button in Safari888poker WSOP Documentary Part 2: Shuffle Up and Deal!
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The first part of the 888poker's 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event documentary focused on the five 888poker ambassadors making their way to Las Vegas and buying into the $10,000 WSOP Main Event.
The second of six parts was released on YouTube on August 15. Here's a recap of what went down as Aaron Barone, Ian Simpson, Lucia Navarro, Nick Eastwood, and Vivian Saliba began their quest for WSOP Main Event glory.
Episode 2 – Shuffle Up & Deal
The second episode begins with introducing the five 888poker ambassadors, with Saliba talking about how the WSOP Main Event is special because of its size and the fact that you can win potentially life-changing prizes without having to finish in first place.
"You can win $10 million, but you also can win $5 million, $3 million, or $2 million. It's a tournament that you don't actually have to win to have the biggest score of your career."
Navarro Fighting Off Illness
Saliba's teammate, Navarro, didn't get her Main Event off to the best of starts, with her entering her starting flight later than usual due to being ill. Hopefully, the extra rest helped Navarro's recovery.
"It is very weird for me to start the Main Event when play has already started. I've been sick for three days in bed, so I didn't know if I was going to make it today, but I woke up very late because I wanted to get some rest. I think losing one level is not much."
The video switches from introductions and interviews to action shots of the five 888poker ambassadors grinding away in the Main Event after then-reigning champion Michael Mizrachi instructed the dealers to shuffle up and deal.
At the end of the first level, Saliba (80,000) had started the best, adding 20,000 chips to her stack. Eastwood (61,400) was in second place of his group, with Simpson (55,000) and Barone (52,400) next in line.
Level 2 saw Saliba increase her stack to 85,800, Barone improved to 64,000, while Eastwood's stack decreased a little to 45,000, and Simpson ended the second level with 12,300 chips.
Simpson Gets Stacked
Unfortunately, Simpson couldn't spin up his stack and crashed out during Level 3.
"So we are GG the Main Event for 2026. Good player opens from UTG+2, I flat one seat over with ace-king offsuit, there is a very very aggressive player three to my left, and a good player two to my left. It's actually the good player who three-bets, the original raiser folds, I back-jam my ace-king, they have pocket jacks, and we lose. That's poker, see you next year."
Barone, Eastwood, Navarro, and Saliba continued battling away, and all four found a bag after the completion of five 120-minute levels.
Navarro ended Day 1 with the most chips on the 888poker team, finishing with 128,500 chips; the Spaniard's decision to rest up seemed to have paid off.
Barone, the 888poker player who progressed the deepest in last year's Main Event, finished his Day 1 with 76,400 chips, while Eastwood's 56,300 stack, which he described as "fine," put him in third place among his teammates.
Saliba endured a torrid time at the tables during the last three levels, including having to lay down aces on the river after having the clock called on her. She still finished with 36,200 chips.
"For the last three levels, it was just going downhill. I'm ready to rest because Day 1 was very exhausting physically and a little emotionally because you get frustrated when everything is going wrong."
It may have been game over for Simpson, but Barone, Eastwood, Navarro, and Saliba were still in the mix. Tune into 888poker's YouTube channel on August 22 to see how this quartet gets on during the next episode of the WSOP Main Event 2026 documentary.
