button in SafariShaun Deeb Busts WSOP Main Event, Promptly Registers for Two Events
Shaun Deeb busted the WSOP Main Event just after the dinner break on Day 8, and it wasn't such a bad thing for him.
The reigning WSOP Player of the Year winner has said being stuck in the Main Event for so long has prevented him from defending his POY title. That isn't a problem anymore, and it took the nine-time bracelet winner no longer than a few minutes to register for not one, but two separate new events at the 2026 WSOP.
Deeb registered for Day 1 of Event #95: $500 Summer Saver No-Limit Hold'em and Day 1 of Event #97: $25,000 High Roller H.O.R.S.E. and was prepared for some live multi-table action.
Won't Have to Multi-Table
Deeb became short-stacked on Day 8 of the Main Event before the dinner break. Moments after players returned to action, he flopped an open-ended straight draw and check-raised all in against Rami Hammoud, who flopped top pair and top kicker. The straight didn't come on the turn or river, and the 2026 Poker Hall of Fame finalist was sent to the rail in 15th place for $410,475.
The bustout meant it was time for Deeb to return to his regularly scheduled routine of chasing WSOP Player of the Year. And that meant entering two tournaments, hoping one of them would lead to a deep run. He first sat down in the Summer Saver event and immediately busted his stack, so he no longer had to worry about the logistics of multi-tabling in live poker.
Deeb then turned his focus to the High Roller H.O.R.S.E. event, along with 65 other players (two have busted). He is locked in a close Player of the Year race, sitting in third place behind Alex Foxen and Naoya Kihara, and barely ahead of Josh Arieh. Deeb will move close to the lead once he collects his Main Event points. But he still has some work to do as the summer winds down, and then in December at WSOP Paradise, in his quest to repeat as the WSOP Player of the Year.
If Deeb does win POY, he would become the first to win it three times. Daniel Negreanu is the only other two-time winner. Deeb entered the summer with a headstart on the competition after reaching three final tables at WSOP Europe. It's been all or nothing for him this summer, with just five cashes, his fewest in years, but a bracelet win, runner-up finish, deep run in the Main Event, and another final table appearance.
