Big Names Bring Big Stacks Into Day 2 of $25,000 High Roller Mixed PLO/NLH
A brand new event was added to the schedule at the 2025 World Series of Poker being hosted at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas and all of the big names wanted to see what it was about. The opening day of Event #14: $25,000 High Roller Mixed Pot-Limit Omaha / No-Limit Hold'em attracted a total of 178 entries with just 70 players advancing through to Day 2.
With eight hands of no-limit hold'em followed by eight hands of pot-limit Omaha, this event featured the two most popular versions of poker at the highest of stakes. However, based on the results after the first ten levels, it appears that the four-card specialists have had their way with the field. Leading the charge as the only player to bag a stack of the seven-figure variety was Stephen Chidwick, who, to no surprise, is a master at both versions of the game.
Chidwick was one of a few players who only required one bullet thus far to get the job done and will enter today with a stack of 1,136,000 chips. Following in his footsteps is Jared Bleznick (975,000), who is a master at another game, the talking one. There was no shortage of needling jabs and side bets thrown around the tournament area with Bleznick in the room and holding a healthy chip stack at that.
More notable names carrying forward some large chip stacks include Shaun Deeb (893,000), Laszlo Bujtas (808,000), Bryce Yockey (808,000), and Ben Tollerene (668,000). All of these players excel at the pot-limit Omaha version but also have quite the resume in the no-limit hold'em variety as well.
Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stephen Chidwick | United Kingdom | 1,136,000 | 227 |
| 2 | Jared Bleznick | United States | 975,000 | 195 |
| 3 | Corel Theuma | United States | 894,000 | 179 |
| 4 | Shaun Deeb | United States | 893,000 | 179 |
| 5 | Laszlo Bujtas | Hungary | 808,000 | 162 |
| 6 | Bryce Yockey | United States | 808,000 | 162 |
| 7 | Zhargal Tsydypov | United States | 792,000 | 158 |
| 8 | Philip Marsico | United States | 791,000 | 158 |
| 9 | John Pannucci | United States | 784,000 | 157 |
| 10 | Ben Tollerene | United States | 668,000 | 134 |
The cards are scheduled to go in the air at 12 p.m. PDT with the blinds resuming on Level 11 at 3,000/5,000 and a 5,000/8,000 big blind ante. There will still be two more levels of late registration available with a maximum of two reentries allowed per player. A fresh starting stack will give you 150,000 chips, good enough for 30 big blinds.
The levels will continue to be 60 minutes in length with a 15-minute break after every two levels. There is also a 60-minute dinner break scheduled for the end of Level 16. Another 10 levels will be on tap for today with the remaining players bagging up to return for the third and final day of this event. The money bubble is expected to burst later today once late registration is closed with a prize pool of over $4.2 million already waiting in the balance.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be on the tournament floor to bring you live updates throughout the day so stay tuned so you don't miss a thing!