return to their seats at 1:00 p.m. local time, which is also when Day 2 of Event #65: $1,500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em begins.

Event #50: $1,500 Millionaire Maker is the last of the in-play events to resume, doing so from 3:30 p.m. local time.

Kelvin Kerber and Peter Patricio
Kelvin Kerber and Peter Patricio

Two new events start on June 24, starting with Event #66: $1,000 Tag Team No-Limit Hold'em at 12:00 p.m. local time. Brazilians Kelvin Kerber and Peter Patricio are this event's reigning champions. They topped a 1,373-strong field in 2025 and collected $184,780.

Alexander Wilkinson
Alexander Wilkinson

At 2:00 p.m. local time, we have Event #67: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw Championship, which should see many of poker's elite buy in. Alexander Wilkinson won this event in 2025, leaving 140 opponents in his wake and banking $333,054.

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Matthew Pitt
Senior Editor

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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