Day 1a of Event #19: $500 COLOSSUS saw 3,378 entries and after 17 levels, just 410 players have secured their place on Day 2.
They are lead by Lok Chan, whose only previous bracelet came in the $2,500 Mixed Big Bet event in 2022.
Other bracelet-winners advancing from Day 1a include Brett Shaffer (696,000), WSOP Europe champion Jack Sinclair (602,000), Benjamin Ector (549,000) and Pei Li (379,000).
The second starting flight gets underway on Thursday, June 5, at 10 a.m., just like today. Players will receive 50,000 chips and play 17 40-minute levels. There will be 20-minute breaks after every three levels, and a 75-minute dinner break after Level 12.
Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Lok Chan
Taiwan
1,635,000
136
2
Matheus Lima
Brazil
1,305,000
109
3
Sergei Petrushevskii
Russia
1,252,000
104
4
Alex Bergfors
United States
1,169,000
97
5
Haik Kyurumyan
United States
1,096,000
91
6
Tal Herzog
Israel
1,000,000
83
7
Kennon Perez
United States
998,000
83
8
Cole Uvila
United States
992,000
83
9
Zdenek Zizka
Czech Republic
966,000
81
10
Aaron Francis
United States
931,000
76
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Welcome back to PokerNews, the official media partner of the 2025 World Series of Poker and home of live updates from all bracelet events.
Are you ready to take on the Colossus? Today marks the start of the first of four flights in Event #19: $500 Colossus No-Limit Hold'em, which sees a slight increase in buy-in from the $400 of previous editions. The Colossus is one of the cheapest bracelet-awarding events on the 2025 WSOP schedule, so expect a bumper crowd to descend on the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas over the next few days.
PokerNews live updates begin on Day 2 at 11 a.m. local time on Sunday, June 8.
Day 1 players start with 50,000 chips and play 40-minute levels throughout the tournament. Play on Day 1 lasts for 17 levels, with players heading on a 20-minute break every three levels or when the floor staff color up. A 75-minute dinner break is scheduled after Level 12 (~7:00 p.m.). If you play this event and bust, you may reenter once per flight.
Day 2, on June 8, sees the surviving players from the four starting flights combine and fight it out over the course of 15 levels. June 9 is when the third and final day commences, although its start time is yet to be decided.
Last year's Colossus was the best-attended since the WSOP created it. Some 19,337 players bought in, creating a colossal $5,940,883 prize pool. Bulgarian grinder Martin Alcaide captured the lion's share of the pot, $501,250, and his first WSOP bracelet.
Speaking to PokerNews shortly after his victory, Alcaide said, "I feel so relieved mostly. I was mostly just scared of losing, which is not a good mindset, so I was just trying to concentrate on the hands, so I'm relieved more to be rid of the tension than the happiness right now, but I'm sure that will change."
Year
Entries
Winner
Country
Payout
2024
19,337
Martin Alcaide
$501,250
2023
15,879
Moshe Refaelowitz
$501,120
2022
13,565
Paul Hizer
$414,490
2021
9,399
Anatolii Zyrin
$314,705
2019
13,109
Sejin Park
$451,272
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Stay tuned to PokerNews for updates on this and all bracelet events at the 2025 WSOP!
