Day 1 of Event #17: $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em attracted 1,692 entries at the 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP) and played out at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas.
A prize pool of $3,011,760 was generated. The remaining 264 players are returning on June 4 to battle through the bubble, which will burst at 254 players. The min-cash is worth $4,011, but it's the top prize of $436,044 and the cherished gold bracelet on which everyone has their eyes firmly locked. The bubble will burst soon after the restart, as only 10 players remain until they reach the money.
Play ended in the last ten minutes of Level 15 with Canadian Ernest Chevrette bagging one of the top stacks after he amassed 728,000 chips throughout the day. This would be a life-changing score for Chevrette.
Following close behind Chevrette are Austria's Lukas Hafner and Jesse Lonis, a 25K draft pick, who is fresh off a Titan High Roller Event win and ready to battle.
Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ernest Chevrette | Canada | 728,000 | 146 |
| 2 | Lukas Hafner | Austria | 722,000 | 144 |
| 3 | Jesse Lonis | United States | 696,000 | 139 |
| 4 | Sebastian Crane | United Kingdom | 686,000 | 137 |
| 5 | Masato Yokosawa | Japan | 672,000 | 134 |
| 6 | Michael Phillips | United States | 663,000 | 133 |
| 7 | Sean Hegarty | United States | 550,000 | 110 |
| 8 | Vid Zagar | Slovenia | 547,000 | 109 |
| 9 | Mikhail Zavoloka | Russian Federation | 540,000 | 108 |
| 10 | Zhen Chen | China | 500,000 | 100 |
Plenty of elite players are still in contention as the tournament heads into Day 2. Among them are some of the most recognizable names in the game, including Alex Foxen (303,000). Foxen has almost $50 million in career earnings, is a three-time bracelet winner, and a top pick in the 25K Fantasy Draft.
Other 25K Fantasy Draft players include Chino Rheem (213,000), Eric Baldwin (160,000), Chris Brewer (341,000), and Chris Hunichen (145,000).
Other notables also in the running for the bracelet include Bin Weng (231,000), Martin Kabrhel (216,000), Barry Greenstein (367,000), Francis Anderson (180,000), Chris Moorman (260,000), and Masato Yokosawa (290,000).
Day 2 kicks off Wednesday, June 4, at noon local time at the Horseshoe Event Center (Bronze and Gold sections). Players will compete through ten 60-minute levels, with blinds resuming at Level 15, 3,000/5,000 with a 5,000 big blind ante and 10 minutes remaining in the level. There will be 15-minute breaks every two levels and a dinner break is scheduled at the end of Level 21, around 6:30 p.m.
Be sure to follow PokerNews for live coverage and chip count updates as the action unfolds and we find out who will emerge from this stacked field and move one step closer to WSOP gold.
